EIU Booth Library

What’s Your Problem? Enter the CSI pitch competition

Posted on January 28th, 2021

The Center for Student Innovation (CSI) at Booth Library invites underrepresented, undergraduate student teams to share ideas and technologies that will solve a specific problem. Each team will pitch its idea of how to solve the problem that they identify and describe using the resources that are currently available in or could be purchased for the library’s CSI. Winning proposals will generate funds to purchase technology for the CSI Booth. In addition, winning team members will be awarded a scholarship toward their tuition.

TIMELINE

Application opens – November 16, 2020

Application deadline – Midnight CST on March 15, 2021 – deadline extended!

Winners announced – March 24, 2021

½ tuition stipend awarded – April 2021

½ tuition stipend awarded – September 2021

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open to full-time freshmen, sophomores and juniors who will be enrolled at Eastern Illinois University during the spring and fall semesters of 2021. Teams are composed of a minimum of two students (no individual submissions allowed). The What’s your Problem? Pitch Competition is supported through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief fund, which is aimed at retaining students who are part of an under-represented population. Therefore, all members of your team must be BIPOC (Black, indigenous, or people of color), OR first-generation students, OR low-income (Pell-eligible) students. Cross-disciplinary teams are welcome.

RULES

Each team must identify a specific problem that can be solved using the resources that are currently available in or that could be purchased for the library’s CSI. A list of technology and resources available in the CSI is available here. Team members must identify the problem, describe the scope of the problem, explain how to solve the problem creatively and innovatively, and provide a list of equipment (hardware/software) or spaces that would be needed to successfully solve the problem. Examples of suggested projects are available here.

Teams may create their presentation using any software, apps or formats. All submissions must be readable on freely accessible EIU software or platforms. Proposals must be submitted by midnight CST on March 15, 2021.

For more information about the pitch competition, see the website here. Student may also email Catherine Polydore, professor of Counseling and Student Development, at cpolydore@eiu; Zach Newell, dean of Library Services, at znewell@eiu.edu; or Newton Key, director of the Faculty Development and Innovation Center, at nekey@eiu.edu. Or call Booth Library at 217-581-6061.