Eighteen teams from southern Colorado colleges and universities competed on the UCCS campus for the 13th annual Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at UCCS Case Competition on Saturday, November 4, 2023. Fifty-one students competed this year from Adams State University, Fort Lewis College, Lamar Community College, Odyssey Early College & Career Options, Otero College, Pikes Peak State College, Pueblo Community College, UCCS, USAFA and Western Colorado University.
The judges were impressed with the level of participation and student commitment for the case competition. All teams demonstrated an understanding of principle-based ethics and how to apply ethical decision-making in a business decision – something employers are sure to notice. We appreciated the judges’ dedication of time to understand the case and perform the challenging task of choosing the winners of each track. We’d like to thank the following judges:
- Heather Berens, Director of Finance, Goodwill of Colorado
- Steve Jacobs, Legends Memorabilia Collection, Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association
- Jacque Jewell, Financial Planning and Analysis Lead, FedEx Dataworks
- Marjorie Noleen, Market Growth Manager, Southeast United Healthcare
- Katie Peterson, Campus Recruitment Coordinator, Northwestern Mutual
- Michaela Petti, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty
- Jasmine Rascon, Director of Campus Recruitment, Contracting, Licensing and Registration, Northwestern Mutual
- Forrest Senti, Chief Revenue Officer, Intelligent Payload Solutions, Inc.
- Karen Shuman, Principal Advisor, Information Services Group
- Otto Sunday, US Air Force, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Lauren Wade, Product Marketing Manager, Vanta
- Paul Yankey, Chief Advancement Officer of Resource Exchange International, and Instructor of Marketing at UCCS College of Business
During the awards ceremony, we celebrated the excellence of all teams, and congratulated the 2023 case competition winners:
2023 Winning Teams
Undergraduate 2-Year Track
1st Place
Odyssey Early College & Career Options: Sammie Coker, Benjamin Trumbly, Keira Potter
Faculty Advisors: Keith Clayton
2nd Place
Pikes Peak State College: Micaela Ortiz, Nicholas Jacobs, Bryce Kindall
Faculty Advisors: Carol Kurkowski
3rd Place
Odyssey Early College & Career Options: Bishop Owens, Aidan Smith, Maryah Brutus, Josiah Ruiz
Faculty Advisor: Keith Clayton
Undergraduate 4-Year Track
1st Place
USAFA: Helen Agee, Ryan Lilly
Faculty Advisor: Scott Heyler
2nd Place
UCCS: Ebisa Dundas, Robert Drone, Hayley Huschka
Faculty Advisor: Terri Johnson
3rd Place
Fort Lewis College: Avery Wickes, Amaris Hamilton
Faculty Advisor: Justin McBrayer
Graduate Program Track
1st Place
UCCS: Seth Pruett, Lindsey Romine, Bree Lue
Faculty Advisor: Tracy Gonzalez-Padron
Special thanks to DFEI Program Coordinator Melissa McCormick for working to make the competition enjoyable for all. We appreciated the student volunteer room monitors and registration, including Taliyah Murphy, Sydnee-Anne Moeller and Jasmine Nguyen. Thanks to Beth Almanza and Monica Nowack for filling in as room monitors during the afternoon sessions. The UCCS Event Services, catering, and building staff supported the day with good food, room preparation and room presentation equipment.
We could not have a competition at this level without the participation of the UCCS teams and Southern Colorado schools. We are looking forward to the 2024 competition!
Congratulations again to all the teams and faculty advisors for a job well done.
About the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative
The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program at UCCS College of Business is a resource for principle-based ethics education, serving students, educators and business community. The UCCS College of Business is one of eight original participating schools in the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program that now includes twelve participating schools. The DFEI supports the Southern Colorado Ethics Consortium (SCEC) for nine higher education institutions in the southern half of the state. In 2016, the DFEI Collegiate Program at UCCS launched an ethics champion pilot program to expand best practices in ethics education. Each participating school has educators serving as Ethics Champions on their campus to expand principle-based ethics education and resources throughout southern Colorado. The program has since expanded to include a large variety of events and programs for educators, students and business members throughout southern Colorado. Find more information online.
About the College of Business
The UCCS College of Business was established in 1965 and has more than 1,300 undergraduates and 350 MBA and distance MBA students. The College of Business and Administration awards the Bachelor of Science in Business and Bachelor of Innovation degrees. The Graduate School of Business Administration awards the Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Accounting and Executive Doctor of Business Administration degrees. More than 10,000 alumni of the College of Business live and work around the world. For more information, visit uccs.edu/business.