Case Study Competitions History
The Beginning of the Duels
In 2002-03, personal financial case study competitions were initiated in partnership with Credit Counselor’s of America (today known as Take Charge America, Inc.) and The University of Arizona’s Students in Free Enterprise team housed in the Southwest Retail Center for Education and Research (today known as Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retail). One of SIFE’s core objectives is to empower college students to make an impact in their community by teaching others about personal financial management skills. The mission of Take Charge America, Inc. is a non-profit credit counseling agency created to help clients develop debt management plans and stimulate behavior changes that will improve clients’ financial well being. With congruent missions, it was a natural partnership to flourish and grow to later become what is today the Take Charge America Institute at The University of Arizona.
Collegiate Duel
The Duel in the Desert was a personal financial case study competition that brought together winning Regional Duel teams and Regional Duel host teams from a variety of universities around the nation to Tucson, Arizona. All students in the Duel in the Desert were from SIFE teams from around the country.
Each team consisted of four students to compete for the title of National Champions and thousands of dollars in prize money. Kick off for the event began with an opening dinner, keynote speaker, and presentation of the case study. For the next 36 hours, the teams would analyze the case and prepare a verbal presentation for a panel of expert judges to determine the winner. The competition concluded with a seminar on how to start a “Credit-Wise” money management education team facilitated by the UA SIFE Credit-Wise Cats. As a result, three new college campuses started their own peer education program.
Jr. Duel
In an effort to expand the audience for the case study competition concept, Jr. Duel in the Desert was created in 2005-06 through a partnership among Hughes Federal Credit Union, UA SIFE, Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing, and Take Charge America Institute. Jr. Duel consists of a series of 10 one-hour classroom lessons and hands-on activities to teach personal finance for grades 6th – 12th. Topics including budgeting, needs vs. wants, saving and investing, credit, insurance, and career development. Teachers may choose to lead, or additional classroom speakers such as members of the speaker’s bureau or our Credit-Wise Cats. Many of the participants are from historically underrepresented backgrounds in higher education.
Online case study competition- to be released summer 2009, after we run the test pilot and map out more details
2002-03
National Duel in the Desert inaugural year with 9 competing colleges and universities
2003-04
4 Regional Duels and 1 National Duel, reached 24 colleges & universities
2004-05
8 Regional Duels and 1 National Duel, reached 56 colleges & universities
2005-06
12 Regional Duels and 1 National Duel, reached 336 students from 84 colleges & universities
Partnered with Hughes Federal Credit Union, Jr. Duel reached 262 local students from 6 Tucson area middle & high schools
2006-07
12 Regional Duels and 1 National Duel, reached 336 students from 84 colleges & universities
Jr. Duel reached 400 students from 10 local middle and high schools
2007-08
8 Regional Duels and 1 National Duel, reached over 200 students from 56 colleges & universities
Collegiate Duel cumulative reach of 1,476 students from 319 colleges & universities for a total of 50 Duels
Jr. Duel reached 8 local middle and high schools with 500 students this year alone for combined reach of 1,162
