Student Health Promotion Contest: MEZCOPH Partners with Arizona FORGE
UArizona students are encouraged to enter this contest to help stop the spread of COVID-19 on campus. The #BearDownMaskUp Challenge seeks the best ideas to inspire safe behaviors and health promotion participation in the student population, with a chance to win $500 prize money!
The College has teamed up with Arizona FORGE and the Dean of Students Office to host a contest for students to come up with communication ideas that will promote safe behaviors among UArizona students, behaviors that will keep COVID-19 out of our campus community. The contest, called the #BearDownMaskUp Challenge, is essentially a public health communications competition, and it offers the chance to win prize money that goes towards tuition.
A new unit at the University of Arizona, FORGE (Finding Opportunities and Resources to Grow Entrepreneurs), was established within the Office of Research, Innovation and Impact to cultivate an entrepreneurial culture at the university.
The #BearDownMaskUp Challenge is a 4-week competition that prompts UArizona students to come up with creative solutions to keep COVID out of our campus community, ideas or campaigns that will inspire fellow students to mask up, maintain physical distance, and follow prevention guidelines so we can stop the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
Challenge entries will be judged on creativity, advocacy of public health best practices, and feasibility (winning solutions must be produced and ready for publication/distribution in 3 weeks). Entries should be submitted between October 1-5. Winners receive funding to develop their solution, and a $500 Bursar Credit!
The #BearDownMaskUp Challenge winners will unveil their ideas publicly for the first time during the Come Back-a-Thon held in October in partnership with Eller Tech Core. Visit the FORGE website to learn more about the health promotion contest!
Challenge Timeline:
| Date: | Description: |
| Friday Sept. 18 | Challenge Kick-Off |
| Oct. 1-5 | Entry window, closes Monday October 5 at 11:59pm |
| Mon. Oct. 5 | Judging |
| Wed. Oct. 7 | Winners announced, work begins on producing solutions |
| Wed. Oct. 14 | Progress check. Trouble triage. |
| Mon. Oct. 19 | Product check in and staging. |
| Wed. Oct. 21 | Fall Come Back-a-Thon. Final products unveiled and rolled out. |
| Wed. Nov. 4 | Challenge Debrief |
| TBD Oct/Nov | FORGE entrepreneurial mindset course |
| Thursday Nov. 19 | Present winning ideas at FORGE x Design |
Associated prizes:
- Bursar account credits for three winners ($500) and five honorable mentions ($100). Along with credits, winning entries post on social media and run on repeating schedule on AZPM, campus CCTV, athletics, etc.
- Development funding up to $2000 for 3 winners to produce solution.
- FORGE will also offer a private entrepreneurial mindset course with guest founders and mentors encouraging participants to think about turning their idea into a real venture.
https://forge.arizona.edu/forged-ua/innovation-challenge-foundation#collapse-55
