Enrich your network with high-level public service professionals who will support you throughout the weekend to perfect your pitch and make it a real success!
Get the chance to pitch your ideas to a panel of experts with over 60 years of public service experience between them:
• Huguette Labelle
• Kevin Page
• François Guimont
The FSS Challenge is an innovation competition that uses collective intelligence to imagine, create, and develop innovative solutions to social challenges.
During the three-day competition, participants will pool their knowledge and expertise to develop a briefing book for a new federal government minister, following their appointment to Cabinet. As a team, they will create a written document and an oral briefing from the point of view of the department's non-partisan public service team, to which the minister has just been assigned.
Over $5,000 in prizes will be shared between the winning teams. All participants will receive a micro-credit (1.5 credits).
Dates
- A pre-competition event will be held on September 17, 2024, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Panelists will include Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, and Gina Wilson, Deputy Minister of Indigenous Services Canada. They will share their experiences with Professor Michael Wernick, Chair of uOttawa's Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management who was a key player in several changes of government changes over a long public service career. Attendance at this pre-competition event is not mandatory. Participants who do not attend will have to watch the recording before the start of the Challenge.
- Friday, September 27, 7 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
- Saturday, September 28, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Sunday, September 29, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (followed by a reception)
NOTE: Participants must attend the ENTIRE competition (27, 28, 29 September) to obtain the micro-credit.
Location
Social Sciences Building, FSS
Free event!
What to expect
- The challenge will be held in French and English.
- Participants will be paired in teams of 4 to 6, depending on their language of use. The teams will be created among all registered students on September 23.
- During the Challenge, teams will draw on the knowledge and experience of graduate mentors working in the public service to propose solutions to a specific challenge. The challenge, and the evaluation grid, will be revealed at the start of the challenge.
- Snacks will be provided for participants during the weekend. Lunch will not be provided.
- Participants will be enrolled in microcredit FSS 3302 (1.5 units). To obtain the microcredit, participants must
- attend (or watch the recording) of the September 18 event
- complete the pre-event readings
- be present for the entire Challenge
- present their project on Sunday
- submit a written briefing
- Grading for the course will be based on S (satisfactory) or NS (unsatisfactory).
Winning teams will be awarded cash prizes:
- First place: $500 per team member
- Second place: $250 per team member
- Third place: $250 per team member
Additional details will be available in the course syllabus for students who register.