Rebecca Dial and the Students’ Association are providing students with the opportunity to improve the university through the Greatest Idea Challenge.

The Greatest Idea Challenge is a competition that encourages students to present a plan for addressing an issue on campus. The winner will ultimately present his or her idea to the administration for implementation next year.  SA officially announced the challenge on Monday through social media and email.

Rebecca Dial, SA executive president, said last year’s SA president, Conner Best, helped inspire her to come up with the idea.

“I am very aware that SA does not represent all of the students on campus and we don’t have a monopoly on good ideas,” said Dial, senior political science major from Lexington, S.C. “I just wanted to create a way for students to get more involved.”

“There’s such a disconnect between students and administrators of the higher level, and so really bringing those two together for students to talk directly to administrators and administrators to hear directly from students what they think should be done to improve the school.”

The challenge will include three levels of competition. The first round entails completing a short video detailing the issue being addressed, including a proposed solution.

“Those will be judged by a committee of some ACU staff members,” Dial said. “We also have four students who sit on the Student Life Committee as student representatives, they will be judges, and I will be a judge as well.”

The semifinalists will be announced the Monday after Spring Break and invited to a workshop on March 23 to help them further develop their ideas. They will then present their ideas to the strategic review team, who will be in three person panels and comprised of upper level administrators.

“It will be a more involved presentation to them than just the video,” Dial said.

The finalists will present to the senior leadership team, which includes Dr. Phil Schubert, ACU president, and his senior level advisers.

“The finalists will be judged and the winner will be announced April 19,” Dial said. “It’s a really great way to talk to administrators who are really high up and can get things done.”

The winner will receive a $2,000 prize and will meet with administration to have his idea implemented. Runner-ups will receive $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

“Even if your idea isn’t selected as one of the top three winners, senior level administrators have heard it,” Dial said. “There’s a possibility they can work on it in other ways with you even if you don’t win in this competition.”

Joseph Austin, SA executive treasurer, said he is excited about the challenge and will be participating himself.

“If you don’t get it this year, there’s always next year,” said Austin, senior accounting and pre-law major from Houston. “Greatest Idea Challenge doesn’t just expose students with great ideas, it exposes administrators.”

Submissions must be sent to jac08b@acu.edu by March 8. Visit acustudents.com for full details and rules of entry.