Latest News
- Category: Student Voices
My Experience with the Women in Management Network
In my first two years at Telfer, I felt lost, until I stumbled upon a newly launched club focused on helping women in business. The Women in Management Network (WMN) was launched in the winter term of 2018 by then fourth-year student, Polly Leung and it caught my eye.
The club defined themselves as “passionate about gender equity and determined to achieve it through the collaboration of community leaders and students of all genders,” which really appealed to me.
In my second year, I applied to join the club and was brought on as part of the Skill Team. The Skill Team worked together to plan workshops for students at Telfer that would help them learn both hard and soft skills to benefit them in their job search and future careers. I found myself surrounded by a group of inspiring, welcoming and supportive women who were just like me.
Slowly, I began to open up more and I eventually discovered different passions I did not know I had. I eventually switched from the Skill Team to the Brand Team and also switched my degree specialization from Finance to Marketing.
By my fourth year, I became the VP Brand of WMN. I lead a group of five incredible women who helped build the brand of WMN into something bigger. This year, we were nominated as the best-marketed club.
What WMN Strives For
The club is now run by two inspiring and hardworking women, Dawn Lising and Hannah Temple. WMN has transformed under their leadership; so I spoke with them about the leadership styles and values they hope to spread amongst the team:
“At WMN, we aim to lead with passion, empathy, and authenticity. Two leadership styles that we like to instil at WMN are transformational and visionary. We work to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment in which everyone feels comfortable sharing their own unique perspectives. As we develop the next generation of female leaders, we try to exemplify strong feminine leadership. Feminine leadership styles focus on nurturing and elevating others, which allows team members to develop their own skills and strengths. This style is more horizontal than traditional leadership styles and has proven to enhance team commitment and organizational performance”, shared Hannah
As I leave the club behind, I can’t wait to see what it continues to bring in the future. Hannah and Dawn shared their hopes for the future of women in business:
“We hope to see more women being empowered into positions of leadership. More women-focused mentorship and leadership development opportunities will be important in shaping the next generation of female leaders. We would also like to see more support and resources for female entrepreneurs. According to the Harvard Business Review, women-led startups received just 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020. Institutionalized patterns of thinking have negatively impacted women entrepreneurs, and there is much work to be done in order to make venture capital funding more equitable. There are already some great female focused initiatives based in Ottawa, such as SheBoot, a 6-week bootcamp that prepares female founders to pitch their business and secure investment. We hope to see more initiatives in the future that advocate for gender equality.”
How to Get Involved
If you feel lost when you first start out at university like I did, it’s a great idea to get involved with clubs. By joining a club with a mission you feel connected to, you can become surrounded by like-minded people who can help guide you to become a better student and a more inspired professional.
If you are passionate about overcoming gender inequality in the workplace (no matter your gender), I recommend joining the Women in Management Network.
Follow them on social media to keep up with their latest events and when they start hiring, and sign up for their monthly newsletters.
I hope you find your place like I found mine, don’t give up!
- Category: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The acknowledgement of the need for reconciliation through Truth and Reconciliation Day is a step in the right direction, but there is still more progress to be made as hundreds of Indigenous communities currently hold boil water advisories.
Advisories like these mean that in order to consume and use the water through their existing water systems, Indigenous communities must first boil the water to consider it safe. In some communities, the water is not usable at all.
University of Ottawa student and Project Manager of the Nibi Project at Enactus uOttawa, Alexandra Whiteduck, grew up with unsafe drinking water, despite only living an hour and a half from the Nation’s Capital.
“I grew up in a community 1.5 hours north of Ottawa, and I grew up without clean drinking water,” shared Alexandra.
As someone who has experienced the issue first hand, Alexandra now works on the student-led initiative, Nibi, to bring safe drinking water solutions to other Indigeneous communities through testing and purification solutions.
The map on the left shows the number of Indigenous communities in Canada with boil water advisories (note that the map does not include the do-not-use advisories) - via watertoday.ca.
The Importance of Clean Drinking Water
Without clean drinking water, the basic necessities of life are not met. Alexandra encourages you to ask yourself the question:
“What tasks do you plan on doing today? Are you going to wake up and have coffee? Drink a glass of water? Take a shower? Brush your teeth? Wash the dishes? All these tasks are not accessible to Indigenous communities.
As you go throughout your day, consider these questions and ask yourself: could I do this if I didn’t have access to clean water? There will be many tasks where the answer would be no, and for Indigenous communities, it continues to be the truth for them everyday.
If we work hard towards a future where Indigenous communities all have access to clean water, their everyday lives and everyday productivity would change drastically.
The Nibi Solution
How they’re helping
Alexandra became a part of the Nibi team as the second Project Manager. The two Project Managers before her who started the initiative were other uOttawa students Michelle Wronski and Elisabeth Mercier.
“Michelle and Elisabeth founded this project because they saw a large gap in research and support for the water crisis in Indigenous communities. They were extremely passionate about the issue and wanted to find a solution to fix it.”
The two founders saw Alexandra speak on the issue, and instantly saw her as a good fit to join the team. As someone who has lived without clean drinking water, Alexandra is able to bring first-hand insights on where support was lacking and how it could change to better Indigenous communities.
The student-run initiative now focuses on three different pillars of support: Testing, purification solutions and workshops.
For testing, Nibi connects communities with certified partners that help teach them how to monitor water on site. This gives Indigenous people ownership of their water treatment and the ability to monitor the systems themselves.
Nibi also helps Indigenous communities find purification solutions that work with their socio-economic needs. Unlike working with government bodies, the communities are not forced into accepting any help or taking action after the results are given.
“We conduct need-based assessments to identify purification solutions that meet their needs. It’s all their choice; if they want to work with us we will, but if they don’t, no problem.” The Enactus team then finds the contaminants in the water and asks the communities what they hope to see from the purification process.
Lastly, Nibi hosts workshops to empower youth to keep control of their water quality and infrastructure. The Nibi team also converses with Indigenous youth to see what they hope their communities look like in the future.
How to get involved
To join the cause with Nibi, you can attend their workshops and better understand this key issue. The team is also hiring a number of students to double their team’s size this fall including positions in:
- Science
- Outreach
- Business
- Indigenous Relations
- Marketing
- Sales
On this day of Truth and Reconciliation, it's important to remember that there is still a lot to be done. We hope everyone takes this day to continue to educate themselves on the lives of Indigenous people and how they are impacted by current legislations.
- Category: Student Voices
This past year has been unexpected to say the least, but the DECA uOttawa chapter made the most of it. As things changed, and classes and clubs went online, it was clear our annual events would look a bit different. Nonetheless, with the club being led by co-presidents Ethan Koloditzky and myself, Sydney Hutchison, we were determined to give delegates an authentic DECA experience.
DECA uOttawa is a club open to all undergraduate faculties, specializing in business case competitions. With 10+ categories to choose from, delegates can compete in teams or as a solo competitor to solve cases based on real-world business problems. Students gain valuable experience with problem solving, reasoning, and can make amazing friends along the way.
This year, DECA uOttawa had its highest delegacy numbers yet, despite facing the challenges of being online. The team held multiple social events with games and prizes to provide a chance for mingling between delegates. Led by a group of hard working executives, the club successfully converted its annual internal case competition online and, for the first time, hosted competitors from Trent University, Ontario Tech University and University of Toronto St. George. The event was sponsored by Ross Video and Celtic House Venture Partners. The competition also featured speakers from Ross Video, PMP Pete Grieve, and uOttawa alumni Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau.
In January of each year, DECA chapters from across the country usually travel to Toronto to compete at Nationals. Instead, the event was held online for the first time in history, with delegates tuning in from their bedrooms and home offices to compete in one of many categories. The uOttawa chapter saw huge success with 5 delegates placing in their respective categories and qualifying for Internationals.
For its last event of the year, the uOttawa chapter decided to take on something they’d never done before: hosting their own Quizbowl competition. Quizbowl is an event that is usually held at DECA Nationals, but due to COVID, it was cancelled. Typically teams of 4 assemble and go head to head in a jeopardy-style trivia competition. To replicate the experience, a round robin tournament was held via Microsoft Teams, allowing quiz teams to compete with one another by raising their hand to answer a variety of questions.
With the year coming to an end, DECA uOttawa is proud to celebrate its achievements and end the year by cheering on 4 delegates as they compete at DECA’s International competition (ICDC) this Spring: Parker O’Neill, Hussain Kapadia, Antonia Romanisin and Megan Brink.
The DECA uOttawa chapter is left in good hands with incoming co-presidents, Genevieve Marquis and Camille Pelet, who are to make the 2021-2022 year a success.
- Category: Telfer Announcements
As part of the University of Ottawa, the Telfer School of Management prides itself in offering bilingual opportunities in countless ways within the world’s largest English and French university. Nine out of the eleven Bachelor of Commerce programs are offered in the French language, which means a student proficient in English and French can choose to study in English and in French, or in one of these two languages.
Other opportunities and incentives are offered for students to sharpen their skills in a second language. For English speakers who want to work on their French skills but still take most classes in English can take advantage of the French Immersion Stream. This stream allows students to take some of their regular content courses in French, while having the chance to benefit from a $1,000 scholarship for each year they participate in this stream if they fit the eligibility criteria. In their first two years, students have the option to take accompanying language courses to build a strong base in French. In their third and fourth years, students move on to more advanced classes related to oral and written communication.
This Francophonie Month, Telfer is highlighting four clubs and committees who value the inclusion of the French language and Francophone culture in the Telfer community.
Telfer Competitions Committee
Each year, Telfer undergraduate students compete at several case competitions where French speakers can speak in their mother tongue, including Jeux du commerce (JDC), Happening Marketing (HM), HR Symposium, and Omnium Financier (OF). The Telfer Competitions Committee (TCCT) recruits and organizes the teams from Telfer who will represent the School at these competitions. “The Telfer Competitions Committee allows students the possibility to use what they learned in class in a real-life consulting situation,” mentions TCCT President, Elias Azzi. TCCT participants can develop their analytical, problem solving, and communication skills in both French and English by solving real-world business problems in a case crack.
JDC is a large student competition offered to Canadians in their undergraduate studies located in Eastern Canada, usually attracting 1,300 participants from 13 different schools each year. The competition is predominantly conducted in French, although academic case cracks can be presented in each of the student groups’ language of choice. On the other hand, Happening Marketing is the largest marketing inter-university competition in Eastern Canada with 10 competing ten universities. HM consists of 6 academic cases, 1 quiz and 3 components: social, participation and sports. Lastly, Omnium Financier is the largest academic competition in finance and accounting in Eastern Canada. The event aims to promote careers in both fields, regroup students from different universities, and allow them to network with industry experts.
These competitions, overseen by Regroupement étudiant des facultés d’administration de l’Est du Canada (RÉFAEC), are fully bilingual, but mostly conducted in French due to the demographic of competing universities. “A proper operating proficiency in French allows students to better interact with sponsors and delegates from other universities”, states Elias. He also enjoys these competitions because of the opportunity to expand his network: “As a bilingual student, it's nice to participate in an event where French takes precedence. It's also nice to meet new people and to network in the language of your choice.”
Francophone club members largely contribute to the advancement of the Telfer Competitions Committee. “French executives bring so much to the table,”believes Elias. Some case competitions are hosted in French in different regions of Canada and Quebec. Therefore, the team must have representatives who can communicate with other committees in French. “We truly need a bilingual executive team to properly judge and serve every student on an even playing field,” says Elias. The French language also holds importance in the recruitment process for the competitions.
As a former student of the French Catholic School Board (CECCE), Elias chose to study mostly in French at Telfer. “It was close to home, but more importantly it was completely bilingual,” shares Elias. In 2020, he became president of the Telfer Competitions Committee and is proud to be a part of it: “TCCT is what I would think is the most bilingual club/committee Telfer has to offer as most of our competitions are held in Quebec. TCCT is fully inclusive and attracts unilingual and bilingual students to be part of its competitions and executive committee.”
Place à la jeunesse
Jeux du commerce also founded the Place à la jeunesse (PALJ) initiative in 2004. The francophone event consists of a university-level case competition only offered to Franco-Ontarian high school students. PALJ not only promotes the French language, but it allows students to get familiar with the business world and get the chance to win scholarships to study at the University of Ottawa. “We also believe that it is important to have the opportunity to study in one's mother tongue in post-secondary education,” mentions Émilie Desrosiers, faculty coordinator of Place à la jeunesse. The competition is the perfect opportunity to meet new people: “You can also make good connections and sharpen your networking skills with members of other schools, students from uOttawa, and our guest judges.”
The competition starts with a preliminary round in which over 90 Franco-Ontarian high school students resolve cases in 3 academic subjects: marketing, entrepreneurship and accounting. The principal committee then chooses 24 teams, 8 per academic subject, to go on to the final round. Similarly to JDC, the teams in each of the three academic categories receive the same case to crack. Despite the event being held entirely in French, teams can present in the language of their choice. A panel of academics and business experts evaluates each team’s work to determine a winner.
Place à la jeunesse is one of the few clubs on campus where French is predominant on the organizing committee. President of Place à la jeunesse, Catherine Gringas, shared her experience and motivations for being part of the club: “It makes me really proud to say that every year, our chosen organizing committee is comprised of students who study in French, appreciate the language, and believe in the importance of post-secondary education in French.” Catherine has been involved with PALJ since 2019 and became president in 2021. “I started to get involved with Place à la jeunesse as a volunteer in 2019 and I loved the concept of the competition, the club's mandate, and the people who were a part of it.”
Despite the challenge of an inevitably virtual setting this year, it was important to the group to make sure PALJ still happened so students could have the opportunity to surpass themselves. “We are all very proud to host this competition year after year even if we have to adjust it,” mentions Émilie. Place à la Jeunesse will hold two competitions this year, in April and November, and begin recruitment for their committee in the summer. “We are always looking for passionate people who have at heart education, entrepreneurship, and French, to help us organize the event,” shared Catherine.
CASCO Charity Organization
Every year, Telfer’s student-run charity organization CASCO raises money for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and highlights students and their talents at the annual Gala show. The event includes different forms of art such as dance, music and fashion. CASCO brings together students, the business community and Ottawa locals for the common cause of raising funds to support CHEO. Just last year, the organization was able to raise over $53,000 for the Recreational Therapy program at CHEO.
The CASCO team recruits members on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Within their team, the organization encourages members to speak the language of their choice: “This will hopefully make our French members feel more at ease while asking questions and know that they can express themselves in the language that they are most comfortable with,” mentions Danika Dumoulin, VP Development at CASCO. The team also reaches their French audience through Q&As on Instagram, in which the questions are answered in English and in French so any student can feel comfortable to participate.
Students involved in the CASCO Charity Organization can expect to “build interpersonal skills by working as a team and collaborating with others.” In fact, the club works together for the common objective of helping those in need. “CASCO also teaches students the importance of helping others and demonstrating that anyone can make a difference if they put their mind to it,” says Danika. As a Francophone VP and student, Danika joined CASCO and had the objective of making it a bilingual club: “When I joined CASCO and met all of these other people studying in business, I felt as if the French program was in a bubble.”
Students who join CASCO have an opportunity to meet people outside of their program and make connections that can last a lifetime. Danika shared her advice for future students interested in joining the club: “I definitely encourage French students to join CASCO, it's a great way to meet new people that study in the same field as you. The French program does not include all the students at Telfer, and I think that's very important to remember! I could not imagine a better way to remember my university experience. Not only was I introduced to some of my best friends, but they gave me a second family that I could rely on.”
Telfer Student Council
The Telfer Student Council (CéTSC) represents over 4,000 undergraduate students enrolled in Telfer’s Bachelor of Commerce. The team, comprised of around 25 representatives from different backgrounds, organizes annual events dedicated to the Telfer community and helps other Telfer clubs to fund and run their various events. They welcome each new round of first year BCom students to the school, organize a celebration for each graduating class, and hold an event recognizing the countless achievements of the Telfer Clubs community.
The CéTSC team values both the francophone and anglophone communities, but they are working to establish more French-focused initiatives in the club: “We have the responsibility to ensure that our communications material and services are offered in both official languages,” shared Nick Gratton, VP Marketing at CéTSC. Nick also added that he hopes to see more francophones get involved with CéTSC in the future: “Students who are seeking to build on francophone culture and francophone pride at Telfer should undoubtedly get involved with CéTSC. If you are passionate about something, whether its general change or a specific topic or cause, join CéTSC and/or get involved with Telfer Clubs. It's truly the best way to shape student culture and the student experience at Telfer.”
Each year, students can apply to be a part of the annual election, then Telfer students vote for the individuals they wish to see take on each role in CéTSC after the campaigning has concluded. Some roles on the team do require bilingualism as VP Marketing and VP Academic both require the completion of a language competency evaluation to ensure French and English proficiency, so that they can make sure to communicate to the student body in both official languages.
A number of Telfer clubs make sure to give Francophone students the opportunity to get involved in academic, professional, and social activities. The diversity brought by students fluent in French allows the clubs to compete at competitions on a larger scale, host events in French, network in English and in French, and recruit students who grew up with French as their first language. We look forward to continuing to see French-centric initiatives and opportunities for Francophone students to get involved in the student experience at Telfer.
- Category: Rising Stars
Since 2010, Project F.L.Y. (Future Leaders in Youth) has been run by Enactus uOttawa as a leadership program with the dedicated mission to empower youth. These university students strive to teach youth some of life’s most important skills through engaging workshops that will benefit them with the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.
Last week, Project F.L.Y. was mentioned in an article posted by The Star in Toronto, which highlighted the team’s ability to help students navigate through mental wellness: a topic that is becoming increasingly important especially with the COVID-19 restrictions put in place.
With the help of Jack.org, ambassadors of Project F.L.Y. have created a mental health curriculum across local schools, community groups, and rural communities in order to educate youth of all ages about mental wellness, while also increasing their ability to seek for help and support when needed. Content topics within the elementary curriculum includes positive self-talk, care activities, and mindfulness instruction.
Enactus uOttawa has grown tremendously over the past year, collaborating with 8 new partners, and attracting 500 attendees to their workshops.
Learn more about the various initiatives prepared under Project F.L.Y. shared in the Star.
*Archive picture from 2019
- Category: Latest News
“Every year, over 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally, with only 9% of it ever being recycled,” says Carter Barrett in the Enactus uOttawa team’s video submission for Regionals. After taking home three of the four titles at Enactus Central Canada Regionals competition, they moved on to compete at the National Competition.
With projects to eliminate global plastic waste and create sustainable businesses that use the abundance of plastic available in the world, Enactus uOttawa placed as the National Runner Up at the 2020 Enactus National Competition. They competed against 47 teams across Canada, showcasing the impact they have created with their sustainable and innovative entrepreneurship projects this year.
During the first-ever virtual edition of the national competition, the uOttawa team also received the following awards:
- Best Project Awards for Poly and Project F.L.Y. (mental health and wellness project)
- National Winner of the Youth Empowerment Challenge (Poly and Evolve Eyewear)
- Second Place in the National Entrepreneurship Competition
- National Runner up for the Entrepreneurship Challenge (Poly)
The team also received $2,000 each in grant funding for 3 of the 4 new project ideas they submitted.
How Poly Tackles Global Waste
Poly is a social enterprise that aims to tackle the massive environmental implications of plastic waste through the manufacturing of small scale machines that can melt down plastic and mould it into new products. The plastic is first cleaned, and then shredded, melted, and moulded in the Poly machines. The variety of products are limitless with the ability to create custom furniture, school supplies, kitchenware, and even small household products such as tiles.
They have been able to reduce plastic waste by working with organizations like Lush and Old Navy to repurpose the plastic items like hangers they would usually just throw away. These recycled products are then purchased by individuals, business owners, firms, and municipalities. Some businesses have even added their partnership with Poly as an extension to an existing business model.
Enactus currently plans to launch eight systems annually around the world. They already have a Poly workshop in Ottawa, and have expanded to locations like Saint John, New Brunswick; Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Ontario; Iqaluit, Nunavut; and Malone, New York. The Poly team works closely with the system operators to ensure they make their Poly business successful.
Evolve Eyewear Encourages Eco-Friendly Practices
Evolve Eyewear is an innovative social venture that creates environmentally-friendly eyewear using 100% locally recycled plastic, using the Poly machines to turn the plastic into glasses. The project encourages making more sustainable purchases and living a more eco-friendly lifestyle. With this business, the Enactus team has created job opportunities for Canadians, including employing 12 individuals with a disability to help them process their plastic and 4 at risk youth to operate their machines and produce the frames.
Project F.L.Y. Provides Entrepreneurial Skills to Youth
Project F.L.Y. is a program that works to empower and guide youth with hands-on workshops where they can learn practical skills. The team hosts an annual Perfect Pitch competition at the end of the year, a bilingual competition for high school students that introduces core business functions with a focus on entrepreneurship, creative thinking, and initiative. The students who compete are then offered the opportunity to attend The Legacy Conference hosted by Enactus uOttawa.
Another Great Year
The team has generated over $80,000 in revenue this year, and diverted over 150,000 water bottles worth of plastic waste.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the work our team has done throughout the year to make Ottawa, and Canada, a better place through sustainable impact,” shared Parker Selman, the president of Enactus uOttawa.
“Despite the challenging times, and the need for a virtual competition, we were still able to showcase our innovative projects and gain national recognition as a top team in the Enactus network,” Parker continued.
Congratulations to the Enactus uOttawa team for another highly successful year, and for your amazing work on your leading sustainable and innovative businesses!
- Category: Student Voices
Written by Alex Dalcourt, fourth-year Telfer Bachelor of Commerce student
I almost missed my first class of the semester...I caught a cold and have dark circles under my eyes. So why do I still have an unwavering smile? All of this is a welcomed sacrifice, since I had the privilege of spending the first weekend of the new year in Montréal at the Jeux Du Commerce competition alongside 82 fellow Telfer students. The slogan for this edition of the games was: #expérienceJDC—and wow, it was quite an experience!
I was part of the Debate team, and though we did not win (we lost in the quarter-finals), I am nonetheless proud of our performance. We held weekly practices since the start of the academic year, and we all improved tremendously under the supervision of our extraordinary coach.
As well, the other Telfer teams that I saw present (Marketing, Entrepreneurship and the Surprise case) were all terrific. It is clear that the entire Telfer JDC team learned many practical concepts that will be useful throughout our professional careers.
Memories Worth Much More than a Trophy
“So Alex,” friends ask me, “why was this weekend such a success, if you didn’t win?” It’s simple: because I have memories that are worth much more than a trophy. (Yes, the trophy would have been a nice bonus, but regardless...).
This academic competition is a powerful catalyst for building friendships with other Telfer students during bus trips, meals, galas, while waiting in hotel rooms, through the lack of sleep, and the jokes that are only funny because of sleep deprivation, and so on. I came out of this weekend with 81 new friends whom I will have the pleasure of seeing during and between classes in the Desmarais Building. I also came back with songs like Sam Hunt’s “House Party” stuck in my head because it was played non-stop on the bus, as well as with increased knowledge of horoscopes thanks to my new friend, and with a better idea of where various Québec universities are located in the famous Belle Province.
The atmosphere surrounding this competition promotes mutual support and collegiality among participating universities; it gave me a unique opportunity to connect with people from across Eastern Canada—whether they were from the University of Moncton, the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, and Université Laval. I had the privilege of spending time with them during the many hours we spent in isolation, playing Werewolf Hangman, and card games.
A Competition, After All
I will always remember the debates my team and I had—after all, this competition had an academic goal!
The topics were sometimes a little obscure—for example, the debate on the Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement, where we did not have Internet access to find out its specific content. However, all in all, we did rather well, and I’m very proud of that. As a result of the critical analysis skills and general knowledge we gained during our practices, we were ready to tackle almost any case that could have been thrown at us with a fresh mind and strong team spirit.
In short, this impressive competition (with 1,300 participants and organized by students) was a genuine success, in my opinion, both for my team and for the entire delegation. So, am I tired? Definitely! But am I happy to have participated in the 2020 Jeux du Commerce? That's for sure. Fatigue will dissipate, but the memories of this #experience will last forever.
About the Author:
Name: Alex Dalcourt
Email address:
LinkedIn
Instagram: @alex.dalcourt
Born in Hearst, Ontario, Alex Dalcourt is a 4th year student at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa in the Bachelor of Commerce and Juris Doctor program. He currently works as a mentor at the Telfer School and as a tutor at the University's Faculty of Law. In addition, he was co-president of the 16th edition of Place à la Jeunesse, an academic competition managed at the Telfer School.
- Category: Student Announcements
Our Telfer Bachelor of Commerce students began 2020 by competing at Jeux Du Commerce (JDC) and Jeux Du Commerce Central (JDCC) competitions, receiving 9 team and individual awards.
Through months and months of training, coaching, practice, and simulation, our JDCC team brought home 3 wins!
From January 3 to 7th, 2020, nearly 130 students represented the Telfer School of Management at the two largest undergraduate case competitions in Canada. These competitions are comprised of over 10 universities, and students can compete in either academics, sports, or social categories.
Management and business students across Canada spend months searching for the best candidates, placing them into categorical teams (such as marketing or finance), and help them practice their competition skills to compete against top students across the nation. In terms of the academics component, teams of three are given three hours to develop a case resolution that they then share with a panel of judges during a 20-minute presentation. Only the top three teams receive recognition and awards at the closing ceremony.
Jeux Du Commerce
This year, JDC was hosted at HEC Montréal in Quebec, where Telfer students were competing against 13 other schools in Québec. With a team of 82 students, Telfer brought home:
2 VIP Awards
- Andre Caissie - Accounting Case
- Charles Doray - Surprise Case
1 Team MVP (4 people)
- Quinn St. Pierre
- Sammy Najm
- Olivia Yap
- Angela Monfleury
Students are selected for VIP awards by academic judges for standing out in their category and presentation.
MVPs are awarded only to 1 person per category but in this case, was given to one team: the social team.
Jeux Du Commerce Central
At JDCC, Telfer students travelled to St.Catherines, Ontario to compete at Brock University, where Telfer students were competing against 11 other schools from Ontario. With a team of 46 students, Telfer brought home:
3 Podium Awards
- 1st place - HR case (Joy Xu, Aman Sidhu, Soumaya Esanhaji)
- 3rd place - Debate case (Samuel Benhamou, Aadi Koundal, Joseph Salem, Omar Al Salaq)
- 3rd place - Wildcard case (Bobby Wong, Dylan Budimir-Hussey, Soumaya Esanhaji)
2 VIP Awards
- Bobby Wong - Entrepreneurship case
- Dylan Budimir Hussey - Finance case
1 MVP
- Amede Fontaine - Sports team
The Telfer Competitions Committee (TCCT) is the student association that selects and prepares undergraduate delegations for both JDC and JDCC. They are the students that reach out to all the coaches, which significantly impacts the team’s success. They also provide all the practice cases and run the case simulations.
Leah Salzman, President of TCCT said:
“I would like to commend the hard work of every delegate that participated this year. I would also like to recognize the outstanding work of both the JDC Coordinators and JDCC Captains. Without them and the delegates, none of this would be possible. Lastly I would like to thank the Telfer faculty for their ongoing support.”
We look forward to cheering on our Telfer students again at next year’s JDC and JDCC competitions! Now, TCCT is getting ready for the next case competition, Happening Marketing, taking place in Spring 2020.
- Category: Student Announcements
The evening of Monday, November 25th marked Telfer student non-profit organization, CASCO’s 20th annual gala. That’s a full generation raising over $600,000 in funds for the kids at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). This year, CASCO President, Michaela McLoughlin, and her hard-working team raised $62,005 for CHEO, funds that will go towards youth mental health initiatives.
The 2019 Gala theme of “The Ripple Effect” came to life at the event with inspiring dancing, singing, and modelling from University of Ottawa students who rehearse every weekend in the fall to prepare for this night. The theme of the gala was moving as each performance was connected to the overall idea that one small action can create a ripple effect that impacts others and can even change the world. The narrator of the show eloquently explained how values such as courage, perseverance, and love have been emulated by many influential leaders such as Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Terry Fox, Malala Yousafzai, Ellen DeGeneres and more.
The CASCO team’s involvement doesn’t end at its spectacular gala though. Students work throughout the entire year to put on unique fundraisers that lead up to the final event. These give students the opportunity to give back to the community while having fun at sports tournaments, paint lessons, bake sales, trivia nights, and more.
CASCO was founded in 1998 by Telfer alumni, Alexandre St-Jean and Tuan Nguyen to honour their friend, Eric Danis who passed away from Leukemia. Every year since then, Telfer students have put in countless hours of work and passion towards the cause, and they’re not done yet.
Congratulations to the entire CASCO team and cast on another successful year and gala!
- Category: Telfer Announcements
Over the past 20 years, CASCO, a Telfer student non-profit organization, has inspired the Ottawa community to give back to the families at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). Every year, a hundred students from the Telfer School of Management come together to host events to support and fundraise for CHEO. Through the hard work and dedication of the uOttawa CASCO team, over $500,000 has been raised for CHEO.
The CASCO non-profit organization was founded by two students in the BCom program at the Telfer School of Management in 1998. Their mission was to raise money for their friend who had passed away from Leukemia. Today, a fourth-year BCom student, Michaela McLoughlin, is running CASCO as this year’s president, with the help of 51 students on the executive team. Michaela joined CASCO three years ago when she discovered that the daughter of a family at work was being treated for brain cancer at CHEO. Since CASCO was an initiative that fundraises for CHEO, she decided to join so that she could make a direct impact.
CASCO’s mission for this year is to grow its presence in the Ottawa community. The executive team is working with CHEO to create more events to support the families at CHEO. The non-profit’s main event, the CASCO gala, features students from the Telfer School of Management in an evening of song, dance, and fashion. Telfer students, business professionals, and community members come together to support CHEO and see a year’s work come together on stage.
Find out more about the involvement of Telfer students in the student club CASCO, their impact on CHEO, and their pursuit of making an impact in the Ottawa community:
To find out more about the Telfer Student Experience: bit.ly/TelferImpact-Student-Experience
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The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please