The student government is hoping to wow MTV with a new and innovative way of explaining financial aid options to students.
The Associated Students of Madison’s University Affairs Committee, formerly Academic Affairs, continued working on their project for MTV’s “Get Schooled” competition, which challenges current and future college students to create a multimedia tool which will help students better understand the financial aid process.
University Affairs Chair Carl Fergus said he wants to put together a group of students from the University of Wisconsin to work on creating the multimedia tool and then submit it from UW.
The winner of the contest receives $10,000 from MTV, Fergus said.
“I think it would be really exciting if UW could craft a proposal that really helps with the financial aid process, and I think it would be even cooler if we won the $10,000 and donated it directly to our financial aid programs,” Fergus said.
He added they would donate the money to the UW Foundation’s Great People Scholarship, because they have a fund to match any donations they receive.
Committee member Zach Ivins suggested they could ask the student body for ideas, and if someone’s idea wins they could let them donate $2,000 out of the prize money to a foundation of their choice.
Fergus said he has sent out an email to all undergraduate and graduate computer science students on campus to see if anyone is interested in helping design the multimedia tool.
Committee member Chung Nga Moy asked if they had any idea what kind of multimedia they wanted to use.
Fergus said it all depends on what kind of people they found and what their technical skills were.
“If we can get someone who can create a whole video game that would be pretty sweet,” Fergus said.
The committee also announced they will be donating any leftover books from their textbook swap at the beginning of the semester to a group on campus.
Fergus said if anyone would like to pick up a book before they are donated, they can come to the ASM office on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
