Franklin University Announces 5th Annual CBusStudentHack Coding for Community Contest

Contact:

Sherry Mercurio
Executive Director, Office of Community Relations
(614) 947-6581
Email: sherry.mercurio@franklin.edu

Franklin University and its branch campus Urbana University have announced the 2020 CBusStudentHack Coding for Community: Securing our Community Hackathon. The two-month programming contest for central Ohio area high school students places participants in teams to create an app that addresses a real-word problem focused on the theme of this year’s contest: Securing Our Community. 

The CBusStudentHack seeks to provide Columbus area high school students 21st century skills via computer science education, prepare the students for college and career readiness, solve real world problems and open the doors of opportunity and creativity. This rewarding experience will introduce students to computer science education and help them build the skills they need to prepare for college and careers. Through the team approach, students will help develop programming skills, technical communication strategies, and open the doors of opportunity and creativity.

Teams can choose to compete in either the Rookie Hacker or Senior Hacker categories. Each team will present their project via a poster session at the April 1, 2020 finale and will receive a rating of Superior, Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, or Incomplete. The top three teams in each category will be eligible for cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,500.

This year’s kickoff event will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020 at the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) Main Library. The kick-off meeting will allow teams to brainstorm project ideas, hear from industry experts and learn from local coding experts. 

Through the remainder of the two-month period, the student teams will use coding software to develop their own app. The apps must be focused on creating apps focused on Securing our Community. The students’ work will be judged on software quality, the potential impact on peacebuilding, execution and creativity. A team of central Ohio area leaders will judge the students’ work, and winners will be announced at a finale event on April 1.

Each team member that completes the contest and presents a project in the finale event will be eligible for a $30,000 Scholarship to Franklin University or a $40,000 Scholarship to Urbana University (Select majors).

An annual event, teams are already forming so register now at cbusstudenthack.org.  Spaces are expected to fill quickly!

The CBusStudentHack couldn’t happen without community support! Franklin extends a special thank you to this year’s featured partner Battelle. To learn how your organization can support student teams, visit the CbusStudentHack website.

For more information about this year’s event, email studenthack@franklin.edu and to join the conversation on social media, please use the hashtag #CBusStudentHack.

About Franklin University

Accredited, nonprofit, and dedicated to educating adults since 1902, Franklin provides onsite course options at our Main Campus in downtown Columbus, Ohio, and is an innovator in providing personalized online education. The University offers applied in-demand undergraduate, masters, and doctorate programs that enable adult learners to achieve their educational and professional goals. Through agreements with partner institutions, the University also offers international academic programs, including its top-ranked MBA.

Franklin University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and holds specialized accreditations for specific academic programs through the International Accreditation Council for Business Education, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, and the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education. The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Franklin University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE).