After more than 2 months of launching and selecting, the EQuest EXEL final round recorded 7 creative projects from the following universities: Keiser Vietnam University, Phu Xuan University, Saigon Business School, Vietnam - America College in Hanoi, Vietnam - America College in Can Tho, Vietnam - America College in Ho Chi Minh City, and Saigon Polytechnic College. The solutions focused on 3 main issues that students are particularly concerned with, such as Student Support Services, Financial Support, and Career Guidance.
According to Mr. David Armstrong (Deputy Chairman of EQuest Group, Head of the Organizing Committee of the contest), this is the first year that the EQuest EXEL contest has been organized, with the aim of promoting a spirit of creativity, finding solutions to support, and helping EQuest students achieve success in the future. The contest was immediately welcomed and enthusiastically participated by students.
“We evaluate projects based on 4 criteria: feasibility and alignment with the contest's objectives, creativity and innovation, the ability to create a positive impact and the potential for project replication, as well as the quality of presentation and the ability to convey ideas to the judges of each team.
With over 30 years of experience in the education sector, managing many universities in the state of Florida (USA), I am proud to see EQuest students actively cooperating with the school to improve the quality of learning and living of students. We commit to accompanying students, creating favorable conditions for creative ideas to be realized and bringing practical values” - Mr. David Armstrong said.
The participating teams had a project presentation, received many counter-questions from the judges, and the project “LION Rewards - Activity Points Reward System for Students” of Vietnam - America College in Hanoi excelled in winning the first prize. This project encourages students to actively participate in school-wide movements by accumulating activity points. There, students have the freedom to choose events that suit their interests and abilities, and the accumulated points will bring certificates, scholarships, and contribute to the academic achievement of each individual.
Ms. Pham Tran Thu Nga - project leader shared: “LION Rewards” was launched with the aim of creating a community of connected, dynamic, and creative students with interesting activities. The program has the name “LION” - an abbreviation of “Loving - Independent - Original - Nimble”, the values that the school wants to spread to Vietnam - America College in Hanoi students.
The project combines the familiar point accumulation mechanism to encourage students to actively participate and contribute ideas for school activities. The lion mascot of the project was inspired by the symbol of the ancient lion, giving a sense of familiarity and memorability. After being implemented, “LION Rewards” has attracted a large number of students to participate, successfully building the image of a friendly and positive lion, and developing an effective point accumulation and exchange system, bringing benefits to students.
“In the future, “LION Rewards” will be a platform connecting students, where everyone can share, learn, and work together to create meaningful activities. The ambitious goal is to turn LION Rewards into an indispensable part of the student service ecosystem of the school, contributing to creating a dynamic and connected Vietnamese-American community” - Ms. Nga enthusiastically shared.
At the contest, another comprehensive student support solution also achieved high results is the “PXUNI Student Service Center” implemented by Phu Xuan University. With this project, Phu Xuan University has developed an application to support students, meeting the diverse needs of students in terms of physical, mental, intellectual, and social life. Through the application and online information portal, students can easily access and receive the necessary support with two forms: direct and online.
Coming to the “PXUNI Student Service Center”, students will have the opportunity to expand their social network and receive guidance from the group of Phu Xuan University alumni through contact information and current profession displayed on the application. To make the school a strong and reliable haven, where students belong, students can share and express their emotional and psychological difficulties at private counseling sessions.
In addition to other projects that were highly evaluated in the contest, including the “Three-Legged Stool” model at Vietnam - America College in Can Tho, combining with the “Extended Arm” method to improve the quality of service and learning environment for students, as well as accompanying and bringing peace of mind to parents.
Mr. David Armstrong added that the EQuest EXEL contest will be held annually for students of colleges and universities at EQuest in particular and may be expanded in the future. EQuest hopes that this will become a new intellectual playground for students to actively create and innovate many useful solutions.
