Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Create a New Team (For Students and Teachers)

1. First, review the National Guidelines and National College Fed Challenge Rubric and Scoring Sheet (PDF) under "Team Presentations and Scoring."

Create a Club or Organization Using these Five Main Steps:

1. Get involved in similar student organizations and see if they have a sub-team of a club dedicated to the Fed Challenge, if so get involved, if not:
   • Create a club and team as a separate organization. Sometimes this is housed in a campus's career services, but each school may differ.
2. Meet with your Economic Department Director or equivalent for career services and other faculty members to garner support.
3. If starting a club from scratch, plan out your mission statement, objectives (see sample objectives below), the structure of the overall club, and the resources needed.
4. Use a fillable poster around campus to promote competition participation. 
5. Once you obtain official approval to be a new organization and possibly secure support from the department for marketing materials, you may:
   • go to lectures to pitch the club
   • email other organizations to raise awareness
   • hand out flyers
   • attend the campus career fair
   • use personal networks to get students interested

Sample Objectives of a Fed Challenge Team/Club:

• Develop job relevant skills in all Fed Challenge club members
  • Make all members (some clubs have about 3-5 "analysts" that support each presentation member) responsible for specific research objectives and require them to present their findings
    • Developing research, leadership, time management, and presentation skills
  • Get members certified in different statistical and financial software platforms.
• Expose members to different career paths within economics and finance
  • Bring in speakers, as possible through:
    • Professors
    • PhD students in economics
    • Current employees at the Federal Reserve
    • Private sector finance professionals
  • Attend economic conferences in local area
• Develop, refine, and execute a solid presentation that can be used as a template (year over year) for future generations of the club as a reference.
• Cultivate leaders within the club to develop a pipeline of talent to lead the organization moving forward
  • Institute a mentorship program to foster relationships between experienced and less experienced member