NSBE & HBCU Code-A-Thon

“What would you like the power to do?”

At Bank of America, we ask this question every day of all those we serve. It is at the core of how we live our values and deliver our purpose. It has been the driving idea for 240 years, across all of our businesses and has been core to our legacy of capabilities and service.

Program Overview:

The goal of this challenge is to bridge the gap between Bank of America’s Global Technology Organization and aspiring student populations studying technology. The challenge provides a means for Global Technology to deepen relationships within key academic communities by partnering in the development of student talents and skills through an investment of time, access to technology and information as well as through shared experience. Participating teams will have the opportunity to showcase their technical skills in providing “real-world”, non-banking software solutions to issues relevant to the college experience.

*All solutions/working prototypes will remain the property of the students. *

Program Structure:

Who are we looking for?

• Degree Type: Candidates arerequired to be pursuing an undergraduate bachelor’s degree (BA/BS/BSc/BEng)
• Graduation Dates: All Classifications
• Major/Course of Study:Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Data Science, or similar degree of relevance

School Team Requirements:

• Teams may have up to four (4) members with one or more freshmen or sophomore level students.
• Schools may host up to four (4) individual teams.

Code-A-Thon Format:

• Code a thon will consist of two (2) phases:
  • Phase One - Virtual
    • Individual teams submit solutions to Bank of America
    • Bank of America will a team per school for semifinal competition
  • Phase Two - In-person (semi-finals)
  • *In-Person @ Bank of America Charlotte Headquarters
  • Leadership networking opportunity
  • Team to overview and demo solutions
• Finalist awarded.

Judging Criteria:

• ​Innovation (25%): Solution involves a new or unique approach.
• Technical Solution (25%): Demonstrates a variety of coding skills with well-designed logic and code structure.
• Presentation (25%): How well the team presents their issue, approach & solution.
• Visual Appeal (25%): Measures how polished or complete the solution is visually to the end user.

Presentation Requirements:

• 5 – 10 min, max. 5 slides
• 5 min Q&A
• Provide overview of the issue being resolved and why it’s important to address (executive summary)
• Overview of approach (focus on coding/tech utilization and why)
• Highlight technical challenges and resolutions.
• Record (voice over) presentation (if unable to present live)
• Submit electronic copy, present via Webex.

Event Dates  

• Registration Open: Mar 8 – Mar28
• Virtual Kickoff: April 3rd
• Phase One (Virtual): April 4th – 8th 
• Reporting/Judging: Apr 9th – 10th
• Notification of Semi-Finalists: April 10th
• Phase Two (In-Person): April 18th & 19th

*Travel and lodging for semi-finalist will be provided by Bank of America. *