Terms and Conditions of Entry

Page updated 24 June 2013

Entries

1. Entries are open to students enrolled in a degree programme at any level at any New Zealand university as specified by the Ministry of Education.
2. All entries must be received via email to unichallenge@treasury.govt.nz by 5pm Monday 26 August 2013.
3. Entries are limited to one per person.
4. Direct relatives of Treasury employees as at 26 August 2013 may submit essays, but are ineligible to receive the $2,500 scholarship prize. If direct relatives of Treasury employees do submit essays, however, they will be eligible to be selected as finalists and invited to the Treasury to present the analysis in their essays. For these purposes, a “direct relative” is a child, parent, or sibling, including step-parents, children, and siblings.
5. Each essay must be the work of the student submitting it and any sources (published or unpublished) must be acknowledged.

Prize

1. The writer of the best essay, as judged by the Treasury, will be awarded a $2,500 scholarship towards his or her university fees for 2014.
2. The Treasury will pay the $2,500 directly to the winning student upon receiving a statement setting out that student’s university fees for 2014. The student must then provide the Treasury with a receipt showing that those fees have been paid.
3. If the winning student’s university fees for 2014 total less than $2,500 then the scholarship awarded will be for that lesser amount.
4. If the winner of the competition does not intend to study in 2014 but intends to study at a New Zealand university at a later date, the Treasury may in its discretion decide that the scholarship can be claimed at that later date.
5. The Treasury may decline to award the $2,500 scholarship if it determines that none of the entries are of a sufficient standard to warrant it.
6. The judges’ decision on the best essay is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
7. Entrants shall not contact judges for direct feedback on the judging process or results.

Presentation at Treasury

1. Up to 8 entrants (winner included) will be chosen to go forward to a Presentation Day in Wellington based on the strength of their essays.  The exact number of persons brought to Wellington will be at the discretion of Treasury.
2. Finalists selected for the Wellington final will be notified, and the names posted on the University Challenge website.
3. Finalists will need to provide presentation slides, if any, via email, to unichallenge@treasury.govt.nz, by 5pm Monday 23 September.
4. For finalists that are located outside of the Greater Wellington Area, The Treasury will cover the cost of travel within New Zealand to and from Wellington.
5. The Treasury may decide not to hold the Presentation Day if it judges that the standard of entries to the University Challenge are not of a sufficient standard to warrant it.

Use of personal information

1. By entering an essay in the University challenge, you grant permission to the Treasury to send you information about the University Challenge (for example, information about the Presentation Day). The Treasury will not share your email address or other details about you with anyone else, including other entrants, without your permission. Nor will the Treasury use your email address to send you information on anything other than the University Challenge without your permission.
2. The Treasury does not intend to share the essays you submit with any other person or organisation. It is possible that it may wish to put the winning or finalist essays up on the Treasury website, but it will seek your permission before doing that.
3. The Treasury is a government department and accordingly is subject to the Official Information Act 1982. The essays submitted to the University Challenge will constitute “official information”, so it is possible that the Treasury will be obliged to release some or all of the essays if it receives a request for them.

General

1. Any entrant failing to comply with these terms and conditions may be disqualified from the competition.
2. The Treasury reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions or issue binding rulings on any matter not included in these terms and conditions. Such decisions shall be final.
3. All entrants agree to participate in any un-paid media/promotional programme (eg, press, TV interviews, etc.), as required by The Treasury.