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Rowdy Datathon 2024: Volunteer - Mentor - Judge Sign-Up Form

Thank you for showing interest in volunteering, mentoring and/or judging for this year's Rowdy Datathon.

The Rowdy Datathon is a free, weekend-long, overnight hackathon focused on data science where students (called "hackers" during the event) can network, learn about data science, code, and collaborate!

During the Rowdy Datathon, hackers will have 24 consecutive hours starting on Saturday (October 5th) to work on a project as it relates to the data set and challenge provided to them. Hackers can work in teams of up to 4 students and towards the end of the hackathon, students will present their project to a team of judges who will evaluate their work and select winners that will be announced during the closing ceremony on Sunday (October 6th)!
This year's Rowdy Datathon will take place on October 5th - 6th, 2024 at UTSA's downtown School of Data Science building.
In previous years, we have noted that often times, volunteers will also sign up to be mentors, mentors will also sign up to be judges, etc. So, this year's volunteer, mentor and judge sign-up form provides a central sign-up process! Please feel free to select multiple roles on the following page and indicate your most accurate availability*.
*Shift assignment will be based on your availability, experience, and for judging and mentoring we will also take into consideration your technical knowledge!

Below is a brief overview of each role to help in your submission process

Volunteering
Volunteers can help organizers throughout the event in a variety of ways! For example, depending on your shift, you may help by checking in hackers, helping with catering, and supporting the overall hacker experience. Depending on your indicated availability, shift assignments may range from 2 to 8 hours and some volunteers may be scheduled prior to the event's start time of 9am on Saturday. Depending on your shift time, lunch, dinner, or snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Mentoring
Mentors can help hackers during the 24-hour "hacking" portion of the event. This may include helping hackers set up a development environment, helping hackers debug code, explaining statistical concepts, etc. Mentors generally sign up for a 2 to 4-hour shift that can be longer depending on your availability. There will be daytime and overnight shifts available for mentors. We often see the highest demand for mentors starting early Sunday morning.
Hackers will receive the main challenge documents as well as relevant data sets and supplementary documentation at the start of the event. Mentors will also have access to all of these materials, as well as a mentor orientation session, in the coming days leading up to the Datathon. Depending on your shift time, lunch, dinner, or snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Judging
Judging will take place on Sunday (October 6), judges will arrive for a judging orientation session where the parameters of the challenge will be discussed for project evaluation. After projects are submitted, hacker teams will present their projects to the judges. Then, following the judging period, judges will deliberate in their finds to select Datathon winners. The judging shift will start promptly at 12pm on Sunday and will end by 5pm on Sunday. Lunch will be provided during judging orientation.