Challenge paused, but we did not!

As our team got ready to attend the orientation, we received the following email, announcing that the Digital Well-being Challenge was paused and that the funding was not guaranteed. 

So I asked my students whether they wanted to continue with our planned activity. All but one student attended the first planning meeting, and they all wanted to continue with the challenge. 

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Hi Kip,
 
I wanted to follow-up with a few updates about the Digital Well-Being Challenge.
 
We have communicated to our new political leadership about the Digital Well-Being Challenge and are waiting on the greenlight to continue moving forward. This is pretty typical – at the start of any new administration, there is a bit of a “holding pattern” as new political appointees are onboarded and they assess the alignment of current projects with their new priorities. While we are hopeful that the Challenge will receive the greenlight to continue, I do want to acknowledge that there is a chance we do not get approval to continue with the project.
 
We appreciate the work teams have put in so far with preparing their applications, assembling their teams, and submitting their consent forms – but we do want to wait until we have the greenlight before we ask you all to commit time to the Orientation or Summit. Because of this, here are the adjustments we are making:
 

1. Canceling Orientation - At this time, we are going to cancel the synchronous orientation sessions being planned for 2/27 and 3/1.
2. Asynchronous Orientation Materials - We are tweaking the orientation workbook and activities so that teams, if they choose, can complete these activities on their own. This might look like a series of shorter check-ins with your Challenge Team to work through the activities we’d planned for the Orientation to help further refine your problem statement in preparation for the Summit. Just like the Orientation, this is voluntary, but encouraged. We will send the workbook to team leads by this Friday.
3. Continue holding current Summit dates - We plan to keep the current Summit dates (3/22 and 4/5) with the goal of getting a greenlight by Wednesday, March 12th. If we do not get a greenlight or a redlight by 3/12, we will postpone the Summits and work with teams to identify dates that might work.

 
Finally, I also wanted to share that we are waiting on confirmation that the funding we’d previously secured for the prize payments is still available. There is a chance that even with a greenlight to continue the Challenge, we may not receive the funding for the prize payments. I realize this may be a decision point for some teams on whether they will continue participating and wanted to share this information.
 
Despite the uncertainty, the Challenge Planning Team remains excited about the Digital Well-Being Challenge and committed to the project. We know that you all are excited, too, and appreciate your flexibility during this period.
 
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
 
Thanks,

Sara Trettin