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HONORS SELF- DESIGNED PROPOSAL
Complete this proposal prior to your experience’s start date and upload it in the UHP Database
(https://webapps.uc.edu/uchonorsstudent). Create an experience (“Add a new record”) in the “Tracking Project”
tab and upload your proposal document as an attachment. The deadline for submitting proposals is the 5th of
each month (excluding July).
Proposals are intended to be well developed plans for your experience. However, experiences are exploratory in
nature, and we are flexible with changes throughout the experience. If your experience changes after receiving
approval on your proposal, contact your honors advisor to verify the changes still satisfy the requirements of an
honors experience.
Basic Information
Full Name: Katherine Butler
Title of Project: KBS Major Exploration
Thematic Area(s): Creativity, Research
Expected Start Date: November
Expected End Date: February (upkeep far into the future)
GUIDELINES
1. Proposal submission timeline: Proposals should be submitted at least one month prior to the expected
start date of the experience. International experiences require at least two months’ notice. Contact your
honors advisor immediately for any exceptions.
2. Proposal length: While the quality of the proposal is most important, strong proposals are typically 3-4
pages single-spaced.
3. Proposal format: Please maintain the proposal format (e.g. headers, layout)
4. Time commitment: Experiences should consist of at least 75-90 hours of preparation, execution, and
reflection. This is approximately equivalent to the commitment of honors seminars and pre-approved
experiences.
REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
All self-designed international travel experiences require two months’ notice and must be at least one week in
length. You will need to provide a detailed itinerary (dates, locations and activities). If participating in
independent travel (not with UC faculty, staff or student group), you must also fill out a Worldwide: Honors
Experience application via UC International.
Additionally, the Student Travel Policy restricts UC-sponsored travel to countries under a U.S. Department of
State Travel Warning. Those who wish to visit a country with a travel warning must seek an exemption through
UC International. Students traveling without a faculty or staff leader must individually request an exemption.
We cannot allow you to count this travel as an honors experience nor can we give you a grant without an
approved exemption.
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1. Abstract
Briefly describe the experience. What makes this experience personally meaningful? What goals do you have for this
experience? What is your timeline for this experience?
*If you are proposing an international experience, provide an itinerary.
**If you are developing this experience from an existing opportunity (class with a study tour, campus organization, co-op,
etc.) that is not already an honors seminar or pre-approved experience, how will you differentiate your experience from
what is already required of other students?
When thinking about a self-designed honors experience I knew that I wanted to do something that I cared
about and get a lot out of. Starting off my first year I am an undesignated major in the Lindner College of Business
and I find myself constantly asking people questions about their major. My constant questioning gave me an idea,
why not put all of these students great advice to good use, I know that I cannot be the only business student
wanting this information.
My plan is to compile testimonials from professors, students, and maybe even alumni into one convenient
and easy to use website for current and prospective students to get an inside look. As I started brainstorming I
decided to speak with my Business Honorary Director to get her opinion and see if I could somehow incorporate
the Kolodzik Business Scholars into the experience. With the help of Ruth Seiple, KBS Director, and Jeremy
Fernandez, KBSA President, I hope to use the support of Kolodzik Business Scholar students to kick-start my
project and create a place for KBS members to learn about other people’s experience and hopefully help them
shape their own time at UC. I plan to create a form for participants to fill out online or in a face-to-face interview
where they will answer questions about their major and time at UC, some examples include:
 What year are you?
 What are your past and current majors/minors?
 If you have changed majors/minors, why?
 Why did you choose your current major?
 What do you hope/plan to do after you graduate?
 Why did you choose to be a member of the Kolodzik Business Scholars?
 How has Kolodzik Business Scholars shaped your experience?
This Experience is personally meaningful to me because I will be one of the students benefiting from the
information. As an undesignated major in the school of business the best resource is the experience of others and
the ability to find this information in one place could help me figure out my own major. I also have an interest in
consumer research and this project would allow me to assess my level of interest.
This experience will be a long process that will demand a lot of dedication but I hope to reach certain goals
over my time working. First, I hope to create a well-designed website that is easy to access and navigate that can
be helpful for students in and looking at the Lindner College of Business. I also hope to receive a large amount of
submissions so that there is a well-rounded amount of information available on the website. Another goal that I
hope to complete over my time engaged in the experience is to gain relationships among my peers that can help me
in my time at UC as well as after I graduate.
Because my experience can change as I am moving through the motions I do not plan on confining myself on a
strict concrete timeline but I have made sure to set out general guidelines for myself to check that I am on track.
November 23: Give Presentation at KBSA Meeting
 At the Kolodzik Business Scholars Association meeting I will unveil my plans and ask for the
support of the students and advising team
November 23-January 12 (End of Winter Break): Accept Submissions/Interviews
 From the KBSA meeting till the end of Winter Break I hope to receive the majority of submissions
and have most of my interviews finished
January 12-Mid-Febrary: Apply Info to Website and Ready It for Launch
 There will hopefully be a lot of info that needs to be formatted in an efficient and user friendly way
 I want to make sure that the website looks professional before publication
Post-Publishing: Upkeep and Fixes
 I want to make sure any late submissions are included in the website
 Realize the first product will not be perfect and will need to be tweaked as problems arise
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Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Required Revisions:
Effective:
Brief description of the experience
Personal connection to the experience
Identified goals for the experience
Timeline from start to finish
*Itinerary (international experiences only)
**Explanation of differentiated experience
from what is required of other students
2. Experience Advisor
Identify an experience advisor and provide their contact information. Explain why you chose this person and how you
plan to utilize your advisor for this experience.
Note: Advisor(s) should have knowledge or expertise in an area related to the experience. Honors advisors, undergraduate
students, and family members cannot be experience advisors.
Ruth Seiple
Ruth.seiple@uc.edu
513-556-7155
520 Carl H. Lindner Hall
Ruth Seiple has been a part of my college experience from the beginning as the Director of the Kolodzik
Business Scholars. As the Director she has spoken to KBS on multiple occasions and I can easily see her drive for
teaching business and her passion for student success.
I plan to utilize Ruth Seiple as both a mentor and partner in my self-designed experience. One of the
reasons that I talked to Professor Seiple about my idea was her interest in working on the KBS webpage, by
partnering with her I hoped to aid her and learn a lot along the way. I also hope to use Professor Seiple as a
mentor for the project as a whole, she is getting certified to run the KBS webpage and will help me funnel my
information into a useful website.
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Required Revisions:
Experience advisor name and contact
information
Description of why advisor was selected
Specific plans to engage with advisor
3. Connection to Learning Outcomes
Effective:
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List 3 learning outcomes from any thematic area(s). Provide specific activities you plan to engage in to help you make
progress towards the chosen learning outcomes. Describe how you expect each activity to help your progress. Include an
estimated time commitment for those activities.
1. Understand and optimize the use of people, technology, physical resources or community in a creative
process. (CREATIVITY)
a. Specifically I will have to develop the skills necessary to get the information I need and a method of
relaying it to others. One of the first steps will be creating a format for the one-on-one and online
interviews. On top of creating an interview format, learning how to appropriately conduct an
interview is another skill that will be need in the creative process. After the interviews are finished I
will have to work on a plan to display that will be efficient and aesthetic.
b. The KBS Major Exploration is a research project but will include a large creative aspect as well. In
order to conduct the research I want to I will have to first optimize the use of people by conducting
interviews among my peers and others. I will also have to use technology to compile the
information and present it after the research is finished. I also hope to learn about better ways to
use these resources in the creative process, as I go through my research I will learn the dos and
don’ts of research and polling. The skills learned through a creative process will help me gain some
experience that can be relayed into a future in Marketing.
c. Estimated Time Commitment: 10 hours
2. Identify and apply appropriate methods to collect and organize data for analysis. (RESEARCH)
a. Similar to optimizing the use of people in a creative process identifying and applying appropriate
methods to collect and organize data for analysis will be important to my experience. First I hope
to conduct some practice interviews before opening them up to all students. Next to apply the
methods of collection I plan to speak at the Kolodzik Business Scholars Association and ask the
students for support in my experience. As I start receiving information I will also have to try out
different methods of organization to find out which works best with the type and amount of
information.
b. This objective will help me make sure that I will move through my experience in an efficient and
professional way. Having good way to identify and apply appropriate methods to collect and
organize the data for analysis will help make my experience work smoothly.
c. Estimated Time Commitment: 50 hours
3. Produce dissemination appropriate to the field in order to share the results or impact of the research.
(RESEARCH)
a. After the research is completed my next commitment will be disseminating the information to
those who want it. I plan to work with Professor Seiple to implement the information on the KBS
website. Depending on the amount of information I will condense or supplement student
testimonials with other data. After the information is public I will have to market to students the
availability of the data. To help market I will first try to work with current student and then try to
branch out with other programs and maybe be a part of the recruitment process in the future.
b. Although collecting the data is a very important part of the experience it would not have much
meaning if it was not shared. I really hope that the information that I collect will be helpful to
students and will help them in their journeys to find a major alongside me.
c. Estimated Time Commitment: 15 hours
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Required Revisions:
Effective:
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3 learning outcomes explicitly identified
from any thematic area(s)
Examples of activities and explanation of
how each will assist the progress towards
the chosen learning outcome
Estimated time commitment for each
activity
4. Academic Resources Connected to the Learning Outcomes
List 1-2 academic resources you plan to use to enhance your understanding of the learning outcomes. Explain how each
resource connects to your learning outcome(s) and helps you execute your experience. Please include the title and
author/creator for each resource.
Note: Academic resources are professional works that can be used to assist your understanding of the topic. Some
examples are books, documentaries, videos, or research journals.
Market Research the Inside Look
BBC Documentary
This Academic Resource gives a good overall look at market research along with examples of studies done
well and incorrectly. By watching this documentary I will be able to start getting in the mindset of research and
learn about different things to keep an eye out for as I go through the motions of my experience. This video won’t
be there to tell me what to do but it has nice quick facts of tips and potential errors in market research.
I will also be referring to a lot of the information on the University of Cincinnati’s website to keep me on
track and get some of the general information about the different majors.
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Required Revisions:
Effective:
1-2 academic resources connected to the
learning outcomes
Title and author of each resource
Description of how resources will help
make progress towards learning outcomes
and execution of experience
5. On-going Reflection
The on-going reflection should help you process the experience and progress toward your chosen learning outcomes.
Describe your method for reflecting throughout the experience. Indicate specific reflection questions/topics you plan to
use to guide your reflective process.
Note: A variety of methods can be used for on-going reflection. Some examples are videos, drawings, blogs, songs, and
journals. Reflection topics to consider include your ideas/insights about the experience, connection to other areas of
involvement, and your progress towards the learning outcomes.
Throughout the experience I plan to have both a quantitative and qualitative On-going Reflection of my
progress. On the quantitative side I will be keeping a spread sheet of the amount of interviews and responses I
have received as well as the amount of information I have converted into the format for the website. This reflection
will allow me to check my progress at a quick glance and keep me on track, as well as giving cold-fact updates to
my mentor. I also plan to have a qualitative reflection where I can note my successes and short-comings, this
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reflection will help me make any necessary adjustments. I will have my qualitative reflection in a journal where I
can also track how this experience is working for me and how I have grown throughout the process.
Reflection Questions:
Number of Interviews Received?
Number of Interviews Converted?
At what point in the process have I reached?
What goals and objectives have I accomplished?
What is going well and what is not going well?
What can be changed?
What is the next step?
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Required Revisions:
Effective:
Method for ongoing reflection
Reflection questions/topics clearly
specified
6. Sharing Your Learning
Describe how you plan to actively share what you’ve taken away from this experience with a targeted audience. Explain
why you chose this specific audience.
Note: While social media can be an effective platform for sharing, only posting on your personal learning portfolio or
social media account(s) does not reach a targeted audience.
One of my main objectives of this experience is to share information with Undesignated Business majors
that are looking for more information about the different majors. I will be condensing/supplementing all of the
information that I receive and making it available through a website. This website will have different pages for
each major and will include information about the major, the major requirements at UC, and testimonials from
students and professors.
In addition to the creation of the website I will also need to market this site so that those who would benefit
are aware of it. I plan to put posters around the Lindner College of Business building where everyone in business
has at least one class. In addition I plan to speak in front of different business organizations such as the Kolodzik
Business Scholars Association, Delta Sigma Pi, and others TBD.
I believe my project can potentially help a lot of people choose their major and once they know about it, it
will be easy to use and accessible for all. My target audience in the beginning will be students that are
Undesignated within the Lindner College of Business but hope that in the future it can also be helpful for high
school students considering UC and want to learn more about the majors and experiences of UC students.
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
At least one method to actively share takeaways/learning from the experience
A specific audience and why the audience
was selected
7. Budget (if applicable)
Required Revisions:
Effective:
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Provide an itemized budget and indicate your source for cost information.
*If you are engaged in an unpaid internship or research, please indicate the number of weeks and hours per week you
plan to participate.
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I do not plan to have a monetary budget and have the only cost to myself and peers be time and
energy.
But I do plan to spend at least 12 weeks before publishing my experience online
o Estimated hours: 75
Advisor Feedback
Notes:
Detailed budget of expenditures with
sources to justify budget estimates
*Indicates the number of hours per week
and number of weeks of participation
Required Revisions:
Effective:
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THEMATIC AREA LEARNING OUTCOMES
Learning Outcomes for the Community Engagement Thematic Area:
By engaging in this thematic area, you will make progress towards learning how to…
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Identify and differentiate multiple ways to contribute towards the development or achievement of the community’s
goals.
Develop a thorough understanding of the world view, beliefs, experiences, self-consciousness, or history of
community members through collaboration.
Articulate the purpose of service on a social issue or public policy and how service mutually enhances individual
growth and the common good.
Explain how education, advocacy, mobilization, or public policy can influence social issues and transform
communities.
Learning Outcomes for the Creativity Thematic Area:
By engaging in this thematic area, you will make progress towards learning how to…
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Discover new techniques to gain knowledge, consider options, make new connections, and ask questions.
Explore a new creative competency/medium or seek new ways to engage an existing competency/medium.
Understand and optimize the use of people, technology, physical resources or community in a creative process.
Articulate the broader significance of a creative project and the value of its contributions.
Learning Outcomes for the Global Studies Thematic Area:
By engaging in this thematic area, you will make progress towards learning how to…
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Develop practical travel skills that promote safe, stimulating, and productive travel throughout your life.
Summarize the interconnectedness of geography, history, cultural traits and world issues.
Articulate the interdependence of professional fields to address current and impending global issues such as
technology, the environment, human rights, or politics.
Demonstrate an understanding of cultural diversity by acknowledging the impact of their own identity and the
experience of social norms, customs, or beliefs that are different from their own.
Demonstrate a sense of empathy, respect, and appreciation for others to build meaningful cross-cultural
collaborations toward mutual growth and prosperity.
Learning Outcomes for the Leadership Thematic Area:
By engaging in this thematic area, you will make progress towards learning how to…
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Formulate and manage a shared vision and develop goals towards its achievement.
Motivate and collaborate effectively with others towards completion of shared projects or goals.
Develop strategies to identify and respond to challenges and obstacles.
Identify personal strengths and areas of growth and evaluate opportunities to maximize skills and abilities.
Synthesize the current trends related to a specific issue or field and evaluate how thought-leaders are currently
addressing them.
Learning Outcomes for the Research Thematic Area:
By engaging in this thematic area, you will make progress towards learning how to…
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Demonstrate the ability to locate, interpret, and critically evaluate primary sources appropriate to field.
Identify and apply appropriate methods to collect and organize data for analysis.
Analyze and interpret the meaning of results.
Produce dissemination appropriate to the field in order to share the results or impact of the research.
Articulate the broader significance of the research project and its relationship to other fields, research and ideas.