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HONORS SELF- DESIGNED PROPOSAL

Complete this proposal prior to your experiences 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: Mary Francis Ruppert (Francie)
Title of Project: Developing Leadership through Coaching Highschool Basketball
Thematic Area(s): Leadership
Expected Start Date: January 10th 2016
Expected End Date: March 2016

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.

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?
For my honors experience, I would like to coach a high school girls basketball team in the Beechacres Park Womens
league. There is a recreational team of younger girls from my high school that need a coach to be able to play this year. I
have played for this league in the past so I want it to succeed. The timeline for this experience would be from the
beginning of January 2016 until the end of March 2016. Goal wise, I want the girls on the team to get to know me and see
me as a role model. I think this would be a good opportunity for leadership development.

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.
Brent Messmer- official adult registered for the team. (The adult who registers the team has to be at least 21)
Mr. Messmer played all basketball all 4 years of high school has coached multiple high school teams.
I am planning on meeting with Mr. Messmer before the season starts to fill out forms/ tell him more about honors
experience. He will be attending all of the games so I plan to ask him for feedback after each game.
His cell is 513-200-5639
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Experience advisor name and contact
information
Description of why advisor was selected

Required Revisions:

Effective:

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Specific plans to engage with advisor

3. Connection to Learning Outcomes

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.
Leadership:

Motivate and collaborate effectively with others towards completion of shared projects or goals.
For this learning outcome, I would plan on completing this goal by trying to help the team be the best it can be
and trying to motivate them to try as hard as they can. I will do this by giving them positive goals at the
beginning of the games. For instance, one of my high school coaches last year would encourage us to make sure
that everyone had the chance to score at least once basket. I plan to do this as well. Obviously, our shared goal
would be to win games which I think can do by coming to games prepared and on time.
(1 hour of planning per week for practices/ games, 2 hours of practice per week and 1.5 hours for the games)
Develop strategies to identify and respond to challenges and obstacles: I know that high school girls can get
really competitive over sports and there can even be fights on the court. I see this as a challenge that I will
respond to by remaining calm and making sure that I am always using a positive coaching strategy. By positive
coaching strategy, I mean that I will make sure to always build the girls up not tear them down even when the
team is not doing well. Many coaches tend to get competitive and even yell at refs which is exactly what I plan
to stay away from since I want to be a good role model for the younger girls on my team.
(30 minutes a week reflecting on my coaching strategy how to make it better
Identify personal strengths and areas of growth and evaluate opportunities to maximize skills and
abilities: Personally, I think I am a strong leader, but I need help in areas like public speaking which is why this
is a perfect opportunity for me. As a coach, you are required to be able to step up and give directions. You are
required to talk in front of everyone in the stands as you are telling your players what plays to do or what
defense to run. At the beginning, the middle and the end of the season, I plan to ask the players
1. What kind of coach they want me to be- describe attributes
2. What kind of coach I am currently (describe attributes)
3. What I can do to improve so that we can win more games, but also help them outside of the game as
well.
(45 minutes for each time that they do it and then 2 hours of me reading and reflecting on them each time)
I also plan to have one on one conferences with the girls. I plan to get coffee or lunch with every one of them so that I can
get to know them better and therefore know how to coach them.
(10 hours-10 girls on the team, one hour for each conference)
I have to plan a senior night for the girls and write each of them their own speech about them as a player (6 hours for
planning and writing. 2 hours for senior night )
Also, as a coach I have been told it is my responsibility to either plan or host an end of the year celebration for the team.
(6 hours of planning/ preparation since I have to write a speech and make awards for each player 2 hours for the actual
celebration/ awards ceremony)
Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
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

Required Revisions:

Effective:

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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.
Coach Carter is a movie directed by Thomas Carter about an inspirational coach who decides to put academics in front
of sports. He requires the team to do well in life, before they do well in sports. I think that by watching this movie I will
be inspired by Coach Carters coaching strategies and positive attitude. This movie will help me to learn how to motivate
and collaborate the girls on my team to work towards a common goal.
http://www.coachesclipboard.net/PracticePlan.html is a website by James Gell that provides coaching strategies as well as
sample practices. I can use this to help me plan practices and strategies for games. Since winning is an important goal for
my team, this website will help me to do the analytical side of coaching.
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.
I am going to answer these questions on my computer after each game:
1. Was the vibe of the game positive? / Did the girls seem engaged?
2. Did the girls react well to coaching strategies I used?
3. What can I do better next time?

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
Method for ongoing reflection
Reflection questions/topics clearly
specified

Required Revisions:

Effective:

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6. Sharing Your Learning
Describe how you plan to actively share what youve 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.
At the end of year party which all of the girls families attend, I plan on giving a short speech about what UHP is, the
honors experience that I have designed and what I learned from coaching.
This audience of the girls and their families directly relates to my project. Also, hopefully one of the girls on the team that
graduates will see what a rewarding experience it was for me and will volunteer to coach next year.

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:

Required Revisions:

Effective:

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)

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.
Since I plan to host the end of the year celebration, I will need to provide food for the party so I plan on buying pizza. I
plan to need to buy 4 16 inch pizzas from Larosas which cost $17.79. Therefore, I will be spending $71.16. I plan on
asking the girls on the team to bring the other items like drinks, salad and dessert.
Source: http://www.larosas.com/menu/default.aspx

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

Identify and differentiate multiple ways to contribute towards the development or

achievement of the communitys goals.
Develop a thorough understanding of the world view, beliefs, experiences, selfconsciousness, 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

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

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

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:

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By engaging in this thematic area, you will make progress towards learning how to

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.