Felix 1

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: Bryan Felix
Title of Project: Crow Throws (Alpha Chi Rho-hosted Greek Life Basketball Tournament)
Thematic Area(s): Community Engagement & Leadership
Expected Start Date: January 11 2015
Expected End Date: March 13 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

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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?
I have already felt like joining the social fraternity Alpha Chi Rho has been one of the most impactful experiences
for me so far in college. One of the key aspects of joining the fraternity is how it brings everyone together to one common
goal and community. I also realized how heavily greek life is involved in bringing the students of UC together as a whole
to contribute to a good cause, often charity for an organization. After talking with some of my brothers I realized the value
of sports as both a great way to bring together students as well as raise funds for charity. They sort of inspired my idea of
Crow Throws as a charity event for the fraternity to host and organize.
The premise of Crow Throws is a half-court co-ed basketball tournament between all of Greek Life and also
another tournament open for students in general. The tournament would start on Thursday March 10th where all teams
from Greek life play their matchups and advance in the bracket until only two teams remain. The two days, Friday the
11th and Saturday the 12th, would be focused on the all student tournament, with the amount of brackets dependent on the
amount of teams entered with a cap at 32 teams per bracket. The first of these days will see the 32 man bracket being
narrowed down to the championship while the second day is focused around the championship for the individual brackets.
Finally the last day, March 13th which is NCAA Basketball Selection Sunday, would be the day that The Greek Life
Championship is played as well as a champion bracket for winners of the all student brackets. After all games are
played on Sunday, there will be a trophy/award for the champion of both the all student and Greek Life tournaments.
For the tournament, I plan for it to take place in the Campus Rec Center on the basketball courts. I would have to
work with the Rec Center in order to reserve the courts for several hours each of the 4 days. Most likely from 6-10 on
Thursday and Friday as well as 1-5 on Saturday and Sunday. Not only this but I would work in an entrance fee for each
team which would go to our fraternitys philanthropies, namely Autism Society of America and the Children's Wish
Foundation both of which I will contact beforehand during the planning process and prepare for the transfer of funds. The
fee will be approximately $100 per fraternity team ($20 per member) and $50 per general student team ($10 per member).
The money will be collected during registration which would be both online and in person in TUC about a week or two in
advance, however the money would have to be collected in person.
This event is important and meaningful to me because it raises money for charity while also providing an opportunity for
students and different greek organizations to develop team building and an increased sense of community through
sportsmanship. However the event is even more meaningful because it is a representation of my brotherhood and allows
the university to get to know Alpha Chi Rho and better understand our leadership potential through organizing and putting
on a large scale event that makes a community-wide impact. This would be a great step not just for me to develop my
leadership and organization but also for my fraternity who would assist me and work with me on such an endeavour.

My goals for this experience:

Develop community between Greek life organizations and also between the student body in general
Raise awareness and money to better support the fraternity philanthropies
Grow leadership and teamwork within Alpha Chi Rho
Timeline: (approximate time commitment)
January 11th 2016: Start Project
January 11th-31st: Work on approval process, reservation and initial planning procedures (12 hours)
February: Work with Fraternity to plan out details of the event. Market the Event to students and Greek Life. (25 hours)
Last week in february- First Week in March: open registration for the event to greek organizations as well as students (10
hours)
March 1st- 9th: Setup event and organize brackets. Ensure team registration, cash collection and assign responsibilities for
fraternity members during event (20 hours)

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March 10th: Greek Tournament Brackets (5 hours)

March 11th-12th: Open Student Tournament Brackets (10 hours)
March 13th: Greek Championship, Champions bracket for open student tournament. Award ceremony. (5 hours)

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.
Leah Howell
Program Manager for Fraternity & Sorority Life
leah.howell@uc.edu
513-556-0896
I plan on using Leah as my Experience Advisor because of her position as program manager for Fraternity and Sorority
Life at UC. Thus I would expect her to be experienced with the process, requirements and necessities when establishing a
Greek Life event on campus. I see that experience as very valuable to my event where I have very little experience. I
would be able to consult with her along the entire process on what I can or cannot do and how I will go about establishing
and completing the event.
In consideration to my plans with engaging with Leah, I would meet with her on a relatively biweekly basis for about an
hour or so depending on what needed to be accomplished that week and in the near future. In the initial stages I would talk
to her about approval and have her guide me on how to get the event planned and solidified. Then, I would meet with her
about how to contact and advertise the event to other students/fraternities. Finally, in the days leading up to and during the
event, she would give me pointers on how to set up the event and make last minute preparations to ensure the event is
ready and will run smoothly.

Advisor Feedback

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Must Include:

Required Revisions:

Effective:

Experience advisor name and contact

information
Description of why advisor was selected
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
Formulate and manage a shared vision and develop goals towards its achievement.
One thing about the event is that I am not alone in coordinating and executing it. I would have my fraternity brothers to
rely on and to aid me in planning and ensuring the completion of the project. Thus I will require periodic meetings with
the executive board of AXP and discuss with them my current progress on the project, what I can ask of them to help with
and upcoming goals that must be accomplished. With this strategic meeting and coordination I hope that I can allocate
responsibility and effectively obtain feedback to improve my current plans. I see this outcome requiring about an hour of
meeting weekly plus another hour or two to help implement the ideas discussed with my fraternity in the meeting.
Motivate and collaborate effectively with others towards completion of shared projects or goals.
One of the key aspects of my event is motivating and having different fraternities and student groups to collaborate and
come together to compete. To address how I will achieve their participation and cooperation in Crow Throws relies in part
on how I will sell the idea to them as well as how I advertise the event. I will create a well thought out letter and plan
for the event which I will send out to each Greek Life leader to convince them to join but I will also rely on colorful paper
advertisements around campus and emails to reach a broader audience and bring hype to the event. I see this taking about
2-3 hours a week or occasionally in the weeks leading up to the event.
Community Engagement
Identify and differentiate multiple ways to contribute towards the development or achievement of the communitys goals.
The overall goal of Crow Throws is two-fold: one to bring together the greek community and student body in a fun
activity that also benefits charity and two is to actually financially contribute to charity, namely two of Alpha Chi Rhos
philanthropies: Autism Society of America, Children's Wish Foundation. Thus Crow Throws will see hundreds of students
gather and not just take part in games that will unite them and build their friendships but in the process they will be
helping the community at large by giving us money to donate towards organizations that we, as a fraternity, routinely look
to aid. This will be accomplished throughout the process but mostly near the end when we hold the actual event over the
weekend so I can see a 15-20 hour commitment to this outcome.

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:
3 learning outcomes explicitly identified
from any thematic area(s)

Required Revisions:

Effective:

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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.

How to Plan and Execute a Successful Event online PDF by Conference and Event Services Link
This source is located on the UC Greek Life Resources web page and is a checklist/ guideline for fraternities and their
members on how to plan an event including the reservation of an area, the preparation and marketing of the event and
finally important notes so the event complies with UC rules and is fully appropriate. I find this very useful as it provides
me a great place to start when planning Crow Throws and can help me formulate a full list of event information and to-dos
to ensure the smooth planning and operation of Crow Throws here at UC. The document will also aid me in making
progress towards my learning outcomes by helping me formulate and manage my vision as per one of the outcomes for
Leadership. This document will greatly aid me in becoming in charge of my project and to develop a clear image of what I
am do do and accomplish through Crow Throws.

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.

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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.

Through the planning and preparation process I have several methods for reflection that will also double for the way I will
later share my learning:
1. Audio Blogs where I describe what I did that week or recently. I would describe what I did, how I did it, how it
contributes to the project and why I felt what I did was meaningful.
2. Documentary-like video clips during the different stages of the project I would take short video clips of my involvement
and interaction that is building up to and leading the event. They would be used to show what I was doing and how my
actions reflected the learning outcomes of Leadership amongst my peers and engagement in the greater community
whether it be with the student body or with Greek Life. These videos would highlight and prove my commitment to those
outcomes and show how I was able to effectively implement them into Crow Throws and the preparation leading to it.

Within these methods, my goal is to answer key questions that will aid me in reflecting and better display the purpose and
impact of my planning and execution of Crow Throws:
How has what I done contributed to the success of the project overall?
What did I learn about myself and those around me?
How will this action/work be represented in the end?
What can others learn from my work here and how can they apply that knowledge into their own endeavours?
What aspects of our community give us the capability to make an impact on the community at large?
These two methods would document my progress and help me reflect on what I was doing and the deeper meaning of
what I was doing. These methods are also very useful because they are media and can, at the end of the process, be used
to share my learning and reflection to my target audience.

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 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.
I have a plan to share my learning through a sort of promotional video for Alpha Chi Rho after Crow Throws. The
video would target the student body but mostly those who participated in Crow Throws, highlighting the motivation and
commitment to action in our fraternity. The video would be comprised of short clips that I film throughout the entire
process from approval all the way to the end of the event itself. I would put in clips of my consulting with my brothers and
with other fraternities/groups and show the process leading up to Crow Throws as I planned and established the
framework for the event. Then I would show the physical set up and have clips of the tournament itself showing different
teams playing and having good sportsmanship. I would overlay audio then of me talking in a blog like style as I

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document my progress along the way and the different challenges, goals, accomplishments and lessons learned from the
entire project. I would also have this overlay span the entire process with about 30 seconds at the end of me summarizing
the experience and my opinion on its success. I also consider using short interviews with my fraternity brothers as well as
my advisor and participants in the tournament and gain their insight into what I was doing and the affect the event was
having on the community. After the video is compiled I would email it to all the participants in the event and both thank
them for their active part in the event as well as showing them the effort put into the event as well as the effect of the
event on the student body and on the charity side too. I also particularly target this audience so that they are more aware of
Alpha Chi Rho and can more readily recognize the fraternity and respond to further charity events and help our later
events too.

Advisor Feedback
Must Include:

Required Revisions:

Effective:

At least one method to actively share

take-aways/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.

I will not need a budget for this project as much of the project requires very little financial commitment. However since
this would be a fraternity event any costs that do arise would be expensed to the fraternity itself and the chapter budget.
The only object that I can visualize being a significant financial commitment would be the trophy award handed out at the
end of the event which could be as much as around $150 that the fraternity would cover under their budget. However the
real costs lie in the time commitment as the entire project is expected to be planned and executed within 9 weeks with an
average of approximately 7 hours of work a week until the last week where 25-30 hours of preparation and execution of
the event will take place.

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: