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HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM

Basic Information
Full Name: Amanda Lauren Bright
UC Email: brightan@mail.uc.edu
College: CECH (College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services)
Major: Secondary Education- Mathematics
Title of Project: Pi Beta Phi New Member Coordinator
Thematic Area (choose only one): Leadership
Expected Project Start Date: August 1st, 2015
Expected Project End Date: November 15th, 2015
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
The University of Cincinnati has many Greek-affiliated organizations on campus. I am
personally involved in the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women. Each fraternity/sorority has specific values,
morals, and philanthropic services based on their bi-laws written when the fraternity/sorority was
founded (usually more than 100 years ago). Pi Beta Phi personally follows the core values of integrity,
lifelong commitment, honor and respect, personal and intellectual growth, philanthropic service to
others, and sincere friendship. Our new members are held to a high standard, and must follow and have
these core values, while also following the mission and vision statements of Pi Beta Phi. We want to
encourage them to be women of high moral standards and the leaders of tomorrow. We also want them
to feel comfortable within Pi Beta Phi.
This is where I come in. It is my personal responsibility to organize recruitment and make sure
we are finding young women who can uphold the values of Pi Beta Phi. I will start planning for
recruitment August 1st. recruitment will be held the first two weeks of September. After we have new
members, a.k.a. a pledge class, I will be meeting with them once a week to provide them with a 2 hour
lesson on Pi Beta Phis expectations, core values, mission, and vision. They will learn the ins and outs of
Pi Beta Phi, and hopefully commit to becoming leaders of tomorrow.
My project goal is to help young women find their potential. College can be a rough transition,
and, unfortunately, leads many women down a path of drinking, drugs, etc. I want to offer them an
alternative. Pi Beta Phi has transformed me into the women I am today, and I want to serve as both a
mentor and educator to our new members, so they can become self-aware, self-confident, and selfreliant by following Pi Beta Phis values and morals. As a future high school educator, I want this
project to give me experience mentoring people close to my age. I know how to teach math. However, I
also want to serve as a mentor in my future classroom. This project will allow me to learn how to
motivate and take care of my students, and transform them into better versions of themselves. I want this
project to help me learn how to be a better leader, and ultimately, better teacher.
I will be spending the entire month of August, around one to two hours per day, planning
recruitment details and lesson plans for the incoming pledge class. Once we receive our pledge class the
second week of September, I will be working with them two hours a week for nine weeks. I will also
spend around one hour per week spending time with individual pledges, making sure they are adjusting
well to college life and to Pi Beta Phi. Finally, I will spend one hour a week reflecting on my experience.
This, total, leaves my working on this project for around 80 hours.
Every hour I spend as a New Member Coordinate will entail my full effort. I will be working
hard to make sure every detail is perfect, and to make sure each girls individual needs are met. This is
an all or nothing project, and I am planning on giving it my all to cultivate future leaders of tomorrow,
by serving as an example.
Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work:

2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above)
I will make progress toward achieving as a result of my project the following learning outcomes:
- Identifies the various characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role
- Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers
Firstly, I will be able to identify the various characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role, this role
being the New Member Coordinator. The main way I will be able to identify the various characteristics of a
leader is by trial and error of my own accord. I will be spending a majority of my project doing hands-on
leadership activities, such as speaking in front of all of the pledges during each lesson, guiding them
towards self-confidence and answers. Because there will be 50+ pledges, it will be very easy to see if my
methods are affective. I will be reflecting weekly on their progress and my own progress. To identify the
characteristics of a leader, it is important to figure out what characteristics are NOT of a leader. My
reflection and trials of different methods will help me cultivate characteristics of a leader, and in turn, form
me into the best leader I can be. My lessons are the biggest help in my mission to identify leadership
characteristics, since they are forcing me to serve as both a role model, teacher, and leader all at once. I am
my biggest critic, and will be able to identify if the pledges are feeling better about themselves and turning
into future leaders through my one-on-one discussions with them, and the general energy of the class each
day. I am intuitive in a way that most teachers are; if the class is not improving, you will know.
Secondly, I will have the ability to relate, communicate, and work effectively with my peers after being
a New Member Coordinator. Most of the pledges will only be one year younger than I am, or even the same
age as me, meaning I am working with my peers, while also coaching and guiding them. This task can be
tricky. People naturally respect their elders, but I am their peer, so I will have to earn their respect before I
can relate and work effectively with them. I plan to do this by establishing myself as imperfect, and sharing
with them my own personal experience within Pi Beta Phi and my goals for them. This will help them
understand why I am there and why they should work with me. I personally know that my New Member
Coordinator shaped me into a better version of myself, so giving advice to my peers on my own personal
experience will help them feel comfortable with the program and in turn, put effort into self-improvement.
By the end of my project, I will have been working, relating, and communicating with my peers for three
months. This will provide me with an unbelievable experience that enriches my skills in working with my
peers.
3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)
A. Your project must be related to your development (personal, academic, and/or professional goals).
This project relates both to my future personal and professional goals. These two should always be
related, if you are following a career you are planning on fully engulfing yourself in, like me. As I described
previously, this project will help me become a better leader and better mentor, by pushing me out of my comfort
zone and throwing me into a setting where I am forced to be both a leader and mentor. While the pressure on a
New Member Coordinator is enormous, I plan to stand up to the challenge, and know I will succeed. This
project is an experience that will show me the ins and outs of being not just a leader or mentor, but an educator.
This is great training for my future career as just that; an educator. I would argue it is harder to educate your
peers than students younger than you, so succeeding at this project is a huge step in the right direction. This
project will help me be confident in my abilities as a teacher, and in turn, lead me to become a great teacher.
B. You are expected to connect academic theories or readings to your experiential learning work.
Your proposal should identify several theories or readings you plan to explore in your project.
Specifically, I will be using the educational theory of Constructivism and the Pi Beta Phi International
Position Statement and Constitution/Bylaws to prepare and gain background knowledge for my project. I chose
the educational theory of Constructivism as a guiding principle while I am planning/presenting lessons, talking
one-on-one with pledges, and guiding them toward self-confidence and betterment. Constructivism states that
students will learn better when they are allowed to actively participate in their own learning development.
Essentially, students should be teaching themselves with the help of a mentor. Self-actualization is the best way
to learn something, not by being lectured at. I chose this theory because I plan to use it in my future classroom,

and follow it full-heartedly. I want to practice applying this theory. This will help me gain the respect of the
pledges and will guide me towards becoming a better leader, educator, and mentor. This theory will also help
them gain the most out of their experience, and turn them into the women they are expected to be, as members
of Pi Beta Phi.
I chose to read up on the Constitution/Bylaws of Pi Beta Phi in order to provide myself with important
background knowledge. As the New Member Coordinator, it is my job to know the mission, vision, bylaws, and
core values of Pi Beta Phi, and why we have them. If I dont know this information forwards and backgrounds,
it will be obvious to the pledges. I cannot expect them to grasp a concept I dont even understand myself. My
research and reading will increase my project success exponentially. Understanding and believing in what I am
trying to teach will improve the quality of my project drastically.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
Your project must include a unique/independent/creative contribution and some aspect(s) of the project
must be self-initiated.
My unique contribution to this project is my future career as a teacher. In the history of Pi Beta Phi New
Member Coordinators, none of them have been education majors. I think this makes me very unique in
the sense that I am not only helping Pi Beta Phi and its new members, but I am also helping myself
become a better teacher. This project is field work, essentially, for my future career. I have a little extra
motivation to succeed, since this is a test of how good my teaching and relatability skills are, or lack
thereof. This will motivate me to succeed, and essentially practice for my future classroom. I am a great
public speaker, and know this skill will aide me immensely throughout this project. I also have been
complimented on my ability to relate to anyone, and make them feel comfortable talking to me. This will
help me identify the pledges needs, and push them to be better versions of themselves without coming
off as intimidating. This project will never be affective if I dont gain the pledges respect and trust. I plan
to change the program slightly, by having the one-on-one time with the pledges. This has never been
required before, but I think the pledges will benefit greatly by feeling as though they know me
personally, and will aid in the process of forming them into active members of Pi Beta Phi.
5. Reflection
Reflection is not merely a summation of activities completed and opinions formed; rather, it should be
thoughtful, integrative, substantive, and well-crafted.
I will actively reflect on my learning throughout my experience, by keeping a typed journal on my laptop.
Once a week, I will write a one page reflection on what I have learned that week about myself, Pi Beta Phi, and
my pledges. I will make sure to take the time and effort to have a well-crafted journal that shows my
professionalism and hard-work involved in my project. I want to grow from this project, and a reflection will
help me identify how I am growing and why I am growing. I will title each paper with the date and week
number. I will start off by, as mentioned before, stating something I learned that week about myself, Pi Beta Phi,
and my pledges. I will then answer the following questions, thoroughly:
- What leadership quality did you find was helpful this week?
- What this week worked to help better yourself and the pledges? What didnt work?
- What can you do to improve your project next week?
- What this week inspired you?
- What this week helped you for your future classroom?
- How have the pledges helped you become a better leader this week?
- What are you struggling with this week? What are you succeeding in?
- How is your interaction with you peers improving?
6. Dissemination
Your experience and learning must be shared with others publically (e.g., presentations to student
groups, poster display, websites, published papers/articles, video compilations, scrapbooks).
I plan to share what I learned through my project via the University of Cincinnati Pi Beta Phi Facebook
page. I also plan to write a paper on my experience, including passages from my reflection journal, and

submit it to the Pi Beta Phi magazine, so it has a chance to get published nationally. The audience I aim
to share with is fellow Pi Beta Phi women across the country. This audience is relevant because I want to
represent my chapter well, showing that we are actively following our core values, mission, and vision
statements in order to be future leaders. I want other Pi Phis to take my advice, or use my experience to
shape their own chapters across the country. Although I believe other audiences could benefit from my
project, fellow Pi Phis would benefit the most. They would be more likely to care what I have to say, and
have the best chance of using my experience to help themselves, their chapter, and their pledges.
7. Project Advisor(s)
Bethany Smith
Cincinnati Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club Member
Phone Contact: 513-254-0087
Email: B.Smith@yahoo.com
Bethany was a previous member of the University of Cincinnati chapter of Pi Beta Phi seven years ago.
She is now serving as an Alumnae Club Member, and also serves to check-up on our chapter once a
month to make sure we are following protocol. She knows the ins and outs of Pi Beta Phi, and was a
previous New Member Coordinator, so she is more than qualified to be my Project Advisor.

8. Budget (if applicable)

I do not need a budget, for the costs associated with this project will be covered by Pi Beta Phi.