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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: Rachael Chandler
Title of Project: Exploring Discipleship
Thematic Area(s): Leadership
Expected Start Date:
Expected End Date:

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.
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?
Over a seven to nine week period I will be exploring methods for discipleship in the church and practically
implementing them by participating in a discipleship program called The Well through an on-campus ministry called H2O
Church. Through this program I will sit in on teaching sessions that explore what it means to be a true disciple of Christ
and mentor one or more participants. Mentoring a student will take the form of meeting on a weekly basis to study the
Bible together, discuss the teaching from that week, and generally build a relationship and discuss any questions my
mentee has about the Bible. I will also spend time outside of our meetings studying the passages of scripture we are going
through together to prepare for our meetings and praying for my mentee throughout the week. In addition I will be

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researching how effective The Well is as a discipleship program by interviewing current and previous participants in the
program, looking into how other churches practice discipleship, and researching in the Bible what specific elements are
supposed to be included in discipleship.
This experience is personally meaningful to me because, as a Christian, the purpose of my life is to glorify God
and one of the ways Ive been commanded to do that is by making disciples. This is a huge aspect of the Christian life,
and I believe it is a lot more complicated and involved than most American churches make it out to be, so I want to
understand exactly how were supposed to disciple other Christians and what kind of an impact that has on them. By
conducting this experience I hope to grow in my understanding of this Biblical concept and be able to better enact it in the
future.
I have a couple different goals for this experience. The first is just to be a good mentor to my mentee(s), build a
relationship them, make them feel welcome in H2O, and generally prepare them for leadership by helping them to build or
build upon a basis of Biblical theology and a love for Christ. Another goal is to better understand the Biblical call of
discipleship, as it is presented in scripture and practically how it is implemented successfully in churches. Lastly, I want to
develop a kind of loose model for discipleship. Obviously this concept is versatile and will change depending on the
mentor, mentee, and setting in which they find themselves, but by the end of this experience I want to have an idea of
what makes Biblical discipleship, what things need to be included in it, and some examples of how that can practically be
implemented.
The time spent on this project would be as follows
- 14 Hours at the Well Program
- 18 Hours investing personally in my mentee
- 7 Hours praying for my mentee
- 10 Hours researching how different churches practice discipleship
- 5 Hours researching discipleship in the Bible
- 10 Hours watching sermons on discipleship/passages that detail discipleship
- 5 Hours interviewing previous Well participants
- 5 Hours interviewing Well mentors about discipleship methods
- 3 Hours putting together the information I learned in a paper/website
Total: 77 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.
Grant (and Cassi) Rohlfer
Campus Director and Staff of H2O Church
(513) 503-6115
grohlfer@gmail.com

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I chose Grant and Cassi because they are both on staff with H2O church and head up the Well ministry. Grant is extremely
knowledgeable about the Bible, and I will be going to him for advice on where to start my search for the Biblical basis for
discipleship. Cassi was my mentor when I participated in the Well, and both Cassi and Grant continue to mentor students
through the Well, so they will also be people that I interview when I ask about practical discipleship and how it is done.
Cassi and Grant have years of experience both studying the Bible and practically applying discipleship principles.
Advisor Feedback
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.

Demonstrate the ability to locate, interpret, and critically evaluate primary sources
appropriate to field.
One of the main goals that I have in this experience is to learn how to practically implement discipleship from the Bible
and from others who have successfully practiced it in the past. In doing this I will be seeking out many primary sources,
the first and foremost being the Bible. I will also conduct interviews with those who have practiced discipleship
successfully to determine the techniques they used and evaluate which techniques were effective. By doing this I will gain
a deeper understand of what it means to be a disciple, a mentor, and what it looks like to disciple someone. I expect to
take approximately 22 hours to conduct interviews, read and study the Bible, and research how other churches practice
discipleship.

Identify personal strengths and areas of growth and evaluate opportunities to maximize
skills and abilities.
This learning outcome is actually practiced very practically in the Well. During one of the weeks the students are required
to fill out two surveys to determine their personality types and spiritual gifts, which are then discussed in the large group.
Another part of the Well program is the students finding a place to serve in H2O. By combining these surveys and the
mandatory service, I will help my mentee to evaluate her personal strengths and how to best implement them to serve in
the church. I expect this portion of our meetings to take only a few hours, however if my mentee would like to discuss
further or further explore her strengths, it could take longer.
Identify and apply appropriate methods to collect and organize data for analysis.
The data Ill be collecting during this experience is very subject, so the method with which I collect it will be very
different than if I was conducting scientific research or another type of quantitative research. Therefore the research I will
be conducting for this experience will revolve mainly around data collected through surveys and personal interviews.
Another challenge that will be presented is consolidating this data. Since the data wont be numerical it will be difficult to
merely compare averages, so in interpreting the data I will need to develop a scale, for example, on how effective
someones experience with discipleship was. I plan to spend about 20 hours conducting interviews, collecting data, and
interpreting it to put into a format that will be easily accessed by others.

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.
The Bible
The Bible contains the basis for this project: the call to discipleship and a basic outline of how to do it. Though the Bible
has many focuses and themes, specific parts mention and even detail the practice of discipleship. For example, much of
the gospels (the books Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament) detail the time Jesus spent with his 12
disciples, how he taught them, and what he did to invest in them. Likewise, in later books the Apostle Paul tells young
churches about the importance of discipleship and how to practice it.
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 plan to reflect on my experience by journaling periodically throughout the experience. I will write an entry twice a week,
once after the general Well meeting and one after my meeting with my specific mentee (This number could increase if I
have more than one mentee). For the journal entries after the general Well meeting I will record what we talked about,
how I plan to discuss it with my mentee, and what I plan on doing with my mentee that week. My plans to invest in my
mentee may include what part of the Bible were studying, and if it does I will include that and how I have prepared for
our study. My journals after our personal meeting during the week will include an evaluation on any new discipleship
techniques I applied that week, a personal evaluation on how the meeting went and how that is contributing to our over-all
mentor-mentee relationship, and ways I plan to pray for my mentee over the week.

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.
My target audience would be other Christians with questions about discipleship. I chose this audience because I think
discipleship is an extremely important skill that all Christians need to learn. I plan to create a webpage that will display
some of my findings about Biblical discipleship. I would dedicate one page entirely to what the Bible has to say about
discipleship, how it should be implemented, and what its purpose is. I would also look at all of the data I had gathered
from interviews, sermons, and my own experiences with my mentee and consolidate it to give suggestions to other
mentors viewing the webpage on how to practice discipleship effectively. I will make this website available to the church
leadership in H2O and other mentors in the Well to use as a resource in educating future Well mentors. I would also post a
link to this webpage on my learning portfolio.
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.
N/A

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.