A. Required Number of Hours: To be considered for approval, it must be clear that your proposed activity will require 30 or more hours over the two weeks allotted to senior projects.

Note: Any one activity can apply to only one component. For example if you decide to shadow a biologist doing cancer research at UMD, then you can choose to list it as satisfying the community component OR the research component but NOT both. The component system is meant to help you to investigate your focus from more than one direction.

1. Community Component

This component can be met by any activity which connects you with the community at large. This would include,but is not limited to the following: Internships in a profession or trade, job shadowing, interviews with a community member, mentoring a child, community service work etc.

When is comes to job-shadowing, we will allow you to apply a maximum of 10 hours for any particular job shadowing experience. When planning job shadowing, be cognizant that professionals are busy and that you will need to schedule a job shadowing experience in small intervals of time (2-4 hours). You can choose to job shadow more than one person in a field. An experience can be counted as an internship only if you are contributing to a project.

2. Research Component

This component can be met by doing research in the area in which you are interested. The research can take the form of academic research, travel with a purpose, data collecting, interviews, visiting museums, etc.

3. Creative Project

This component can be met by creating a tangible product. You can write a play, create a video, paint a mural, write a piece of music, design and build an architectural model, etc.

4. Skill Building

This component can be met by teaching yourself or being taught a skill that you have had a desire to learn. For example: learning to scuba dive, speaking beginning Italian, building furniture, learning to play bridge, learning how to use a computer aided design program, etc. If part of your project is being met by the skill building component, you need to have planned activities that show us that you are actively pursuing learning the skill. You also need to note a goal of desired proficiency in that skill. You cannot claim a skill buidling component by saying that in completing the project you will be learning something new. (Everyone will be learning something new.)

5. Extension of a work in progress

This category is designed for seniors who would like to further an ongoing interest.. You may be a painter who wishes to create a portfolio of work already created, add a few more works, and then give an art show. You may be a musician who has already written a few songs and would like to continue to work on them and learn about the recording process. You will be asked to document what you have already completed and how you plan to build on the experience.

C. The Application:

The application is downloadable from the web. All proposals must be typed using this form and submitted by the deadline. All forms and applications can be found here: Proposal Applications.

D. The oral presentation:

The culmination of your senior project will be the oral presentation. You will be given a 30 minute interval of time in which to talk about your senior project experience. You should plan to have about 20 minutes of material to present and then use the remaining 10 minutes for questions. We encourage you to take the time to plan your presentation well and use different mediums in your presentation ( video, power point, computer demonstrations, dance, musical performances, etc.) In other words, MAKE IT INTERESTING!

E. "Tangible" result from your project:

You will be asked to submit something tangible that exhibits some aspect of your project. This could simply be a 3 -page reflective paper about your experience. It could also be a journal, photographic essay, short film, musical piece, written play, poetry, painting etc. In other words, anything tangible that represents a sum of what you did during your project. If you feel that your idea of 'tangible' and our idea of 'tangible' are not the same, just ask.