Before Proposal Submission: Tips for your proposal

The following guidelines will help you as you craft your proposal:

• Read the course descriptions, syllabi, and project examples to get a better idea of what the students can do. This can help you determine how you should frame your project in a way that will appeal to the faculty and the students. Click here to view ideal versus out-of-scope projects.
  • Course and Program Descriptions
    • User Experience
    • Library, Archives, and Digital Curation
    • Process Analysis
    • Data Analysis
    • Civic Engagement
    • Community Engagement
    • Speaker, Case Study and Mentoring Opportunities
    • Student Managed Programs
  • Project Examples
    • UMSI Portfolium Page
    • Menu of Course Options
    • Expo Spring 2021
    • Concise Project Examples
• As you describe your project, focus as much as possible on the specific challenges the project is meant to tackle. Have you received feedback that the database is difficult to navigate? Are your users not taking advantage of the full potential of the search functions? What is the impact (short-term and long-term) on your constituents/ stakeholders and on your organization?
• Try to be as succinct as possible. For many opportunities, scoping for your project will continue once a student team is matched. At this stage, we're interested in understanding your project at a high level to determine if your needs overlap with students' abilities and course requirements.

After Proposal Submission: What to expect from us

1. After you complete the form, you will receive confirmation of your submission and a copy of the text that you submitted in your proposal.
2. The client engagement team will review your proposal to determine if it meets the requirements for the course. One of our student project consultants will contact you during this review to further scope and clarify the project goals and outcomes.
3. You will be notified by the end of August (for fall semester courses) or by the end of November (for winter semester courses) if your project has been selected by the faculty member or program manager to present to students.
4. If your project is presented to students, you will be notified in September (for fall semester courses) or January (for winter semester courses) as to whether students have selected your project. If your project is selected, you will hear directly from the student team you will be working with. If your project is not selected, you will hear from the client engagement team. 
5. The client engagement team will send a newsletter midway through the semester with useful information and asking for any initial feedback. 
6. The client engagement team will send a formal evaluation survey at the end of the semester in December (for fall semester courses) or April (for winter semester courses). 

Click to view our month-by-month timeline.

* NOTE: Not all projects submitted will be selected by the faculty member and/or the students. If you ever have questions about the status of your proposal please contact us at [email protected].