Senior Integrated Project – Economics and Business

The Senior Integrated Project (SIP) is a College requirement that students usually complete in their major department. However, you can write a SIP in any department of the College, as long as you secure approval and a supervisor from that department. Each department sets its own requirements for SIPs, including the range of acceptable projects, the required academic background of students doing projects, the format of the SIP, and the expected scope and depth of projects. This handbook outlines the required components of any SIP offered and supervised in the Department of Economics and Business. Only students majoring in either Economics or Business are allowed to do a SIP in the department.

To write a SIP in the Department of Economics and Business, you have to be a department major in good standing and successfully complete a SIP proposal (see Department SIP Moodle page).

The Department of Economics and Business offers three different SIP options:

Option #1: Expand a course paper or assignment into a SIP.

To expand a course paper or a course assignment into a SIP, you must:

Be enrolled or have previously been enrolled in a department course that required either a course paper or a significant assignment. This option is typically not available for courses where the instructor is not available in the fall quarter when the SIP is done.
Receive approval of the course instructor. [It is expected that the course instructor will be your SIP supervisor and the number of term paper extensions for any course is limited to five.]
Submit a brief proposal and obtain approval from the Department Chair (see Department SIP Moodle page). The proposal must include a plan for how you intend to expand the course paper or course assignment into a SIP. The proposal must be uploaded to the Department SIP Moodle page by Friday, 9^th week Spring term Junior year.
Write a SIP that adheres to the guidelines outlined in this handbook, as well as requirement imposed by the SIP supervisor.
Complete your SIP by the end of Fall quarter, Senior year.

On rare occasions, a student can use course material as the basis for original research (research not discussed in the course or assigned as a course paper). Before embarking on this path, the student must identify a faculty member willing and able to supervise this work.

The Course Paper Expansion SIP option gives you the opportunity to earn SIP honors in the department.

Option #2: Experiential Internship SIP

To pursue an experiential internship SIP, you must:

Secure an internship (at least 6 weeks and 240 hours) and submit a formal invitation/contract notice from the employer.
Submit a brief proposal and obtain approval from the Department Chair (see Department SIP Moodle page). The proposal must include an outline of your planned internship or experiential experience and how it relates to courses that you have taken. The proposal must be uploaded to SIP Moodle by Friday, 9^th Week Spring term Junior year.
Complete your internship/work experience before Fall quarter, Senior year.
Write a reflection that is at least five pages long on how this experience connects with coursework in the major. This reflection paper must adhere to the guidelines outlined in this handbook.
Complete your SIP, including the reflection paper, by the end of Fall quarter, Senior year.

Option #3: Online business certification and skills building SIP

With approval from the Department, a student may choose an online skill building experience as their SIP. The student can use a variety of online platforms to acquire the chosen skills (possible choices include the LinkedIn Learning platform, the Coursera platform, or the edX platform).
After choosing one or more online learning platforms, identify courses designed to build skills related to content taught in the Department and ensure that the sum of identified courses add up to at least 50 hours of content.
Submit a brief proposal and obtain approval from the Department Chair (see Department SIP Moodle page). The proposal must include a list of the courses chosen; the hours of content in each course; and a rationale for choosing these courses. The proposal must be uploaded to SIP Moodle by Friday, 9^th Week Spring term Junior year.
Write a summary of what you learned in each class including the certificate/s earned. The summary should be five pages long.
Complete the course(s) and the SIP by the end of Fall quarter, Senior year.

For complete details see the Department SIP Handbook.

To write a SIP in the Department of Economics and Business, you have to visit the Economics and Business SIP Moodle page. Once you reach this page, you must (1) register as a course participant and (2) complete the SIP Proposal Form of your choice. The Department Chair will approve the SIP Proposal and assign a SIP supervisor to you. Any student that chooses not to register as a participant and fill out a SIP proposal will be assumed to be writing a SIP in another department.

The student also registers for a one-credit SIP with the Registrar’s Office. All SIP registration forms are due to the Registrar’s Office by 5pm on Friday of the 9^th week spring quarter. According to K College policy, a student may not overload during the Fall SIP quarter. Hence, if one registers for SIP credit for Fall quarter, one can only take two additional courses during that quarter. Note that you must complete both a SIP Proposal for the Department of Economics and Business (using the Moodle SIP page) and register for the SIP through the Registrar’s Office. If you fail to complete either of these two tasks, you will not be registered for a SIP… and the completion of a SIP is required for graduation.

Important SIP Deadlines

Complete proposal using the Department Moodle SIP page by 9^th Week (Course Paper Extension, Experiential Internship, Online Skill Building) Spring of Junior year.
Gain IRB approval for SIP research if using human subjects (end of Junior Spring quarter).
Complete the College SIP registration form and submit it to the Registrar Office by Friday 9^th week, Spring quarter.
Write SIP during the Fall quarter of the Senior Year and submit work by the end of Fall quarter, Senior Year, to your assigned SIP supervisor.
In case the SIP supervisor requires revisions to the SIP submitted 10^th week Fall quarter, Senior Year, such revisions are due third week the following Winter quarter.

Previous Economics and Business SIP’s

Are you interested in viewing past Economics and Business major SIP’s? Visit Economics and Business Senior Integrated Projects in the Kalamazoo College digital archives.