Sponsor FAQ

Read the Kickbox student FAQ for more information on the Kickbox program.

All Kickbox applications require a faculty or staff member sponsor. The role of the sponsor is to make sure the idea or project is safe to pursue, the student can make progress on it during the timeframe, and to provide the student with guidance during their project.

How involved you are in your student’s Kickbox will vary depending on the project and student’s needs. At a minimum, we are asking that you:

• Review the requirements of a Kickbox project.
  

• Agree/disagree that the idea is safe to pursue, is grounded in reality, and is worth pursuing by the student.
  
• Meet with the student at least three times throughout their project – one during planning, one during execution and one in preparation for the project’s final presentation at the Maker Takeover event in late April. Most sponsors say they spend 2-4 hours during the semester meeting with and communicating with their Kickbox student.
  

Any Elon faculty or staff member can sponsor a Kickbox. The sponsor should have some experience or understanding of the type of project they are sponsoring to effectively guide the student during the project.

Most sponsors say they spend 2-4 hours during the semester meeting with and communicating with their Kickbox student.

These comments are from an end-of-project survey sent to Kickbox sponsors.

• It’s not too hard to do. You are a touch point for students to help them keep moving. It is not like an undergraduate research study where you may spend considerable time helping a student research project.
• Set weekly meetings with the student to keep the project on time.
• Be sure to have a well-defined goal/tasks.
• Stay involved.
• My student has a great idea for a project, but it was probably too ambitious. Make sure the scale of the project is appropriate. Also talk to your student about expectations in advance.
• I found my role as a faculty sponsor was a reality check.
• The students probably will not keep track of the times they have to meet with you, so it will be on you to keep the schedule of meetings organized.
• I would advise others to sponsor students who show strong potential for success.

No, students do not receive academic credit for participating in Kickbox. You are not expected to grade the students or meet with the student(s) each week. We do ask that you meet at least three times during the semester.

Yes, you can sponsor as many Kickbox students as you would like.

Yes, multiple students can work as a team and apply for a Kickbox. If they choose to work as a team, one person must be designated as the primary investigator for the project. That person will be responsible for meeting all the deadlines and communicating with Kickbox program staff. The team can include as many members, or co-investigators, as the student sees fit.

Whether you meet with the whole team or just the primary investigator is up to you.

Students listed as co-investigators on a project are allowed to apply for their own Kickbox if it is an entirely different project.

The student will present their project at the Maker Takeover event in late April. That event officially marks the end of your Kickbox sponsorship. Of course, you’re welcome to continue working on the project, but you’ll have no other responsibilities to the Kickbox program.

That’s OK. Failure is a part of the creation process. The important thing is that the student learns from these failures to better prepare for their next project. Your student will still be required to complete all the responsibilities of the Kickbox – like regular updates and presenting about what went wrong and how it could be fixed.

If your student does not complete the requirements of Elon Kickbox, if they leave the project or Elon University, or in the unlikely event they are asked to leave the project, the student must return the Visa card, as well as ALL materials and tools to the Maker Hub within three business days. The student may be held accountable for any missing funds on the Visa card and they will not be allowed to receive Kickboxes in the future.

You, the Kickbox sponsor, will NOT be held accountable for any missing funds on the Visa card.

Kickbox applications are reviewed by Maker Hub student staff, Teaching and Learning Technology staff (TLT) and by select faculty members serving on the Academic Technology Committee (ATC).

Contact Dan Reis (dreis2@elon.edu) in Teaching and Learning Technologies with your questions.