Capstone Project Guidelines

Important

• All academic questions should be answered by your program director.
• Please check your specific program requirements to ensure that you are adhering to your program. guidelines. This presentation is just a general overview.
• Your capstone projects, including all approval forms, must be signed by your program director. This should be your first contact for advisement.

Capstone Options

1. Comprehensive Written Exam— final review of the student’s mastery of the field, an opportunity for students to draw together areas of specialization, relating their coursework, their research skills, and literature.
2. Professional Project— a piece of original research or creative project on a topic relevant to the students’ area of study. The final text should be of publishable quality and about 25 to 50 pages long.
3. Grant Proposal (International Development Studies only)— an application process for a financial grant provided by an institution such as a government department, corporation, foundation or trust.
4. Thesis— results in the production of a substantial written paper of variable length. Must apply through the Thesis and Dissertation (TAD) office at the Graduate College. Follow graduate college deadlines and directions.

Planning Your Capstone Committee

• Identify and engage potential members of your committee early.
• Take a class with them if possible.
• Make an appointment to discuss your project.
• Have an idea of what you’d like to research. The research doesn’t have to be complete, but make sure you are prepared to discuss it.
• Ascertain faculty interest in working on your committee.
• Discuss their potential role on your committee.

Capstone Logistics in Planning

Comprehensive Exam

• Be sure you understand your program requirements and guidelines for the exams.
• Meet with committee members and collect any needed documents early.
• Schedule your exams early.
• Allow at least a week for exams results and feedback.

Thesis/Project

• Distribute your capstone guidelines to committee members.
• Write your project in sections and submit each section for review (e.g. introduction, methodology, etc.).
• Allow ample time for corrections and comments from committee members.
• Turn in final project (with any guidelines) at least five days before presentation date.

Forms Needed

Comprehensive Exam

1. Notification of Intent
2. Reading List (not required for all programs)
3. Committee Member Evaluation
4. Program Director Evaluation
5. Oral Exam Evaluation (LAS only)

Professional Project

1. Approval form— You will need to attach a project proposal to be reviewed by your chair and committee members. Be sure to discuss with them before submitting.
2. Evaluation form

Grant Proposal

• Approval— You will need to attach a proposal to be reviewed by your chair and committee members. Be sure to discuss with them before submitting

Thesis

• Proposal Approval, Arrangements for the Oral Exam on the Thesis, and Oral Defense

About Electronic Forms

• All forms are digital.
• Emails come from "Microsoft Flow."
• Once you submit a form you will get a notification that it was successfully submitted.
• You will get a notification once it has been approved.
• Please ask your committee members to look out for the form. [Check spam.]
• New feature: Can also see it in Teams.
• Be sure ALL emails are correctly entered. If not, forms may not be routed to the correct person.