Important changes to Capstone Project requirements
The Honors Program is implementing some changes to the process and requirements for the Capstone project over the next couple of years, for both students and faculty. Here are the most immediate revisions, with some revisions for next year to be shared at a later date:
- Beginning immediately, there will be two awards at each Conference of Honors for the Outstanding Capstone Project Award. There will be a small monetary award for both the student and the directing faculty member for the two projects selected. The amounts will be $150 for each of the two students whose projects are selected, and $75 for each of the directing faculty members.
- Beginning immediately, we would like to change the term faculty mentor to faculty director.
- Beginning immediately, the presentation at the Conference of Honors will attempt to more closely replicate Honors instruction. To that end, the student presenter should limit presentation to 13-15 minutes, and leave at least 5 minutes for interactive discussion following presentation. Further, the student, in consultation with their faculty director, should formulate an “open” question for a general audience, to be presented as a transition into discussion following the 13-15 minute presentation. An “open” question is one without a definitive answer, a question raised by the student research and project, one that can engage a general (not a specialized) audience in discussion.
- Beginning immediately, no faculty member should be involved in more than 3 Capstones in a given semester. “Involved” is defined as directing either the first-semester research credit (HNR 491-001) or the second-semester project/thesis completion credit (HNR 491-002), or any form of independent study to be counted as Capstone credit. This requirement is firm, so choose your students and projects judiciously.
- Beginning next academic year (2010-11), no faculty member should be involved in more than 2 Capstones in a given semester.
- Beginning Spring semester 2010, the proposal for the Capstone project needs to be 2-3 pages (double spaced) in length, and should include 2-4 preliminary sources already consulted by the students. Think of this short list of sources as a mini Works Cited, or if a creative project, a short list of influential sources to date. As students work with faculty directors to create a more focused, specific proposal, they might consider including questions that will drive their research. In addition to the proposal, students should submit a one-page timeline toward project completion, attached to the proposal. For now, the deadline for submitting the approved proposal remains the first week of classes during the research semester, at the mandatory Capstone first-semester meeting for students.
- Beginning Spring semester 2010, the proposal must now be approved and signed by both the project director and the Honors Program Director.
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