Capstone Procedures

Proposal

Before beginning work on the capstone project, the student must prepare a proposal and have it approved by the committee. The student must have the proposal approved and the cover sheet signed by all committee members by the last day of classes the term prior to beginning the project. Please turn in the cover sheet and proposal to Terri Brennen EB163 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The proposal should include:

• a detailed statement of the rationale for the capstone project.
• a list of the parts of the project.
• a plan for the revision and/or production of the parts of the project.
• a timeline for the completion of the parts of the project.
• a definite plan for how the writer will get advice from committee members about project materials and how the writer will respond to that advice, e.g., meetings, e-mail attachments, etc.

After approval by the committee, the signed cover sheet (exhibit A) and a rough draft should be submitted to the MAPW Program coordinator. The Program Coordinator will then enter the over ride so you can enroll in PRWR 7960.

Petition to Graduate

MAPW Candidates must petition to graduate at least one semester prior to completion of program requirements. Before MAPW students can petition to graduate, they must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. The petition form may be obtained from the MAPW Graduate Secretary in the English Department office or online. The student must obtain the MAPW Graduate Director's signature before submitting the petition to the business office and the Registrar.

Capstone Committee

A semester or two prior to compiling your proposal, consult with faculty members which might  be your committee members. Depending on how many committees a faculty member is already serving on, he or she may not be available to serve on another committee.

MAPW Capstone Committee Responsibilities

The capstone committee consists of two mentors with shared responsibilities. These responsibilities include the areas of:

• Advising the student in terms of
  1. drafting and filing a Capstone Proposal before the last day of classes in the term preceding enrollment for the Capstone.
  2. suggesting and discussing the focus and format of the capstone project.
  3. suggesting and discussing the focus, shape, and content of the introductory essay.
  4. suggesting a reading list or avenues of research.
  5. arranging and/or approving a schedule and timeline for completing research, documents, or media presentations.
  6. reviewing and amending the schedule of tasks and the timeline and monitoring the schedule and timeline, taking into account the official incomplete policy in the Graduate Catalogue.
• Facilitating the completion of the project by
  1. reading drafts of documents, annotating the drafts, and suggesting revisions in writing.
  2. conferencing with the student in terms of specific tasks in the timeline for completing the capstone project.
  3. conferencing with the student regarding theoretical issues and/or readings attendant to the capstone project.
  4. reading and approving the final drafts of portfolios or the final form of media, presentations, research materials.
  5. advising about and approving of materials for presentation at the Capstone Showcase, or advising about expectations for the discussion with the two capstone mentors.
  6. signing all attendant documents verifying completion of the project.

As often as it is feasible and reasonable to do so, the two mentors should meet together with the student to confer about the phases of the Capstone project.

Presenting your work publicly

After much deliberation, the MAPW faculty has decided to stop offering the Showcase. Beginning Fall 2010, there will be no Showcase for you to participate in. Instead, you’re invited to present your work during a new series that Dr. Elledge is developing.

 Piggy-backing on MAPW alum Joellen Woodall’s reading series The Play Pen,the new series will be held 7:30-10pm on the first Tuesday of each month—October, November, and December 2010 as well as February, March, and April 2011—at Johnnie MacCracken's Pub, 15 Atlanta Street, Marietta, GA 30060  678-290-6641.

 If you’re interested in taking part in the new reading series, please do the following:

• sign up for one of the three dates for fall or spring semester by contacting Heather Cook, the series host, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , at least two weeks before the reading is scheduled to take place;

• give her a 100-150-word autobiography that she will read as your introduction; and

• limit your presentation to no more than ten minutes—including introduction—to present your work.

 If you decide not to take part in the reading series (and the decision is yours in consultation with your capstone committee), you have two other options. If your capstone is a script or screenplay, you’ll organize a dramatic reading of your plays or scripts. If your capstone takes some other form, you’ll take part in an oral defense. Both of these options are “public,” as is the new series. You may invite your families, friends, etc. to them.

If you have any questions about the new procedure for presenting your work publicly, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
office EB165 
678-797-2039
www.ksu-mapw.com

The student must distribute final copies of the capstone project to the committee at least three weeks prior to the date of graduation.

After the student completes the public presentation, the committee members sign the Certificate of Approval (exhibit B) and the Notice of Capstone Completion (exhibit C). When the student has made all corrections required by the committee, the committee members sign the Notice of Completion. The MAPW Program Coordinator forwards the Notice to the Registrar, due  a week prior to graduation.

Capstone Grade

PRWR 7960 receives a grade of "S" or "U." "S" indicates that credit has been given for completion of degree requirements other than academic course work. "U" indicates unsatisfactory performance or progress in an attempt to complete degree requirements other than academic course work.

Final Deposit of Capstone Project

 To submit your capstone to the library, I need three things from you:

1) an electronic copy of your capstone, in one of the following formats:
.doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf. You can email that to me, or (if you prefer)
bring it by the library on CD.

2) your certificate of approval, signed by both your capstone
professors. If you've got one scanned, you can send it along with your capstone.

3) a signed & filled out copy of the license agreement. You can
print it out and drop it off, or print, sign, scan & email it back.

In terms of restricting access, we can put your capstone in the system under
an embargo. What that means is, an embargo basically "seals" the capstone
for a period of time (months or years, to be determined by you). A visitor
to your capstone's page could see the information about it (title, author,
keywords, etc.), but not the file itself. This is useful if you're trying to
get the work published professionally and are sending it out to agents,
publishers, editors, because that wouldn't make the work previously
published. The standard embargo times run from 18 months to 3 years,
although I've had some requested to run as long as 50 years which isn't a
problem.

Jon Hansen

Librarian, Kennesaw State University

Office, Sturgis Library Room 321

770-423-6248

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The student who fails to meet the final deposit deadline is automatically removed from the graduation list.