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Capstone Procedures


The Proposal

All students must be aware before beginning the capstone process that it is their responsibility to make sure that they follow all of the steps required by the MAPW Program and the University.

Before beginning their capstones, students must follow the following steps.

Step 1: Select a committee.

NOTE: Faculty who have been your instructors and who will, consequently, know you and your work are much more likely to be willing to work with you than those who don't know you at all.

  • The committee mentors you through the capstone process.
  • It is composed of two members of the MAPW faculty.
  • Preferably, both members, but at least one member, must teach in your concentration.
  • You must begin approaching faculty to ask them to be on your committee no later than the middle of your second year in the Program or after completing 27 hours (or 9 courses) of coursework.

The faculty who have agreed to be on capstone committees are responsible for advising the student in terms of:

  1. drafting, completing, and filing the Capstone Proposal before the last day of classes in the semester before the student enrolls in PRWR7960: MAPW Capstone Project;
  2. suggesting and discussing the capstone's focus and format;
  3. suggesting and discussing the introductory essays' facus, shape, and content;
  4. suggesting a reading list or avenue of research, if needed;
  5. arranging and/or approving a timeline for the student's completion of research, docuemnts, or media presentations; and
  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 Catalog.

The faculty who have agreed to be on capstone committees are also responsible for facilitating the completion of the capstone by:

  1. reading drafts of documents, annotating the drafts with suggestions or corrections, and suggesting revision in the writing;
  2. conferencing with the student in terms f specific tasks in the timeline for completing the capstone;
  3. conferencing with the student regarding theoretical issues and/or readings attendant to the capstone;
  4. reading and approving the final draft of the capstone;
  5. advising about and approving the public presentation of the capstone; and
  6. signing and distributing all attendant documents on time.
Step 2: Write a proposal.
  • The committee members may want to see your proposal before agreeing to be on your committee, so writing the proposal may actual be the first step in the capstone process for some.
  • The proposal must include the following:
  1. a detailed statement of the rationale for the capstone project;
  2. a list of the parts of the project (including the introductory essay);
  3. a plan for the revision and/or production of the parts of the project;
  4. a detailed timeline for the completion of the parts of the project, which will include the dates when the student will give committee members work and the dates when faculty will return the student's work  with comments;
  5. a detailed plan for how the student will get advice from committee members and for how the student will respond to that advice (i.e., face-to-face, via email, etc.); and
  6. a cover sheet.
Step 3: Submit the proposal.
  • Your committee members will want you to revise portions or perhaps even rewrite the whole proposal.
  • Once your committee approves your proposal, you should fill out the cover sheet, which is available online at this site, and submit it to your committee members to sign.
  • Submit the cover sheet and the proposal to Ms. Terri Brennen (EB163) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the last day of class of the semester before the one in which you plan on beginning your capstone. NOTE: This is not a flexible deadline, and the director will not approve proposals turned in after this deadline.
  • After you've submitted the proposal to Ms. Brennen, she will enter an override for you so that you may enroll in PRWR 7960: MAPW Capstone Project.
  • You must enroll in PRWR 7960 each semester during which you're working on the capstone and enter your credit hours whether 3 or 6.

 

 

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.


Presenting Your Work Publicly

After much deliberation, the MAPW faculty has decided to stop offering the Showcase. 

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 with your committee members. You may invite your families, friends, etc. to any of these options.

I f you decide take part in a dramatic reading or oral defense these should be completed by the last day of classes.

 The student must distribute final copies of the capstone project to the committee for its final approval at least three weeks prior to the last day of classes.

After the student completes the public presentation, the committee members sign the Certificate of Approval (exhibit B) which belongs in your finished project and the Notice of Capstone Completion (exhibit C) which Terri Brennen receives by the last day of classes to route to the registrar. When the student has made all corrections required by the committee, the committee members sign the Notice of Completion.

Capstone Grades

 Students in PRWR 7960 receive 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.

Depositing the Capstone Project

Upon completion of the capstone, each student must submit a  electronic copy  to the library.

The following must be completed no later than the last day of class of the semester in which you graduate and then send it via email to Jon Hansen:

  • an electronic copy of the capstone in one of the following formats  : doc, docx, rtf, or pdf;
  • a digital copy of  the Certificate of Approval that you and your committee members have signed; and
  • a copy of the License Agreement.

Jon Hansen, Librarian, KSU, Sturgis Library Room 321, 770/423-6248 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jon Hansen, who's in charge of overseeing the capstones once they have been deposited in the library, has informed us: "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."