Course Syllabus

SPEA-V 600 Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs 

Meeting Times and Location

Monday and Wednesday at 9:35 to 10:50 in SPEA A205

Course Description from Bulletin

Interdisciplinary course organized as faculty-coached class project on a management/policy topic determined by an external client. Course goals are professional preparation and integration of degree program knowledge.

Broader Course Description

The O’Neill Capstone courses are intended to provide hands-on consulting experience to students in an interdisciplinary framework. With faculty coaching as necessary, students coordinate with an external client organization to work together in a collaborative learning format. The course is a capstone for the core curriculum, not a concentration element. This means that capstones intentionally deal with interdisciplinary, interrelated issues that generally arise in the professional positions students will attain. For this capstone, students may have expertise in nonprofit or NGO management, business development, sustainable business, or international development, but it is not a requirement or an expectation.

The immediate objective of this course is to prepare a high-quality set of deliverables for our client. Broader objectives are to help students develop the following skills: professionalism, sustainability, financial management, international teamwork, and nonprofit management. There will be some guidance by the instructor to accomplish the organizational goals, but part of the challenge of the course will be for the students to self-organize and then execute this project on their own. The instructor will serve as a coach to the students.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Construct a team based on team member skill sets that optimizes the potential to produce very high quality project work. Establish, implement, and modify as needed effective means for managing the team's work, communicating with and among team members, and resolving disputes involving team members.
  2. Inspire leadership skills within and across project teams to inspire and coordinate the work of classmates in order to complete project work in a timely way and to maximize its quality. Evaluate whether and how to supply input to leaders on a given issue, and perform work according to instruction and direction from leaders.
  3. Establish realistic schedules for completion of project tasks, track progress efficiently and accurately, and adjust schedules appropriately to account for changes in scope and other circumstances that modify the project direction or deliverables.
  4. Identify, assess, and incorporate into the project schedule and work a variety of time and resource constraints, and develop methods to maximize the time and resources available. Plan individual and team work to minimize the risk of delaying other parts of the project.
  5. Integrate, as individuals performing work within a team, skills and knowledge acquired throughout the masters curriculum; integrate the work of team members contributing different skill sets and expertise, into a well-organized, holistic final product.
  6. Enhance listening skills; design and deliver effective, audience appropriate communications that are responsive and professional in style, format, and tone.
  7. Establish clear expectations with client on the project scope and planned deliverables; deliver swift, responsive, and professional replies to client inquiries; coordinate client communications to maximize their value for the project and avoid inappropriate demands on client time and resources.
  8. Plan and conduct research and analysis, and develop recommendations that expressly reflect and appropriately integrate any conditions of uncertainty.
  9. Organize, write, and present a professional quality report, and PowerPoint presentation for (and to) the client and the O’Neill community both summarizing and detailing the project research, analysis, conclusions and recommendations.

There are no required textbooks for this course.