The Portland State 2012 spring term course catalog has more than 70 listings for UNST 421, better known as the senior capstone. These six-credit courses cover a vast array of topics, like tutoring adult English language learners, writing grants for wildlife preservations in Africa, meditation for personal growth and social responsibility and mentoring Native American youth. Most capstones take one term to complete and are required for nearly all undergraduate degrees at PSU.
As the final component of the University Studies requirement, capstone courses place emphasis on community involvement by nudging students out of the classroom and giving them opportunities to apply their education and skills in a real-world, community-based context. According to Capstone Program Director Seanna Kerrigan, capstone courses bring together PSU’s four general education goals: communication, critical thinking, social responsibility and human diversity. “The capstone,” Kerrigan said, “enhances those skills and requires students to demonstrate them. It’s the culmination of PSU’s general education experience.”
Fifteen years ago, PSU faculty members decided that the university’s general education mission would be most effectively promoted through a service learning-based senior project. Capstones were the result.
One six-credit class, at $136.80 per credit for 2011–12, is a costly endeavor for Oregon resident students, but even more so for the out-of-staters, who pay $475 per credit. Students of junior standing or higher can take their capstone at any time, but with such a long list of choices, selecting one can be a daunting task. Adding to that is the fact that some capstones fill up very quickly.
After struggling to find a capstone that pertained to her interests, psychology senior Celina Kishna settled on Business Outreach. Kishna, who graduates this spring, chose Business Outreach because she gets a kick out of research and was curious about the business world.
Kishna collaborated with three other students and the owner of a local small business to improve the business model and allow expansion into other markets. However, she spent most of her time doing market research, which primarily consisted of examining numbers gathered by other people and charting trends, a stark difference from the kind of academic research she loves.
“I did not appreciate my capstone experience,” she said. Kishna added that she didn’t think the capstone itself was poorly conceived, but that it was a bad fit for her. Additionally, she found the teamwork component frustrating. “We’re told at PSU that we need to learn to work in teams. But, that’s totally bogus,” she said, “because not all careers depend on group work.” In her experience, group work is not implemented well on the university level.
The capstone system could benefit from being more flexible, Kishna said. It would be better, she added, if students with enough volunteer experience could opt out of having to complete a capstone. “It’s ridiculous,” she said. “My résumé is full of volunteer experience.”
Other students agreed with Kishna. History senior Brian Burton, who plans on graduating in the spring, thinks students that volunteer should have other options. Burton volunteers at his local library and said that he’d gladly have taken on more hours there in lieu of the capstone.
“I’m a college senior,” Burton said. “It seems odd to me that community service is a requirement at this point.” Burton added that he feels somewhat coddled by the capstone requirement.
About seven years ago, the University Studies Program responded to student criticism about the program’s lack of flexibility by creating a capstone called Being an Effective Change Agent. While it doesn’t allow students to substitute volunteer work for capstone credit, this course does grant students the freedom to design a project with a community partner of their choice.
There is an important assessment component to the senior capstone that would not be addressed by simply replacing it with volunteer hours, according to Kerrigan. Still, she recognized that students were making a valid point. “Seven years ago,” Kerrigan said, “when students raised that question, there wasn’t an option. There was nothing I could tell them.” The Effecting Change course, Kerrigan said, addresses that issue.
Burton wound up registering for Portland’s Water: History and Challenges, which partners students with the Portland Water Bureau to examine the functions of the bureau, as well as create and implement community outreach projects. He chose it because it came highly recommended from a friend.
As a history major, Burtonsaid his college experience has been pretty cerebral. He hopes his capstone experience will be different and somehow more personally relevant to him. “I’m looking forward to being out in the field. I want lessons that will apply more broadly to the rest of my life,” Burton said.
Behind the University Studies information desk sits administrator Mike Millard. He strongly believes in the capstone requirement as an important complement to a university education because the courses encourage students to leave their comfort zones. “The whole point of education,” Millard said, “is exposure to things you normally wouldn’t delve into.”
Millard, who would like to see service-learning become a bigger component of higher education, fields a lot of questions from students about capstone courses. Millard’s best advice is that students speak to their academic adviser. He suggested students speak to the course instructor regarding questions or concerns and to pick a capstone course related to general interests and career goals.
Part of Millard’s job at the University Studies office—his favorite part, in fact—is reading student evaluations. Capstone feedback is overwhelmingly positive, Millard said. He added that students largely report rewarding, but demanding, capstone experiences.
All students are welcome to the upcoming Capstone Fair on May 1 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Smith Memorial Student Union rooms 327 and 329.