Student Highlights Capstone Chronicles: Part 3 Class of 2016

This is the third installment of an ongoing series following our MPA and MPP students in their final semester as they complete their Capstone Project, which is an intensive research project that addresses a self-selected policy question.

The end is all too near! Our Capstone cohort has finished their papers and will head to the ring to defend their projects next Thursday. Each student is preparing a 12-minute presentation of their research, to be delivered to a panel of Martin School faculty and expert practitioners. After their presentation, the panel will pepper the students questions about their projects—why they chose a particular method or to further interpret their results. Total, each session is scheduled for 45 minutes. Immediately after the presentation and questions conclude, the faculty meet to discuss whether or not the student’s work passes muster.

To prepare, Dr. Petrovsky has scheduled practice presentation sessions this week with all the students to test their mettle before they head to the lion's den. Each second-year MPA/MPP student is timed and offered feedback from Dr. Petrovsky and other faculty that may attend the practices on their content and presentation style. Because the projects are so diverse, each presentation is, too. Some suggestions are small tweaks to wording or how the content is shown on a Powerpoint, while others anticipate the types of questions the experts will want to dig in to.

Based on the practice sessions we sat in on, we are very excited for the big day next Thursday! Members of our community are welcome—we’ll share more information soon.