School of Public Affairs Pilots Capstone Projects for Masters Programs

Engaging in real-world projects helps both the community and students

March 8, 2019

By Sofia Bert

March 8, 2019

In the spirit of learning through experience rather than through test taking, the School of Public Affairs is no longer making its graduate students take comprehensive exams. Now they will be allowed to complete capstone projects.

“There was interest among the faculty to move graduate student assessment away from memorization and regurgitation and towards engaging in real-world projects with local governments or non-profit clients,” said Director of the School of Public Affairs and city planning professor Sherry Ryan.

The School created an RFP process to solicit capstone project proposals from local organizations, and had quite a strong response, with 12 proposals received from a variety of nonprofits and local governments.

The capstone projects are beneficial to local agencies who may have projects or research questions waiting, but no funding sources to address them, said Ryan.

“It’s a wonderful role for the university to play in the community and it helps us keep the relevance of our academic work in the forefront,” said Ryan.

For this academic year, six pilot capstone proposals that were accepted including,

• Assessment of Community-Based Participation in Vista’s Climate Action Plan Update,

• Assessment of the City of El Cajon’s Six Homelessness Programs,

• Developing a Survivor-Centric Domestic Violence Prevention Program,

• Data Collection and Analysis to Support San Diego Police Department Recruitment and Retention Efforts,

• Assessment of the Community Benefits of Urban Agriculture in the City of National City, and

• Del Cerro Crime and Safety Plan.

Masters student in the program Shannon Kirn said that she is currently working on the National City project.

“It has morphed into more of a health and wellness assessment and the impact of community gardens on the communities,” said Kirn.

Kirn said that this project is something that can be applied to other community gardens to see the impacts of these gardens in communities.

“I was so glad to have the opportunity because it truly is a real world experience, trying to coordinate with others and have stakeholder interviews and work with local officials, it does show that things can change and you have to be flexible.” said Kirn.

Kirn said that she previously had worked for nonprofits but now is considering working for local government agencies.

“It has been a really positive experience for students because they’re getting off campus and doing work that reinforces all their learning in the classroom,” said Ryan.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.

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