1.         Purpose

The purpose of the PAD 771 Capstone seminar is for students to demonstrate that they have successfully mastered skills developed during studies in the MPA program. The student develops a term project on a policy-related problem in a specific jurisdiction. The problem selected must be related to the student’s area of specialization. The project submission consists of three components:

• the project essay which is in the form of a 12-page memorandum,
• a 2-page executive summary in memorandum format, and
• twelve (12) presentation slides to support a presentation of your cover memorandum.

Students are expected to choose a topic for their capstone projects during the initial weeks of the course, according to a schedule specified in the syllabus for the course section. (The general parameters for the schedule are set out in the section on “Course Timetables” below.) The student completes a “Project Definition Worksheet” which the section professor must review and approve before the student proceeds with further development.