Senior capstone course Career, Leadership and Success aims to teach students practical professional skills, such as building a resume – yet in the opinion of political science major and ASUI Vice President Stetson Holman, the required course did nothing to further his education or his career prospects.
Though he said senior capstone courses should be to work closely with professors and other students, Holman said the professor often seemed busy and the online format of the class made engagement difficult.
That”s what made Holman decide senior curriculum needs a change.
A resolution authored by Holman passed by ASUI Senate Wednesday asks the Dean of Students office and University of Idaho President Chuck Staben to establish capstone classes for each department at UI in order to help students get real-world experience tailored to their field of study.
“I think there should be some kind of program that helps you keep your eyes towards the future and helps you plan what you”re going to do post graduation or at least ties everything together,” Holman said, “Like, this is what we”ve learned, now how is this applicable?”
Holman proposed this idea to the University Committee of General Education (UCGE) earlier this month, and said he found a lack of resources at the university was a major cause of the problem.
“There is just not enough manpower to have 200 kids in a department of eight professors to take a capstone class where students can get to know them and their research,” Holman said. “It”s just infeasible.”
Some programs are also just too broad to take one specific capstone class, Holman said. An example of this would be Food Science, which covers topics ranging from chemistry to nutrition.
ASUI Sen. Danny Bugingo aided Holman during his presentation to the UCGE. Bugingo said making this requirement a reality is a lot easier said than done. Yet he said ASUI”s continued presence on the UCGE into next semester will allow for better student representation on the issue.
“We”re going to be working with teachers and seeing if we can get things going in the future,” Bugingo said. “We just want to understand the reasoning behind that and be able to make sure the student voice is heard in that.”
Bugingo said he will sit on the committee this fall along with one other ASUI senator.
Holman said looking at it now, he thinks he should have used different terminology than “capstone,” since capstone classes also have to be approved through the State Board of Education. However, he said an “exit-oriented” senior course where students can gain career skills is still crucial.
Though Holman said he has since found out the political science department is planning to create a capstone class within the next three years, he said it may still not contain the materials he said are important.
“They”re not going to do the things I think a political science major should do, like evaluating law schools, helping get internships, exploring career options and talking about how to market yourself,” Holman said.
Since he is graduating this year, Holman said he hopes Bugingo will take over the reigns in obtaining quality capstone classes for each department.
Editor”s note: Danny Bugingo is an Argonaut columnist
Jessica Gee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JessicaC_Gee