Guidelines for MAPW Capstone Projects
Portfolio, Thesis, Practicum

To be submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts in Professional Writing degree

Department of English
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Kennesaw State University

Beginning Fall 2007, students who are planning to present their work at a Showcase or students scheduling an oral defense must have their work in the ending stages and approved by their capstone committee at least three weeks before the date of the Showcase. The committee members will verify this with Dr. Elledge. These are firm deadlines, and no exceptions will be made.

KSU Graduate Catalogue Description
PRWR 7960: The MAPW Capstone Project
Prerequisite: Completion of 27 credit hours in the MAPW program and at least four courses in the concentration
A project designated as a thesis, portfolio or practicum and accompanied by a rationale for its purpose and design that involves electronic and/or print media and is relevant to the student’s concentration in professional writing. After submitting an approved capstone proposal, the candidate works under the direction and advice of two faculty members to produce the project. The candidate must submit the capstone project at least two weeks before either 1) a discussion about the project with the faculty committee, or 2) a public presentation about the project or a reading from the project for an audience of faculty and peers. The candidate will consult with the capstone committee members about which option to choose.

Definition

Capstone projects are the culmination of the writer’s work in the MAPW program. Candidates for the MAPW degree demonstrate their achievements in one of three formats:

• The Professional Portfolio
• The MAPW Thesis
• The Practicum

The nature of these capstones is described in detail below.

All three capstone formats require an introductory essay of self-assessment and reflection that frames, informs, and contextualizes the documents that the writer chooses to present as the portfolio, thesis, or practicum for an audience of MAPW faculty, students, and alumni. This essay should relate the materials in the capstone project to the writer’s development during the time of his or her MAPW coursework, joining together academic understanding, writing workshop experience, workplace experience, and future professional goals.

Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of a student's best work that includes self-assessment and reflection. It is a deliberate compilation of representative samples of a student's best writing, gathered according to some plan or argument, for use by an identified reader or readers for specific needs or purposes. In educational and professional settings, a portfolio may be used to demonstrate a student's writing competence. In the portfolio, the student includes samples from a variety of genres of writing to demonstrate his or her versatility. In addition to assembling the portfolio and revising the pieces to be included, the student is required in the introductory essay to reflect on and make a case for his or her development as a writer.

After completion of twenty-seven credit hours and at least four courses in the concentration, the student who chooses the portfolio option to complete the MAPW degree requirements may register for at least 6 hours of PRWR 7960: The Professional Portfolio. The student may choose to register for 3 hours of PRWR 7960 in two successive semesters.

Content And Length
The portfolio should be 50 to 100 pages in length, include a number of pieces of revised writing from a variety of genres, and begin with an introductory essay approximately 10 pages long that introduces the reader to the works in the portfolio, reflects on their relation to the MAPW course work, and makes an argument about some aspect of professional writing. Students will also write intertexts or interchapters that will reinforce the thread and progress of the argument that holds the portfolio together. In addition, students may include an assessment of a piece of writing rather than a revision. The portfolio may include work that has been accepted for publication while the writer has been a student in the MAPW program. It should be kept in mind that the portfolio is a substantive project and should reflect the highest quality of writing the student has produced. Ideally, a student finishing the portfolio will have several pieces that may be submitted for publication and/or that may be used to provide evidence of the student's expertise in professional writing to prospective employers.

The total length of the portfolio may vary depending on the field and genres in which the writer is working. The final length should result from consultation with the student's portfolio committee, as this committee will ultimately approve or reject the project; however, for students in all concentrations, the portfolio should be about 50 to 100 pages long. For creative writers, guidelines of lengths of various genres are as follows:

• Prose: A minimum of 75 pages. This may include 3 or more short stories, 3 or more creative nonfiction essays, or a combination of these. As an alternative, it may include several chapters or a section of a novel. Writers of short-short fiction may include fewer pages, contingent upon approval of the portfolio committee.
   
• Poetry: A minimum of 15 poems. Writers of very long poems may be allowed to include fewer poems, writers of very short poems may be required to include more, contingent upon consultation with the portfolio committee.
   
• Playscripts or Screenplays: A minimum of 60 pages (minutes). This may be one full-length script or several shorter scripts.
   
• Mixed genres: Writers may compile work from several genres. The length of the manuscript may vary depending on the weight given to any particular genre and should result from consultation with the portfolio committee.

Thesis

Research Thesis
The research thesis should demonstrate a student's ability to carry out independent research. This research should be closely related to the student's major area of concentration in the MAPW program and contribute to knowledge in the field. The student should select a research topic as early as possible in his or her graduate career in consultation with his or her adviser. When choosing a topic, the student should take into consideration his or her background and interest, ability to handle the problem, accessibility of research materials, and the probable significance of the project to the professional community for which it is intended. Students are required to follow the procedures established by the Institutional Review Board (IRB http://www.kennesaw.edu/irb/) for all research involving human participants.

Content and Length
The total length of the research thesis may vary depending on the field and genre in which the writer is working. The final length should result from consultation with the student's thesis committee, as this committee will ultimately approve or reject the project.

Creative Thesis
For creative writers, a thesis would be a full-length book manuscript. This option may be advisable for a student who has already completed a large portion of the proposed work. For example, the novelist may already have a rough novel manuscript and will spend the thesis writing period revising the manuscript; or a poet may have a large number of poems which will need to be revised and ordered into a book.

After completion of twenty-seven credit hours and at least four courses in the concentration, the student who chooses the thesis option to complete the MAPW degree requirements must register for at least 6 hours of PRWR 7960: The MAPW Thesis. The student may choose to register for 3 hours of PRWR 7960 in two successive semesters.

Content and Length
The creative thesis should begin with an introductory essay that puts forth a single and unified aesthetic statement that explains how the writer conceives the purpose and effect of the work.

For creative writers, guidelines for lengths of various genres are as follows:

• Prose: A novel or book of creative nonfiction should be about 200 pages; a collection of short stories, short-short stories or creative nonfiction essays about 150 pages; and a novella about 150 pages.
   
• Poetry: A book of poems should include about 30 poems. Writers of very long poems may be allowed to include fewer poems; writers of very short poems may be required to include more, contingent upon consultation with the thesis committee.
   
• Playscripts or Screenplays: A minimum of 100 pages (minutes).
   
• Mixed genres: Writers may compile work from several genres. The length of the manuscript may vary depending on the weight given to any particular genre and should result from consultation with the thesis committee.

The Practicum

Content and Length
The practicum must be a writing project that demonstrates the student’s expertise in developing an actual workplace document or text, such as a company’s or organization’s Web- site, a corporate intranet Website or electronic training module, or a consulting project—such as the editing of a major work or design of a Website. A student must contract with a client—who may be the employer—to deliver a document or set of documents for use by the client. Obtaining the client’s permission is necessary as the document(s) may be published as content in the student’s final practicum, either in part or in whole. Moreover, in reflecting on the success of the project, the student will want to discuss the client-student relationship in the development of the project. The practicum must begin with an introductory essay that explains the rationale and purpose of its design.

Total length of the capstone practicum may vary depending on the type of document the student is working on, but the practicum project must be substantive. The final length should result from consultation with the student’s capstone committee, as this committee will ultimately approve or reject the project. However, a minimum length should be fifty pages.

Statement of Responsibility

Each student is responsible for adhering to the requirements set forth in this document. It is expected that a capstone project free of stylistic, mechanical, grammatical, and formatting errors will be submitted to the committee.
Any deviation from the requirements set forth in this document must be reviewed and approved by the MAPW Committee.

Style Manual

The capstone project should be prepared according to the requirements in the latest edition of the style manual appropriate to the fields of professional writing in which the student is writing (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago). If the project is made up of separate pieces of writing from a variety of genres, a variety of styles may be followed. However, if points of difference arise, the statements in this document take precedence.

Procedures

Petition to Graduate
MAPW Candidates must petition to graduate at least one semester prior to completion of program requirements. Before MAPW students can petition to graduate, they must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. The petition form may be obtained from the MAPW Graduate Secretary in the English Department office or online. The student must obtain the MAPW Graduate Director’s signature before submitting the petition to the business office and the Registrar.

Capstone Committee
During the term prior to compiling and revising the capstone project, the student will consult with the faculty advisor and/or the MAPW Graduate Director about appropriate members for the committee. The two committee members should be familiar with the student's work in the program. A student must have studied with his or her supervising faculty members in at least one course in his or her concentration before selecting those faculty members to serve as the capstone committee. Students are advised to plan ahead. Depending on how many committees a faculty member is already serving on, he or she may not be available to serve on another committee.

MAPW Capstone Committee Responsibilities
The capstone committee consists of two mentors with shared responsibilities. These responsibilities include the areas of:

Advising the student in terms of
1) drafting and filing a Capstone Proposal before the last day of classes in the term preceding enrollment for the Capstone.
2) suggesting and discussing the focus and format of the capstone project
3) suggesting and discussing the focus, shape, and content of the introductory essay
4) suggesting a reading list or avenues of research
5) arranging and/or approving a schedule and timeline for completing research, documents, or media presentations
6) reviewing and amending the schedule of tasks and the timeline and monitoring the schedule and timeline, taking into account the official incomplete policy in the Graduate Catalogue

Facilitating the completion of the project by
1) reading drafts of documents, annotating the drafts, and suggesting revisions in writing
2) conferencing with the student in terms of specific tasks in the timeline for completing the capstone project
3) conferencing with the student regarding theoretical issues and/or readings attendant to the capstone project
4) reading and approving the final drafts of portfolios or the final form of
media, presentations, research materials
5) advising about and approving of materials for presentation at the Capstone Showcase, or advising about expectations for the discussion with the two capstone mentors
6) signing all attendant documents verifying completion of the project

As often as it is feasible and reasonable to do so, the two mentors should meet together with the student to confer about the phases of the Capstone project.

Proposal
Before beginning work on the capstone project, the student must prepare a proposal and have it approved by the committee. The student must have the proposal approved and the cover sheet signed by all committee members by the last day of classes in the term preceding the final term of enrollment.

The proposal should include:

• a detailed statement of the rationale for the capstone project
• a list of the parts of the project
• a plan for the revision and/or production of the parts of the project
• a timeline for the completion of the parts of the project
• a definite plan for how the writer will get advice from committee members about project materials and how the writer will respond to that advice, e.g., meetings, e-mail attachments, etc.

After approval by the committee, the signed cover sheet (exhibit A) and a rough draft should be submitted to the MAPW Program coordinator. The Program Coordinator will then clear the student for enrollment in PRWR 7960.

Discussion with Committee or Public Presentation in MAPW Capstone Showcase
In consultation with the committee, the student will choose to complete the capstone in one of two ways:

1. A discussion about the contents of the capstone project with the faculty committee, or
    
2. A public presentation (about 10 minutes) of part of the capstone project for faculty and peers at the MAPW Showcase.

Discussion with Committee
The student schedules an hour-long final discussion or presentation with the committee. The discussion may vary in content and format; it must take place at least two weeks prior to the date of graduation.

The student must distribute final copies of the portfolio to the committee at least three weeks prior to the date of graduation.

After the student completes the final discussion, the committee members sign the Certificate of Approval (exhibit B). When the student has made all corrections required by the committee, the committee members sign the Notice of Capstone Completion (exhibit C). The MAPW Graduate Secretary forwards the Notice to the Registrar.

MAPW Showcase
The student will participate in a public presentation for faculty and peers during the MAPW Showcase, scheduled during the last week of classes. The student should seek guidance from the committee members about how to choose an excerpt from the project that would be appropriate for about 10 minutes and about how to prepare for the presentation. Consult the Guidelines for Reading in the Kennesaw State MAPW Showcase available from the MAPW Graduate Secretary and online.

The student must distribute final copies of the capstone project to the committee at least three weeks prior to the date of graduation.

After the student completes the public presentation, the committee members sign the Certificate of Approval (exhibit B) and the Notice of Capstone Completion (exhibit C). When the student has made all corrections required by the committee, the committee members sign the Notice of Completion. The MAPW Program Coordinator forwards the Notice to the Registrar, due the a week prior to graduation.

Grading
PRWR 7960 receives a grade of "S" or "U." "S" indicates that credit has been given for completion of degree requirements other than academic course work. "U" indicates unsatisfactory performance or progress in an attempt to complete degree requirements other than academic course work.

Final Deposit of Capstone Project Copies and Fees
After the committee members sign the corrections section of the Notice of Capstone Completion, the student deposits copies at the Library.

A Certificate containing the original signatures of the student's committee should be submitted with the first Library copy for final deposit. A copy of the signed Certificate must be included with each additional copy of the capstone project.

Students must make an appointment to take their capstone project to the Library for binding. Call 770-423-6196 or e-mail eriley@kennesaw.edu to make an appointment. Hours available for appointments are Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The student must provide three unbound copies of the capstone project for the Library. (Two are for the Library and one is for the English Department.) The first copy must be on 8.5 X 11”, 25% rag content (linen or cotton) paper. The additional two copies must be on 8.5 X 11 standard bond paper. The library pays for the binding of all three copies.

In addition, the student may submit additional personal copies for binding. The student must pay for the binding of any personal copies. The charge for binding is $16.00 a copy plus five percent sales tax. Binding services can be obtained and paid for in the Technical Services Department in the basement of the Sturgis Library. Payment is accepted in the form of check or money order only. Make checks or money orders payable to National Library Bindery. Cash, credit or debit cards will not be accepted. Payment must accompany the capstone project when it is taken to the Library for binding. Binding takes approximately 4 - 6 weeks. The student will be notified by phone when the copies are received.

Copies must be deposited with the library, no later than one week prior to graduation.

The student who fails to meet the final deposit deadline is automatically removed from the graduation list.

Arrangement of the Manuscript

The capstone project should include:

1. A title page (exhibit D)
    
2. A certificate of approval page (exhibit B)
   
   The Certificate of Approval containing the original signatures of the student's committee should be submitted with the first Library copy of the capstone project for final deposit. A copy of the signed Certificate must be included with each additional copy. The Certificate is counted as page ii of the capstone project, but the number is not typed on the page.
    
3. An optional acknowledgment page - Here the student has the option of making a brief statement of gratitude for special assistance.
    
4. A table of contents page
    
5. Preface - The prefatory essay provides background information on the contents of the capstone project that will contribute to an informed reading of it. The student may react to theories, processes, and or practical skills which he or she has learned and the affect on the creation of the works; the student may formulate an artistic statement; the student may write a narrative of his or her development as a writer up to this point; or the student may discuss a combination of these or related subjects.
    
6. The text of the capstone project
    
7. A curriculum vitae, biography, or résumé - The student should include a vita, biography, or résumé (not to exceed three pages) that highlights his or her achievements in a field or fields of professional writing. This may include previous education in professional writing, attendance of workshops or professional conventions, prizes and awards, a list of publications, and paid or volunteer employment in the field of professional writing.

Proposed Front Matter for MAPW Capstone Projects

(Based on Chicago Manual of Style, 15 th Ed.)

In standard publishing parlance, the front matter is everything that precedes the text, which begins on page 1. Every page must have a number based on a consecutive sequence, but everything in the front matter is numbered in lower-case Roman numerals, and those numbers appear only on the verso or overleaf or left-hand page. Title pages, heading pages, pages with text centered on them, also are not marked with page numbers.

This is the sequence of front matter, all of which begins on an unnumbered recto (right-hand page); what is in brackets is understood but not stated :

[Title page (see exhibit D)]

[Certificate of approval, signed]

[Dedication (optional and on its own unnumbered page)]

Epigraph (optional and on its own unnumbered page)

Acknowledgments (optional and on its own unnumbered page)

Foreword (always written by someone other than the author and optional and on its own unnumbered page)

Preface (always written by the author and optional and on its own unnumbered page)

[Table of] Contents (not “Table of,” which is what it is but not labeled as such. Its first page is unnum­bered; it only includes items that follow it, not what precedes it). The contents must list every item that follows, every item which begins a new unit (whether part, section, chapter, or interchapter), every item which begins on a new, unnumbered recto. That is, the contents list is made up of separate headings or titles for each part and chapter and intertext or interchapter by title or head and the appropriate beginning page number And every item in the contents must match perfectly word-for-word the text titles that follow. The contents page provides the page number for the first recto for each unit it lists, without the word “page” preceding it.

[List of] Figures or Photographs or Illustrations, as appropriate (optional and on its own unnumbered page)

[List of] Tables (optional and on its own unnumbered page)

Introductory Essay [this is approximately 10 pages long and introduces the reader to the contents of the project that follows, reflects on their relation to the MAPW course work, and makes an argument about some aspect of professional writing. Students will also write intertexts or interchapters that will reinforce the thread and progress of the argument that holds the project together.]

[Text]

Appendices (optional, and each begins on its own unnumbered page)

Glossary (optional and begins on its own unnumbered page)

Works Cited (optional and begins on its own unnumbered page)

Résumé or Curriculum Vitae or Biography (optional and begins on its own unnumbered page)

[Sample Contents Page; remember that required signed certificate of approval and optional dedication, epigraph, acknowledgment, foreword, and preface precede this page and so are not listed on it]

Contents

List of Photographs xiii

Introductory Essay 1

Part I Portrait of the Artist as a Young Writer 7

Chapter 1 The Story of My Life 9

Chapter 2 Around the World in Six Semesters 13

Part II Gone With the Breeze 23

Chapter 3 The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain 37

Chapter 4 The Burning of Atlanta 49

Part III The Great American Novel 55

Works Cited 197

Curriculum Vitae 211

Format and Appearance

Paper
The first copy of the portfolio must be on 8.5" x 11", 25% rag content paper. Additional copies must be on 8.5" x 11" standard bond paper. The same paper must be used throughout each copy.

Preparation of Manuscript

1. Printing
   Printing should include computer technology using laser printer, not dot-matrix.
   
   Certain symbols, characters, or special markings and other fonts not available to certain printers must be drawn neatly and uniformly by hand with black, permanent, drawing ink.
   
   The final copy should be a clean, correctly printed copy with no detectable corrections. No erasures, crossouts, strikeovers, insertions, correction fluid, or tape permitted.
    
2. Margins
   Each page must have a margin of 1.5" on the left and at least 1" on the other three sides. On the first page of every major division (e.g., chapter, table of contents, references, etc.), a 2" margin is required at the top. All tables and figures must conform to the margin requirements (photographic reproduction--with enlargement or reduction--may be necessary).
   
   A subhead at the bottom of the page must have at least two full lines of type below it, or it should begin on the next page.
    
3. Page Numbering
   Beginning with the title page, every page is assigned a number. The preliminaries are numbered in lower-case Roman numerals placed without punctuation in the center of the page at least 3/4" (5 lines) from the bottom of the page. The title page and the certificate of approval are considered to be pages i and ii, but numbers are not typed on these pages.
   
   Text and reference pages are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals beginning with 1 on the first page of the text. The numbers are placed without punctuation in the upper right corner 1 inch form the right and at least 3/4" (5 lines) from the top of the page. All pages of the text and reference material, including appendices, references, and cover sheets (if used) are counted and numbered.
    
4. Spacing
   The general text of the capstone project is double-spaced. Single spacing is used for long tables, itemized or tabular material, footnotes, multi-line captions. Long quotations and reference entries should be spaced following the style used throughout the project (e.g. APA, Chicago, MLA).
   
   Photographs can be printed from the negatives on 8.5” x 11” photographic paper to eliminate the problems involved in attaching photographs to thesis paper. Charts, maps, drawings, etc., may be photographed on 8.5” x 11” photographic paper. If illustrations are mounted, dry mounting or permanent paper cement (dried under weight) may be used. Do not mount with rubber cement, glue, photo-mounting corners, tape, or staples.
   
   Use of oversized material should be avoided. If a folded page must be used, the folded edge should be at least ¼” from the right edge of the manuscript to avoid cutting at the bindery. The page number should appear in the upper right hand corner of the folded page in alignment with the pagination in the text. Large materials may be folded and inserted in a pocket in the appendices.

Format for Electronic Submissions

Those students wishing to submit electronic materials as part of their capstone project or even as the entire project must use the following guidelines, as directed and approved by the capstone committee:

Web Site, Online Tutorial, or Other Electronic Document: Color screen shots of each page in the electronic document. Two screen shots may be placed on one page providing the text is readable and images are clear though one screen shot per page is preferred. Each screen shot must be clearly labeled with a descriptive title. In the introduction to the material, the student should refer to any accessible Web address by providing the URL. If the material is not hosted on a server and is not company-proprietary material, then the student should also include as part of the submission a diskette or CD/ROM containing the electronic files.

Electronic Capstone Project: Some students may wish to prepare the entire capstone project in Web-based format or some other electronic format. However, all documents, including electronic ones, must follow print document guidelines, as a print copy is still required for the library to file. Thus, a document developed in electronic format requires a corollary—a print document containing all of the contents specified for publication of a capstone project (e.g., front matter, including table of contents; preface; copies of documents, including screen shots of each page in an electronic document; and appropriate back matter). Additionally, the student should also include as part of the submission a diskette or CD/ROM containing the electronic files.

Exhibit A

Master of Arts in Professional Writing
Capstone Project Proposal Cover Sheet

Name _______________ KSU#_______________________

Projected Completion Date ________________________

Title:

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Exhibit B

College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia
Certificate of Approval

This is to certify that the Capstone Project of

Has been approved by the committee
For the capstone requirement for the Master of Arts in
Professional Writing in the Department of English
At the (month and year) graduation

Capstone committee:

_______________________________
Member

_______________________________
Member

Exhibit C

Kennesaw State University
Master of Arts in Professional Writing
Notice of Capstone Project Completion

original to Registrar
copy to: student’s file

Exhibit D

<Title>

By

<Author>

A capstone project submitted in partial fulfillment of the

Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Professional Writing in the Department of English

In the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw, Georgia

2005