College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy

School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy

Leadership Program

SENIOR CAPSTONE

LEAD 490-010D

Fall, 2007

236 Alison Hall

Instructor: Dr. Karen Stein Instructional Associate: Kathleen Pusecker

182 Graham Hall 212 Gore Hall

831- 4049/8711 831- 8537

Office hours by appointment Office hours by appointment

“Capstone experiences are created by institutions that recognize that they must provide ‘the most empowering, introspective, reflective, intellectual experiences for their departing students or they are not going to think much of the institution as they walk out the door.’”

Interview with John Gardner conducted by Charles Schroeder for About Campus,” May 21, 2000 as reproduced by Jean Henscheid, “Capstone Experience,” presentation to the University of Delaware faculty, June 6, 2006.

“The mission of the Leadership program is to enable you, our students, to implement strategies, programs and policies that are socially responsible and minimize harmful effects on consumers.”

From materials describing the Leadership major to current and prospective students.

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A CAPSTONE?

This Senior Capstone course offers you the opportunity to consolidate and synthesize important leadership and consumer-oriented learning gleaned from your coursework, experiences, and assignments, and asks you to demonstrate your proficiency in applying this knowledge. In essence, capstones are less concerned with your mastery of content than with what you are able to do with that content. Reflection, self-assessment, sharing of ideas, and critical analysis are all vital and integrative important components of the capstone experience. However, the emphasis is upon your ability to prove what you are now able to do, as you integrate and apply all the learning and growth you’ve experienced over the past years of your college life.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Throughout our curriculum, we have encouraged you to blend your knowledge of leadership, consumer behavior and consumer policy with a personal system of values and ethics. It is our hope that we have prepared you to mobilize change that improves people’s quality of life. These changes may be large or small; they may apply to others as well as to yourself.

This semester, you will complete three major projects, centered around the values of leadership, service to others, and ethics. You will work independently—together and individually— much of the semester. There will be very few class meetings scheduled, although you will have deadlines to meet. How you proceed and how you organize yourselves for success will be as much a challenge as producing the actual work for this course. The Leadership Capstone will challenge you to define and evaluate your capacity to make a positive difference in the lives of others as well in your own life as reflected in the Leadership program’s mission.

Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, you will have demonstrated your ability to:

Synthesize and communicate the most significant ideas and results of your work with clarity and precision.

Critically analyze your leadership and followership performance, referencing leadership theory and practice concepts.

Effectively balance leadership and followership to affect positive group functioning.

Engage in questions of ethics and recognize the responsibilities of leaders to act responsibly towards themselves, their followers, and the larger community—that is, towards consumers.

Effectively and regularly assess and adjust your leadership behaviors to more effectively meet the diverse and changing needs of the consumers/communities with whom you’re interacting.

Use creative and critical thinking skills and knowledge of leadership and consumers to effectively contribute to a problem-solving team.

Accommodate individual differences (cultural, socioeconomic, global, etc.) in your decisions and actions.

Communicate thoughtful, constructive feedback to peers regarding the quality of their individual and group contributions, performance, and work products.

Engage in self-assessment, reflection, and analysis, with at least one result being a concise summary of your leadership beliefs.

Projects

The class will engage in three major projects; one will be team-based and the other two will be an individual effort. Details about the projects will be shortly forthcoming. The team-based project will engage you as Leadership Coaches at various local high schools, under the auspices of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service Youth Service Initiative. The culminating products for the individual projects will be: 1) an electronic portfolio which is a record of your growth, change, learning, progress, and accomplishments over your academic career; and 2) a reflective journal of your progress in meeting the learning goals of this course.

CLASS POLICIES

· Although we will not be meeting every week, you must hold the regular scheduled time open (MWF 10:10-11:00). It is suggested that your group meetings be held during these times. In addition, required class sessions may be called with only one day notice, and you will be expected to attend.

$ All written assignments must be word-processed and proofed with 100% accuracy. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned date or by the time specified by the instructor. Late assignments will not be accepted. This means that if you are sick on the day of class, you are still responsible for finding someone to turn in the assignment for you, finding someone to take your place in an oral presentation, or sending the work to me electronically before the start of the class period. You must remain aware that deadlines will be set quickly and are subject to last minute changes! This is especially important, since so much of your work will be done outside of class, with relatively few class sessions. Being able to manage your work and time is an important component of leadership, and this includes being prepared for contingencies. I encourage you to remember Murphy’s Law (anything that can go wrong will and at the worst possible moment) and develop contingency plans for worst case scenarios (computers crashing, illness when assignment is due in class, can’t get off from work, etc.). Be sure to consult the University policy on excused absences in case you find yourself in extraordinary circumstances.

$ Almost all notices of assignments, messages for the next class meeting, etc. will be given to you via email or on our class website. The address of the website is http://copland.udel.edu/~kstein/ It is your responsibility to check your email/website daily to see if there are any assignments you need to prepare. Handouts, descriptions of assignments, grading criteria (virtually anything you might ordinarily receive in paper form) will be posted on our class website.

$ You must have a valid email account, and access to the web. Failure to check your email on a timely basis will be no excuse if you are not prepared for an assignment. All email will be sent to your University of Delaware email account. If you generally use a different email account, you must arrange for your UD mail to be forwarded to that account. If you are sending me an email, you must reference LEAD 490 in the subject heading, especially if you have an email “name” that is not readily recognizable. It is my practice to automatically delete any email message without reading it if I don’t recognize the sender’s name.

$ Changes in course content or schedule will be made during the semester. Changes will be sent by email to the class list. It is your responsibility to learn about and record this information. You are responsible for obtaining any information given in class, distributed as an email attachment, or posted on the class website. Extra copies will not be brought to the class, once distributed.

$ It goes without saying that academic honesty is expected. Suspected instances of academic dishonesty (such as, but not limited to, fabrication, plagiarism, cheating) will be reported as described in the Student Handbook. Students are expected to be familiar with University policies regarding academic dishonesty, particularly the University of Delaware’s Judicial Code. Talk to me if you are unsure as to what may constitute an act of academic dishonesty.

EXPECTATIONS FOR LEARNING AND GRADING IN A CAPSTONE COURSE

What might you expect in this senior capstone course? Many of you will find yourselves “out of your comfort zone.” You may find the assignments to be vague, with relatively little direction. You may find that deadlines and assignments come quickly and unexpectedly and you will have to adjust to changing conditions and environments. You may find you don’t already possess all the skills you need to be successful, but “I don’t know how to do that” will not be an acceptable response. You will definitely find that self-discipline, group-discipline, and accountability to yourself and to each other are required for success in the course.

The “test” of true learning is whether you can communicate what you know. In this sense, while effort is appreciated and certainly a component of learning, the outcome of that effort is what will be evaluated. I hold high standards, because I believe in your abilities. Accordingly, good grades will not be attached to average/mediocre performance. I challenge all of you to work to your fullest capacity, to not take short-cuts to learning, to assume responsibility for your own learning, and to not be content to just “get by.”