The following guidelines explain what a Comprehensive Assessment Project (CAP) in your concentration typically entails.
Comprehensive Assessment Project
You can brainstorm some ideas for your CAP topic with your advisor or instructor(s).
- To start your CAP, you’ll need to ask a faculty member to serve as your director. Your director will help you identify a second faculty member to ask to serve on your committee. You only need two people total unless your director says faculty expertise is needed from an additional area.
- Once your committee has been formed, you’ll need to submit the CAP pre-approval form. You should do this at least a semester before you intend to complete your CAP. If you’re intending to finish your CAP this semester and haven’t submitted the form yet, please do so ASAP.
- Then you will work on your project independently with the guidance of your CAP committee. Unlike registering for thesis hours, you do not register in Banner for the project associated with a CAP. (You only need to register for the two extra CAP electives, which don’t have to be related to the project itself nor taken in the same semester as the CAP defense).
- When you’re nearly finished with your project, you and your committee will choose a defense date and time.
- If you have finished all other degree requirements except the CAP defense, and if you defend after the deadline but before the first day of classes for the next term, then the Registrar’s Office will still graduate you without requiring enrollment/tuition. A late defense for Spring may result in Summer graduation.
- Faculty members may be off contract in the summer or winter break, so don’t plan a summer defense or a late defense past the deadline unless your committee agrees.
- If you have finished all other degree requirements except the CAP defense, and if you defend after the deadline but before the first day of classes for the next term, then the Registrar’s Office will still graduate you without requiring enrollment/tuition. A late defense for Spring may result in Summer graduation.
- You must be registered for at least one credit in your semester of graduation, unless you are graduating in the summer and were registered in the preceding Spring semester. If you have already completed all of your coursework and just need to register in a Fall or Spring semester so you can complete your CAP defense and graduate, then you may be able to register for 1 credit of a placeholder course (GRAD 6999: Degree Completion) or, if you prefer, you can register for an actual course. Contact me if you have questions.
- Upon successful defense of your CAP, the department will notify the Registrar’s Office that your CAP requirement has been completed, and the Registrar’s Office will update your DegreeWorks summary.