of knowledge through a culminating experience.
All persons completing the UW-Madison MPH program, graduate with a broad field / generalist MPH degree. Each student must complete a Capstone Project prior to graduation. It is the final requirement for the MPH degree. The Capstone Project is based on a non-thesis, culminating MPH experience. Students demonstrate their mastery of public health competencies through: • A formal paper (e.g., 20-30 page report, or manuscript for submission to a journal) that
becomes part of the MPH program’s archives
• A formal public presentation (e.g., 10 minute presentation at the Public Health Symposium or other event) open to students and community and public health program faculty
• An oral defense (consisting of questions by the student’s Capstone Committee)
The nature of the Capstone Project is typically consistent with the career goals of the student, and is viewed as a culminating display of ability, demonstrating that the MPH graduate is prepared to become a professional in the field of public health. The demonstration of excellence in writing and oral presentation requirement reflects the competencies that are essential to success in the field of public health. The “manuscript format” for the Capstone Project is intended to familiarize students with the rigors of preparing manuscripts for professional journals.
MPH students either must have completed, waived, or are concurrently completing a field experience or other research in order to present their Capstone Project.
Because the Capstone Project is not a course for credit, but rather, an experiential requirement of the program, the student is unable to graduate until this aspect of the MPH program requirement is completed. Each component of the Capstone Project is crucial to completing the requirements of the MPH program.
The Capstone Project paper may be submitted in one of two formats – either as a 20-30 page paper summarizing a student’s investigation into a public health problem or a manuscript of comparable length submitted to a peer-reviewed journal in public health or closely allied area.
A detailed outline is provided for the student who wishes to submit a scholarly paper to meet the Capstone Project paper criteria. Students may negotiate the final form of their paper with their Capstone Committee members to appropriately match the project objectives. For example, students have developed written reports, policy briefs, and other forms of final Capstone Project papers in lieu of the formats described. Alternative formats must be of similar length, breadth, and depth and must be consistent in providing evidence that the student has mastered public health competencies sufficiently. Once the Capstone Committee approves the alternative format, the student and/or capstone chair seeks the MPH program office’s approval.
2.5.a. Identification of the culminating experience required for each professional public health degree program. If this is common across the program’s professional degree programs, it need be described only once. If it varies by degree or specialty area, sufficient information must be provided to assess compliance by each.
The Capstone Project paper may be an extension or further development of work previously submitted for other courses at UW-Madison or for professional practice, but it must have been prepared since matriculating as an MPH student. As with all assignments in the MPH program, students are held to the MPH program’s Code of Conduct and the UW-Madison’s integrity standards for the Capstone Project.
Students are expected to meet face-to-face or via teleconference with Capstone Committee members for an oral defense of the paper/project. This is typically done after the student has completed the oral presentation and before the student is set to graduate.
The Capstone Committee Chair is responsible for conducting the oral defense. At the oral defense, all Capstone Committee members have an opportunity to provide any final feedback or commentary about the paper and whether it has met the criteria for a satisfactory Capstone Project. Upon agreement by the Capstone Committee members that the paper is satisfactory, the members sign a Capstone Completion Form, which, along with a copy of the paper, are archived in the MPH program’s files.
In addition to producing a Capstone Project paper, each student is expected to prepare a brief but formal presentation of his/her Capstone Project to fellow classmates, preceptors, Public Health program faculty, Capstone Committee members, and other interested persons. This presentation occurs at the conclusion of the MPH program at one of the two semi-annual Public Health
Symposia sponsored by the MPH program, typically held in April and November. Students are notified of the specific dates of the symposia in the MPH program’s Weekly Update and through the Community Engagement Coordinator’s communication with the students. In special
circumstances, some MPH students complete their oral presentations at events other than the two symposia.
The oral presentation includes the following specific guidelines: (1) Presentations must not
exceed 10 minutes-- with an additional 8 minutes of time for questions from the audience; and (2) The format for the oral presentation must include the following components: Title;
Overview/Outline; Introduction/background; Project Methods; Results/Findings; Discussion; Conclusion; and Acknowledgments.
The Capstone Project must be completed no later than two years after the completion of all course work.
One of the many strengths of the UW-Madison MPH program is its broad field / generalist
approach to the degree. Students are afforded the opportunity to develop their capstone projects based on the skills and knowledge that they have gained through the curriculum and that they wish to hone during the process of completing the field work and/or capstone project; skills,
knowledge, and competencies that will assist them in meeting their professional and career goals. Because of the broad range of interests of our MPH students, the resulting Capstone Projects vary greatly by topic area. The program depends heavily on the Capstone Committee to make the final determination whether or not the Capstone Projects are satisfactory and whether the final products provide evidence as to whether the students have mastered the public health
competencies that our program adheres to. Whereas all aspects of the Capstone Project are important steps in demonstrating competency, it is during the oral defense that the final
determination is made. Whereas the capstone paper typically focuses on one topic area, such as infectious disease, or a specific policy, the Capstone Committee, chosen for their expertise in that competency or public health in general, question the students beyond what is written in the paper
or provided in the 10-minute presentation. It is during this questioning that the Committee members are able to determine whether the criterion has been met satisfactorily.
In January 2012 the MPH program engaged an independent consultant to review 24 randomly selected capstone papers that had been written within the past three years. The papers were evaluated on six key variables, including: (1) the extent to which the capstone paper project applied each of the core areas of public health; (2) the number of sources cited in the paper; (3) the length of the paper; (4) the extent to which specific public health actions to be taken were identified; (5) whether the project employed quantitative, qualitative or a “mixed method” design; and (6) whet the project’s focus was primarily needs assessment, evaluation, or other activity. The full report is included in the electronic file that accompanies the self-study.
The criterion is met.
Strengths: The standards are set high for the Capstone Project: the combination of a written report, professional presentation, and oral defense concerning the work they have performed mean that the Capstone Project goes well beyond a gratuitous requirement or academic exercise. A review of 25 randomly selected Capstone Project papers over a three-year period completed in January 2012 by an external consultant demonstrated the quality and relevance of the papers. Weaknesses: None noted.
Plans: Students are being encouraged increasingly to have their work disseminated beyond the MPH program level to the scholarly literature, to policymakers, and to other venues where the work can receive exposure and action.
2.5.b. Assessment of the extent to which this criterion is met and an analysis of the program’s strengths, weaknesses and plans relating to this criterion.
2.6 Required Competencies. For each degree program and area of specialization within