PADM 9990 Capstone Seminar

Fall 2009 Online

Description:

Graded “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory.” The concluding seminar in the DPA program, to be taken during a student's final semester. Students are expected to demonstrate mastery of the material presented in their programs of study through a variety of methods. Students will develop and present a professional portfolio in this course. Students are expected to develop and defend the proposal for their final project/organizational analysis.

Texts: We will use the same three books we used in the PADM 9050 Program Evaluation Course, because I see this course as a continuation of that course. The Rudestam book listed here is optional. It is likely to be particularly useful for those who plan to do a traditional dissertation for the capstone project.

Rudestam, Kjell Erik, and Rae R. Newton. 2007. Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process , 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (9781412916790 )

Scott, Gregory M. and Stephen M. Garrison. 2008. The Political Science Student Writer ‘s Manual , 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PearsonlPrentice-Hall. (ISBN-13: 9780136029458) (Students can use the 2006 – 5 th edition.)

Instructor: Gerald A. "Jerry" Merwin Jr., Ph.D. <gamerwin@valdosta.edu>

Contact Information: Cellular: (229) 221-2891 (Link to contact information online.)

Expected Outcomes: The Capstone Seminar is designed to serve as both the culmination of your doctoral work and to prepare you for your final project. The course allows both student and faculty members to assess the learning experience provided by the program of study leading to the DPA degree. Part of that assessment will be accomplished through the preparation and presentation of a professional portfolio; part will be through successfully completing two written assignments. In preparation for your final product, each student will identify a suitable topic and select a committee to guide the student's research for the final project. The culmination of the seminar will be the student's defense of her or his final topic proposal before that committee.

Upon successfully completing this course, each student will:

demonstrate mastery of a body of knowledge appropriate for a doctoral candidate,

analyze his or her level of professional development, and demonstrate how she or he reached this point,

transition from being a DPA student to a DPA scholar/practitioner, and

move into her or his final project.

ADA: Valdosta State University complies fully with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting classroom accommodations or modifications because of a documented disability must contact the Access Office for Students with Disabilities located in Farber Hall. The phone numbers are 245-2498 (voice) and 219-1348 (tty). Learn more on the VSU web site at: http://www.valdosta.edu/access/ You may also reach them via email at access@valdosta.edu. Also, please discuss this via email with your instructor(s) at the start of each class.

Download a PDF version of the syllabus and related pages.

Reference http://www.valdosta.edu/~gamerwin/pa/classes/padm9000/index.html

Updated 08/09/2009, contact Jerry Merwin