For Faculty and Staff Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Capstone Support Resources

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Capstone Support Resources

Looking for resources to design, document, or otherwise support your major’s capstone project or to support individual students completing the capstone?  See information below from various offices that are available to help!


Center for Teaching and Learning

Student-Facing Resources

The Center for Teaching and Learning provides a range of services for Stanford students to help them optimize their learning potential. These include academic coaching, tutoring, language conversation practice, technology support and more.

Undergraduate students can work one-on-one with an academic coach to identify and pursue goals related to learning and thriving academically at Stanford. Whether students need quick help with a specific academic skill or they're looking to build effective habits for the long term, academic coaches provide guidance, accountability, and encouragement. Coaching sessions are free, 50 minutes long, and take place either on Zoom or in person at 408 Panama Mall. Students can return to coaching as often as they would like throughout their time at Stanford.

You can encourage students to sign up for an appointment at meetme.so/academicskills. Appointments are usually available within the next few days. When referring a student, you are welcome to use or borrow from the following language: Have you heard of Academic Coaching? Students can work individually with a coach to help address some of the questions/concerns you brought up with me, or even just to reflect on their approach to [insert topic]. Do you think that could be helpful for you?

If you think a student might benefit from a personal introduction to a coach, please email academicskills@stanford.edu and we would be happy to accommodate this. To learn more about Academic Coaching and CTL’s other learning resources, please visit academicskills.stanford.edu.

To learn more about our other learning programs, please encourage your students to visit our website at studentlearning.stanford.edu. 

Instructor-Facing Resources

CTL also offers a variety of capstone-related services for faculty, instructors, and administrators. Workshops customized for departments and programs implementing capstones can be arranged by writing to Kenny Ligda (kenligda@stanford.edu). Consultations specific to instructors and courses are available through CTL’s general consultation service. For capstone courses in-progress, CTL provides a variety of mid-term feedback options.

Diverse models of successful capstone programs at Stanford, together with key materials, are curated at our website. General teaching grants are available for use in capstone courses that support Stanford’s IDEAL values. Departments and programs planning larger-scale revisions to their curricula to promote equity and access for students can learn more about Curriculum Transformation Seed Grants.

Beginning in late Fall of 2023, CTL will be convening meetings of staff charged with capstone implementation to share challenges and emerging good practices. Please feel free to reach out if you are interested.

Haas Center for Public Service 

Cardinal Capstones

A Cardinal Capstone is a community-engaged experience in which students apply their cumulative academic knowledge to address community needs. In addition to demonstrating the relevance of a course of study to complex social and environmental challenges, Cardinal Capstones provide opportunities to develop skills in logistics, communication, and intentional application of ethical frameworks while meeting the criteria for Cardinal Courses.

The Community Engaged Learning and Research team supports faculty and students interested in developing Cardinal Capstone programs and projects. Available resources include project funding, facilitated workshops, preparation coursework, and assistance in identifying community partners and scoping projects.

If you are interested in learning more or have a community engaged capstone concept you wish to develop further, please review the content below or contact Shoshanah Cohen (course-based projects) or Clayton Hurd (research-based projects) to explore how we can support you. 

Cardinal Capstone Options

Cardinal Capstones can take many forms—individual or group, creative or analytical—as long as they remain true to the goals of a capstone, include the community partner in critical stages of the project, and produce an output agreed upon with the partner. Like all capstone experiences, they must also meet the requirements of the relevant department or program. 

Cardinal Capstones can be completed along the same timeline as other capstones, but often require additional time to build a strong relationship with the community partner. In some cases, building this relationship and defining the project objectives can be done prior to the start of the associated course.

Cardinal Capstone Resources

Cardinal Capstone Course Development Assistance

Directors of Community Engaged Learning (DCELs) are available to meet with faculty members interested in developing a Cardinal Capstone. This individual consultation can provide faculty with an introduction to the broad range of resources available to support students and faculty interested in combining service with academic programs. Contact the Community Engaged Learning team to set up a consultation.

Cardinal Capstone Course Funding

Cardinal Capstone instructors are invited to apply for grants of up to $4,000 to support the development and implementation of their course. Allowable funding categories include undergraduate Community Engaged Learning Coordinator salaries, supplies and project materials, transportation to partner sites, modest honoraria for community partners, and background checks for students working with minors. Review the grant guidelines and access the Cardinal Capstone designation and grant application here. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis leading up to each quarter.

Student Project Funding

Stipends of up to $300 are available to students undertaking a community engaged project outside a designated Cardinal Capstone class. Allowable funding categories include project materials, transportation to partner sites, modest honoraria for project partners, and background checks for students working with minors. Access the stipend application here.

Prepare, Reflect, Engage (PRE) Training

Online Prepare, Reflect, Engage training is available through Canvas and helps students understand their positionality as they approach their capstone project. Contact the Community Engaged Learning team to customize the curriculum for your course.

Principles of Ethical and Effective Service Training

The Stanford Principles of Ethical and Effective Service raise awareness about Stanford’s responsibility to communities and organizations involved with the university’s public service activities. The principles inform program design and implementation as we continually align our work and guiding values. Contact the Community Engaged Learning team to request a facilitated training session as part of your course.

Hume Center for Writing and Speaking

The Hume Center for Writing and Speaking (Hume) provides a wide range of resources to support students working on capstone projects and majors designing and implementing capstone projects.  Undergraduate students can sign up for individual tutoring sessions focused on writing or speaking through the Hume website (https://hume.stanford.edu/tutoring/see-tutor). Majors can consult with Hume Director Zandra Jordan (zljordan@stanford.edu), WIM Coordinator Chris Kamrath (kamrath@stanford.edu), Oral Communication Director Doree Allen (doree.allen@stanford.edu), or PWR Director Marvin Diogenes (marvind@stanford.edu) on any aspect of capstone design involving writing or oral presentation as well as to request customized workshops for groups of students working on capstones. 

Office of Accessible Education

The Office of Accessible Education (OAE) is the campus entity designated to work with Stanford students with disabilities. The OAE provides an array of support services, accommodations, and programs to remove barriers to access in the life of the University. 

In reaching determinations about appropriate accommodations, the OAE considers factors such as the documentation from professionals specializing in the area of the student’s diagnosed disability, the student’s functional limitations, and the student’s input and accommodation history in regard to particular needs and limitations. The OAE then works with the student and relevant faculty and staff to achieve an accommodation that meets the needs of all parties.

Students approved for academic accommodations through the Office of Accessible Education (OAE) are responsible for requesting accommodation letters via OAE | CONNECT, and sharing those letters with instructors as early in the quarter as possible.  

To initiate services with OAE, or connect with us please visit oae.stanford.edu.

Stanford University Libraries

Stanford University Libraries has many resources to support the successful design and completion of capstone projects. Students and faculty can discover the full range of information resources, from manuscripts to databases, using our online catalog, which allows you to search across all the libraries on Stanford’s campus. Students and faculty can work with our team of subject specialist librarians to understand the range of resources in particular subject areas, whether those materials are rare materials held in Special Collections, University Archives, and the David Rumsey Map Center, or digital resources and datasets available in the many databases that are provided through the libraries. We also offer workshops on the use of common research tools, such as citation management platforms or statistical software packages, and the management, use, and analysis of data using such tools as Python, Excel, and Github.

The Libraries also provide services that students and majors can use to preserve and highlight capstone projects. The Stanford Digital Repository (SDR) is a free, self-deposit web application which majors can use to archive and showcase projects. Check out the dozens of majors that already have active collections, and consult with the SDR team to learn more (sdr-contact@lists.stanford.edu). The libraries also offer Spotlight, a digital publishing platform where students can present research projects that contain media or images alongside explanatory text, as in the Arizona Garden exemplar. For questions about how you or your students can utilize this unique platform, please contact the Spotlight Service Team (exhibits-feedback@lists.stanford.edu)

Undergraduate Research

Funding

Undergraduate Research funds outstanding honors theses and other individually designed capstone projects through the Student Grants program. Students proposing capstone research, artistic endeavors, and senior synthesis projects can receive partial grants in any quarter and/or full time stipends for project activities in the summer before the senior year. Student applicants write project proposals with the support of qualifying faculty mentors (usually members of the Academic Council) and can receive project design feedback and an invitation to revise through the proposal review process. Funding is competitive; we anticipate being able to fund roughly two-thirds of the proposals received. Note that funding for individual students is independent of major or department: a student conducting research for the Ethics in Society or Center for International Security and Cooperation honors programs (for example) can receive grants regardless of whether their thesis is being used to fill the capstone requirement within a certain major.

Advice

Undergraduate Advising Directors (UADs) can help students identify and engage with prospective mentors, and can also give substantive feedback on draft proposals and revisions. Similarly, Undergraduate Research staff is delighted to provide information sessions, workshops on proposal writing, and insights on working with mentors. Contact vpue-research@stanford.edu with requests for your major, department, program, or center.

Presentations

The twice-annual Symposium of Undergraduate Research and Public Service (SURPS) presents students with opportunities to present their capstone projects to a range of audiences, including current students, staff, and faculty at multidisciplinary poster sessions. The October SURPS event (in connection with Reunion Homecoming) provides students with an audience of alumni, and allows students to present projects in progress. The April SURPS event (in connection with Admit Weekend) provides students with an audience of prospective Stanford students and a chance to present portions of theses and other projects nearing completion. Undergraduate Research can also fund travel and registration for students who are presenting their own research at juried or peer-reviewed national and international conferences (priority is given to students accepted for presentation at a regular meeting session, rather than a session or conference reserved for undergraduates).

Awards

Each year the Thesis Medals program recognizes the most outstanding completed honors theses in each discipline. The Firestone Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Research recognizes theses written in the social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. The Robert M. Golden Medal for Excellence in the Humanities and Creative Arts similarly distinguishes theses in the humanities or creative projects in the arts. The awardees each receive an engraved bronze medal and a monetary award. The David M. Kennedy Prize is awarded annually to the single best thesis in each of four academic areas: humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering & applied sciences. Recipients of this award have accomplished exceptionally advanced research in the field and have shown strong potential for publication in peer-reviewed scholarly works. Winners each receive an engraved plaque and a monetary award.