Managing intensive student consulting capstone projects: The Maxwell school experience

John BoehrerEditor

Curriculum and Case Notes

MANAGING INTENSIVE STUDENT CONSULTING CAPSTONE PROJECTS: THE MAXWELLSCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Scott W. Allard and Jeffrey D. Straussman

How do professional programs in public affairs try to bridge the worlds of class-room and practice?1 A common approach is to employ experiential learning througha clinical component in the curriculum, frequently a “capstone” experience (Robertsand Pavlak, 2002). Capstone design integrates knowledge and skills learnedthroughout the public affairs curriculum in a single analytic project or exercise.Capstones should also ease the transition from student to professional by exposingstudents to the realities of working in a policy research or organizational setting.Some capstones use project-based assignments that focus on current policy andmanagement challenges faced by actual government or non-profit agencies; otherproject-based assignments may take the form of consulting relationships with real-world clients.

This journal has published three recent articles about group-based experientiallearning that are relevant to the topic of project-based capstones. Flynn, Sandfort,and Selden (2001) discuss the utility of incorporating modest-sized student consult-ing projects into a three-dimensional model for an introductory graduate-levelcourse in public management. While this class is not a capstone, but a course stu-dents typically experience early in their program, group projects introduce the stu-

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 22, No. 4, 689–701 (2003)© 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)DOI: 10.1002/pam.10165

Submissions to Curriculum and Case Notes should be sent to John Boehrer, mail:Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, Box 353055, Seattle, WA98195-3055, fax: (206) 685-9044, email: [email protected].

1 In this paper public affairs programs include Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Affairs,and Master of Public Policy degrees.

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dents to real-world organizational needs or problems as a way to help them appre-ciate the management theories they are learning through the course. The projectsare modest in ambition and are not primarily designed to simulate actual consult-ing environments.

Consistent with many public affairs capstone programs, Cohen, Eimicke, andUkeles (1995) describe a two-semester capstone administered during the secondyear of a 2-year program at the Columbia University School of International andPublic Affairs (SIPA). Focused on large-scale policy and management challenges forreal-world clients, the SIPA capstone includes substantial topical readings, frequentin-class faculty-directed activities, multiple deliverables, and interim assessments.Like the group projects proposed by Flynn, Sandfort, and Selden (2001), the SIPAcapstone takes place over several months, before students have finished theirdegree requirements.

In a fall 2002 article, Vining and Weimer describe the importance of developingwhat they call “craft skills” (p. 697) in the context of a group project. These skillsinclude the analytic methods learned in courses, substantive policy and manage-ment knowledge, computer applications, effective oral and written communication,and, as the authors add, “professional norms and ethical standards” (p. 697). Vin-ing and Weimer describe a “sheltered workshop” approach that simulates a real-world project for a designated client, such as a mayor, legislative body, or seniorpublic manager. In describing the merits of the sheltered workshop, they note that(p. 703):

Learning by doing is essential for the development of craft skills. A sheltered workshop,in which novice policy analysts work on real issues for hypothetical clients, provides arelatively risk-free apprenticeship experience. Having completed a policy project reporton their own enables novices to move much more confidently and professionally intojourneyman-level experiences with real clients.

As an alternative approach, distinct from course-based capstone projects and sim-ulations, we present the model for a project-based capstone required for the Mas-ter of Public Administration (MPA) degree offered by the Department of PublicAdministration, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse Uni-versity. This capstone, referred to as MPA Workshop, is an intensive, four-week exer-cise, following completion of the professional curriculum, where students workfull-time for a real-world client. We believe MPA Workshop captures the intent ofthe capstone experience and can be readily incorporated into a variety of profes-sional programs.

MPA WORKSHOP AT THE MAXWELL SCHOOL

Each year, a class of approximately 120 students enrolls in the Maxwell MPA pro-gram, starting in July and completing the program at the end of the following June.2Since 1982, the MPA program has required students to complete the four-week MPAWorkshop as the capstone element of their degree requirements. During MPAWorkshop, faculty-supervised consulting teams arrange to complete a project for a

2 The program begins with an orientation that is followed by two, back-to-back three-credit courses thatare taught in intensive, three-week formats. Students who select a full course load in the fall and springsemesters can complete the 40-credit-hour program in 12 months.

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client. Projects vary and may focus on specific policy research questions, data col-lection activity, management issues, or stages in strategic planning. While mostprojects involve local governmental and non-profit organizations, a significant por-tion of workshop clients comes from the state and federal levels of government.3

MPA Workshop requires students to draw upon a range of specific organizationaland analytic skills, such as oral and written communication, computer applica-tions, group process, group conflict resolution, and time management. In addition,students apply knowledge derived from their coursework, with particular focusupon statistics and quantitative methods, managerial economics, budgeting, andorganizational management. Important to preparing students for their professionalcareers, the MPA Workshop also exposes students to some of the normal frustra-tions involved in organizational problem-solving, such as problem definition,changing client or constituent expectations, and inadequate data collection.

As in other public affairs programs, Maxwell School MPA students experienceteam-based activities in a range of courses. Team-based activities vary fromdetailed, semester-length research projects to group homework problems withquick turnaround requirements, policy memoranda on specific issues, and caseanalyses. The team-based orientation of MPA Workshop builds upon previousgroup projects linking the student teams to clients.

A number of MPA Workshop’s features suit it to a rigorous and educational cap-stone experience. First, it asks students to complete projects for actual clients in acompressed time frame accurately mirroring real-world pressures and deadlines.The four-week intensive format, in our judgment, offers advantages not found incapstones that extend across a regular semester or throughout the second year of apublic affairs program. Unlike semester-length or longer capstones, the four-weekprogram can command the students’ full attention, because they are not distractedby other courses or activities. Unlike the “sheltered workshop” approach, our proj-ects expose students to the messy problems involved in working with governmentsand non-profit agencies and create real vulnerability, since the challenges some-times prevent student groups from implementing their project . On the other hand,a successful project may actually have some effect on agencies, which is quite sat-isfying for students as they end their public affairs program and begin or resumetheir career. Again, we believe that, working in groups thrusts the students into anapproximation of the professional world they will shortly enter. Working in groupsforces the students to navigate relationships with a client, plan and implement datacollection activities, and construct an analysis within a firm deadline.

Second, because MPA Workshop comes after the completion of coursework andtraining, it serves as a true capstone experience. In contrast to capstone experiencesthat take place while students are still completing their coursework, MPA serves asa climactic point in the students’ training. Capstones are unique experiences in thatthey serve as the single best vehicle in public affairs programs for integrating dif-ferent skills and abilities into a real policy or management setting. The fact thatMPA Workshop involves actual agencies or organizations with a defined problem insearch of a solution means that students will be challenged to draw upon thoseskills most appropriate for the task at hand. While the typical student’s repertoireof skills includes elements from courses in analytic methods, budgeting, publicmanagement, and policy, the identification of the specific skills and the applicationof those skills are best put to the test when the students face clients. In this funda-

3 While most of the projects are located in Syracuse, New York, a few take place in Washington, D.C.


mental sense, MPA Workshop is integrative and represents a fitting climax to a stu-dent’s professional training.

THE MECHANICS OF THE WORKSHOP AT THE MAXWELL SCHOOL

Typically, MPA Workshop involves six to eight faculty members from the MPA pro-gram, who supervise one to four projects each year and are compensated per work-shop. Implementation of MPA Workshop involves four phases: project identifica-tion and planning; data collection; analysis and report writing; and, evaluation ofthe workshop experience. While student teams operate with a significant amount ofautonomy, persistent faculty supervision is important in the development and com-pletion of MPA Workshop projects.

Project Identification and Planning

During the project identification and planning phase, faculty and clients define thescope of the assignment and the information needed to complete the project.Between January and March of each year, participating faculty and potential clientsgenerate project ideas that fit both the rationale and constraints of MPA Workshop.The responsibility of faculty at this stage, often relying on prior experience withprojects, is to describe the pedagogical objectives to the potential client and offer arealistic appraisal of the outcome given the expertise of students and the limitationsof what they can accomplish in four weeks. In a typical year, faculty members gen-erate 15 to 20 different projects that involve a host of domestic and internationalpolicy issues. At the beginning of April, the participating faculty member submitsone-page project descriptions to the department, which distributes them to stu-dents for review. By the end of April, students rank the MPA Workshop projects inorder of preference, and departmental staff assign students to a group, balancingage, gender, and previous experience. During the first week of May, the staff postsgroup assignments and notifies students as to when they will meet with their clientto discuss the project.

Table 1 displays the distribution of workshop projects in the past 6 years betweengovernmental clients, with level of government, and non-governmental clients.From 1997 through 2002, 97 different workshop projects were implemented, for a

Table 1. Workshop project classifications at the Maxwell School, 1997–2002.

Project Area 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total

Federal-level 4 3 5 8 6 7 33governmental 2 3 2 7 4 5 23non-governmental 2 0 3 1 2 2 10

State-level 2 3 2 0 1 2 10governmental 1 3 2 0 1 2 9non-governmental 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Local-level 10 9 9 8 8 10 54governmental 5 6 5 0 3 2 21non-governmental 5 3 4 8 5 8 33

Total Per Year 16 15 16 16 15 19 97governmental 8 12 9 7 8 9 53non-governmental 8 3 7 9 7 10 44


rate of about 16 per year. Since local projects are relatively easy to identify, moni-tor, and implement, student teams have done more than half of all workshop proj-ects for local government agencies and non-governmental organizations. Approxi-mately one-third of all projects in the past 6 years have been done for organizationsbased in Washington D.C., typically for federal agencies. Table 1 also shows that inrecent years, non-federal and federal projects were nearly equal in number.

Each year, projects focus on diverse policy and management areas. Table 2reflects the substantive diversity in Workshop projects from 1997 through 2002.While a large percentage of projects address internal capacity-building issues fororganizations (e.g., performance measurement, fund-raising, employee recruit-ment and retention, strategic planning), most projects focus on work related to aspecific policy area. Although the mix of projects varies from year to year, MPAWorkshop typically offers students a number of choices across policy domains:environment and energy, science and technology, social welfare, health care, andhousing and urban development. Table 3 describes four projects completed inJune 2002.

MPA Workshop as the Primary Student Focus

After students are assigned a project, they are expected to devote all of their time toMPA Workshop, and no other coursework is offered during the four-week period.Over the years, we have found the four-week period sufficient to provide clientswith a targeted response to the questions they ask the students to answer. While thetime frame is generally adequate—it simulates actual professional time frames withtight deadlines—it does not permit large-scale policy analytic exercises that requirethe gathering of significant amounts of original data, or that require substantialanalyses of large data sets.

Students meet with their client on the first day of the four-week project to developa more detailed understanding of the client’s specific objectives and the datarequired to complete their tasks. This initial meeting is usually followed by a brain-storming session that addresses how the group will go about meeting the client’sobjectives. Students invariably focus on the data that are available and the need togenerate additional information through various methods, including mail surveys,telephone interviews, focus groups, direct observation, and review of administrativerecords. At this stage students need to be creative in generating data quickly.

Table 2. Workshop project classifications at the Maxwell School, 1997–2002.

Project Area 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total

Capacity-building for organization 3 7 3 6 3 3 25

Crime and law enforcement policy 1 1 1 0 2 1 6

Environmental and energy policy 4 3 3 6 5 4 25

Housing and urban development policy 1 1 3 1 2 2 10

Science and technology policy 2 0 1 2 1 3 9

Social welfare policy and social services 4 1 4 1 1 1 12


Table 3. Selected MPA Workshop project descriptions.

Vera House. The Vera House is a local non-profit organization that provides a range of pro-grams and services to victims of domestic violence. Each year, Vera House provides domes-tic violence services—emergency shelters for women and children, the STARS program forchildren who have experienced domestic violence, and intervention programs for batterers—to more than 4000 victims of domestic violence. In addition, about 10,000 students and pro-fessionals participate annually in domestic violence awareness programs facilitated by theVera House. Each year, however, victims of several thousand local criminal cases involvingdomestic violence are not referred to or do not seek assistance from the Vera House. Seek-ing to improve the linkages between the criminal court system and the provision of domes-tic violence service, the Vera House wishes to examine how criminal courts handle and dis-pose of domestic violence cases. Working through local criminal courts, studentsparticipating in this project will be responsible for the implementation of a data-collectionstrategy that will track cases involving domestic violence and gather information on the dis-position of those cases.

Syracuse City School District. Because of changing demographics and the introduction ofseveral charter schools, Syracuse City School District (SCSD) is facing declining enrollmentthat may affect both capital and staffing decisions in the next decade. However, the enroll-ment declines may not occur evenly throughout district schools, and this could result inlarge differences in capacity utilization at different schools. Currently, distribution inenrollment in schools is determined in large part by attendance zones, which have not beenrevised in two decades. The objective of the project is to help the SCSD develop an enroll-ment plan for the coming decade.

Drawing on data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, SCSD enrollment and staffing data,and the New York State Education Department, students are expected to address the fol-lowing four issues:

1. Project school enrollment for the next 5 years, based on the following data: changingenrollment patterns by school over the last decade; changing distribution of the pop-ulation in Syracuse from 1990 to 2000 at the census-block level; residence of the stu-dents now attending charter schools; projected enrollment implications of present andplanned charter schools; and, present busing patterns for students by grade (and pos-sibly race or ethnicity).

2. Develop options for handling enrollment changes in the next 5 years, by focusing onthe following: changes in enrollment zones, possible school closings, neighborhoodschools, and, smaller schools.

3. Examine policies of other cities with declining enrollment and changing enrollmentpatterns. What are the academic and financial implications of these choices?

Urban Community Development: Appleseed Trust—A Program of EntrepreneursTraining and Micro-Lending. Appleseed Trust is a not-for-profit program that trains indi-viduals in entrepreneurial business skills and provides micro-loans for business ventures.Their mission is to enhance community prosperity and strengthen local leadership capaci-ties through assisting primarily low- and moderate-income residents of the Syracuse com-munity to start, expand, or enhance their small businesses through skills training and tech-nical support, as well as to offer credit that may otherwise be unavailable to them.

They propose a project for our students in our Master of Public Administration program.The project would help Appleseed Trust and its board of directors develop a strategic fund-ing plan for the organization that would principally involve research and analysis of poten-tial new funding sources and strategies for Appleseed Trust’s micro-enterprise program soas to enhance its development and sustainability. Elements might include:

• Analysis of current fundraising approach and ability;(Continued on next page)


An example comes from a project a few years ago that examined the financialcondition of the Saint Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, operated by Catholic Charitiesin Syracuse, New York. Students examined the price structure of goods sold com-pared with St. Vincent de Paul’s “market” competition. To do this, they went toother thrift shops in the city, noted prices for comparable goods, took notes on theambiance in the competitive shops, examined the inventory, and spoke with man-agers and sales people. These direct observations of St. Vincent’s competition fromother non-profit thrift shops helped shape the students’ analysis, which they used

Table 3. Continued

• Potential sources of multi-year or general operating support and strategies for access-ing those sources;

• Strategies and marketing approaches for raising program revenue;• Capacity-building scenarios vs. fundraising implications or availability;• Expanded utilization of outside resources for programming.

Appleseed is also interested in assessing its performance in terms of its economic impact inthe Syracuse area, as well as evaluating its Basic Business Skills Training Course, the cor-nerstone of their training program. This information would be used for two purposes. Sincethey are a grant-funded organization, information of this type would be beneficial for pres-entation to organizations and institutions interested in sponsoring their programs. In addi-tion, they would like a comprehensive and objective review of their program activities bothfor self-evaluation and program development to meet the changing needs of their clientele.This could involve data collection and analysis with respect to program graduate businessowners to determine, measure, and quantify economic impact on their graduates, namely:

• Establish or refine parameters for measurement of economic impact utilizing theexisting data and database.

• Devise effective and accurate measurement and evaluation tools for ongoing analysis.• Analyze results to understand the relationships, trends, and needs of our client popu-

lation for timely and effective programming and fundraising.• Explore potential GIS applications of data.

Appleseed Trust will welcome the Workshop team input as to how the project should bestructured around these two main themes, and will work closely with the team to ensurethat necessary information and guidance is available as work progresses.

Department of Housing and Urban Development: HOPE VI. The Maxwell MPA researchteam will be expected to contribute to an evaluation of the existing HOPE VI program andultimately make recommendations to the department as to whether the program should be:reauthorized by Congress in its current form; reauthorized by Congress with modificationsto improve the program; or replaced by an altogether different programmatic need for the$575 million annual appropriation. Students assigned to this project will be asked to workat HUD in Washington, D.C. during the entire MPA Workshop period.

The research team will have access to senior level staff at HUD in conducting their review.There may well be opportunities for consultations with housing industry groups, as well.This is a very high-profile issue for HUD, Congress, and the housing industry, and is espe-cially timely because the program’s authorization is set to end September 30, 2002 (the endof the fiscal year). Moreover, HUD must present Congress with its vision and recommenda-tion for the program by this summer. The results of this research effort will be immediatelyinfluential and instrumental in making policy decisions about the fate of this program.


not only to assess financial viability but to offer recommendations about the orga-nization’s managerial performance.

Data Collection

By the end of the first week of MPA workshop, it is not uncommon for the facultymember to request that students draft a memorandum of understanding with theclient, specifying the issues they will address, the data they will gather, the analysesthey will conduct, and the date by which they will complete the work. Memorandaof understanding are a vehicle for holding both the student group and the clientaccountable for commitments made to the MPA Workshop. With a memorandumof understanding in place, the second and third weeks are devoted to actual datacollection and analysis. Data limitations are chronic in these projects, and the timepressure forces compromises. Unexpected developments usually occur that requirequick decisions, and the role of the faculty supervisor is important at this stage.Faculty members usually review data-gathering methods, especially instrumentsthat require original data. Students also need some guidance about methods ofanalysis. The faculty member may also need to intervene if the client alters his orher expectations of the project’s primary focus, or if the agency is slow to respondto students’ requests or needs.

A study of school district/city consolidation in selected departments—such as per-sonnel, transportation, and computer processing—provoked much resistance whenstudents tried to interview employees. The unionized workforce demanded thatunion representatives attend all interviews. Some of the students felt that this intru-sion seriously undermined the value of the interviews and compromised their valid-ity. Of course, they were correct, but they also learned that data collection can occurin a highly charged political environment. While it was not part of the project’s orig-inal purpose, the students also learned aspects of human resources and collectivebargaining that were unfamiliar to most of them. Similarly, the students learnedthat mediation and conflict resolution techniques diffused the situation, so theycould glean some useful information from the “compromised” interviews. Perhapsthe most important lesson was that consolidation is not primarily a “technical”issue.

Analysis and Report Writing

By the end of the third week, the students start to prepare the MPA Workshop reportand oral presentation. One of their most challenging tasks at this point is to findways to organize, prioritize, and synthesize the array of findings that emerge fromdifferent data sources. Faculty members offer guidance about interpretation ofinformation the group has gathered during the first three weeks of the Workshop.Some faculty members take a more active role in supervising report-writing thanothers. Faculty feedback on reports is integral to the success of the workshop, sinceit provides an opportunity for students to learn how to compile research findingsinto a professional presentation that leads to feasible and well-supported recom-mendations. The Workshop ends with an oral presentation to the client. Not onlydoes this presentation allow students an opportunity to review key findings, but italso provides for a question-and-answer period where students can speak to a rangeof methodological, organizational, and analytic issues that are of interest to theclients.


Evaluating the MPA Workshop Experience

Evaluation of the MPA Workshop occurs within several ways. First, faculty mem-bers grade the completed written report and oral presentation. Some faculty mem-bers prefer to assign one group grade and give each member of the group the samegrade. Others try to assess individual performance by requiring students to assessone another’s contributions to the entire project. This is done through semi-struc-tured questions that allow students to describe each group member’s participationand assign an ordinal score for each of his or her fellow students. Faculty membersattend the final student presentations to clients. This is a powerful evaluation tool,since the question-and-answer period following the group presentation gives theinstructor a good indication as to whether the students have met, exceeded, orfailed to meet client expectations. In addition, the students and the client submitopen-ended evaluations of the Workshop experience. These aid instructors in grad-ing student performance, and the written evaluations help the faculty plan projectsfor the following year. MPA Workshop can also be assessed through what might becalled the market test. One indicator of success is the fact that between 25 to 50 per-cent of all clients in a given year were clients in previous years. Moreover, someagencies have sponsored projects for several consecutive years.

CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING THE WORKSHOP

Managing the MPA Workshop offers several challenges each year, notably identify-ing properly ambitious projects; managing client relations and expectations; and,finding the right balance of faculty guidance and oversight.

Identifying Properly Ambitious Projects

Projects should challenge the students, but be manageable within the four-week timeframe. This is entirely the responsibility of the faculty supervisors; it is essential thatthey identify projects that fit reasonably but that also force students to employ skillsthey learned throughout their graduate public affairs program. Client expectationsare not always realistic about what students can accomplish in the time frame andwhat talents they can bring to the issue. In some instances, clients expect that stu-dents will be able to complete extremely ambitious projects, such as the develop-ment of strategic plans, within four weeks. In contrast, some clients will not recog-nize the students’ specialized training and will attempt to enlist them to performmenial record-keeping or data-processing tasks, because they confuse the Workshopwith undergraduate internships. The challenge is usually managed effectively bymeeting with prospective clients at least twice before the beginning of the project,showing them examples of past projects, and encouraging prospective clients to con-tact past clients. Most important, however, is drawing up a memorandum that sum-marizes the project and the responsibilities of the client and the students. Once theclients understand that they are, in effect, getting a research team that is equivalentto consultants who just started their employment with a consulting firm, they adjustto the realities of the compressed time frame and level of student experience.

A recent MPA Workshop project for a local neighborhood association highlightsthe importance of faculty supervisors’ planning. The neighborhood association wascontemplating a park renovation and needed to know how they could generatecommunity involvement in park renovation proposals. When it became apparent


that the leadership of the neighborhood association envisioned an elaborate projectwhere students would complete door-to-door interviews in the community, the fac-ulty advisor suggested a more realistic approach. Instead, students conducted 10focus groups of community residents and completed 10 in-depth interviews withkey community leaders. The faculty supervisor recognized that even this more con-servative research design would be challenging in a four-week period, so the facultymember worked with the neighborhood association to select community residentsas participants in either the focus group or the interview process. Consequently, stu-dents were able to focus more attention on developing interview instruments andanalyzing data.

Managing Client Relations and Expectations

Sometimes a local public or non-profit agency may have difficulty helping studentscomplete their project because of limited resources, inadequate staff, and insuffi-cient time. These constraints have a number of implications for student projects:requests for information may go unanswered; students may not have access to nec-essary materials or computing facilities; and, students may not have access to dataor program information necessary to complete the project. Paradoxically, agenciesmost in need of consulting assistance may be the agencies least equipped to supportstudent teams and to take advantage of the project’s analyses and recommenda-tions. Nevertheless, the faculty supervisor has an obligation to ensure that the clientfulfill his or her part of the bargain. In particular, a client’s resource and time com-mitment must be explicitly discussed before the project commences, so the clientunderstands his or her obligations to the students. One common potential problemis inadequate preparation of the agency staff. At minimum, they need to know thatthe students will be doing the project and that the client—e.g., a local governmentdepartment head or the executive director of a non-profit organization—expects therelevant staff members to assist the students in the same way they would beexpected to assist paid consultants. The faculty member can help by providing theclient and students with a clear statement of the project, its objectives, and theinformation the students will be looking for during the four-week period. It is alsouseful to have the client designate a staff person as the primary liaison between thestudents and the staff.

Another challenge for project-based capstones is changing client expectations andinterests. Whether the source is student misunderstanding, inaccessibility of data,changing organizational circumstances, internal politics, or hidden client motiva-tions, such changes can be addressed and resolved often without compromising thelearning experience. If client expectations shift away from original understandings,it is essential for faculty members and students to identify the source of incompat-ibility immediately or risk undermining the educational value of the project. Thismeans that faculty advisors need to meet often with their group during the firstweek of MPA Workshop to determine whether the project is moving forward asanticipated. If the project is evolving in a different direction, the faculty membercan intervene to help the students reframe the project, so that they will have ameaningful workshop experience. While shifting client expectations are frustratingfor the students, they provide a lesson that will be useful for students as they pur-sue their future careers.

A 2002 MPA Workshop project assigned students to a community center seekingto begin a strategic planning process. The director of the community center askedthe students to interview staff and board members about their perspectives on the


mission of the center and how that mission should change. Early in the Workshopproject, however, a number of complications arose that appeared to constrainwhat students would be able to accomplish. First, the community center did nothave adequate facilities for interviews, because the center was used for culturalprogramming on most days and evenings. Students found it difficult to completeinterviews in a building where after-school programs, classes in modern dance,and percussion performances were being held. Also, staff and board memberswere either suspicious of the director’s motivations or disinterested in making aspecial effort to speak with students. Students were able to arrange for only asmall number of interviews. Despite these constraints, the director was not inter-ested in modifying the project. To deliver a final product consistent with the orig-inal agreement, the faculty adviser encouraged the students to make a fewstrongly qualified statements about the mission of the center and, in addition, dis-cuss the various tensions in the organization that became apparent during thefour-week period.

Adequate Faculty Guidance in the Group Process

Students in the MPA program at the Maxwell School have substantial experienceworking in groups by the time the capstone requirement starts. Nevertheless, inter-personal problems often surface that, if not addressed, may derail the project. Theseproblems may include personality conflicts, shirking, competition for leadershiproles, and distraction from job searches and employment interviews. Providing stu-dents with clear expectations about group participation at the outset can help mit-igate such problems. Reviewing group process materials with team members canalso provide students with tools to work through conflict and hold each otheraccountable. Some faculty advisors use an assessment technique by which each stu-dent evaluates the performance of his or her group members as one element in theoverall evaluation of the project. This tends to provide one source of group account-ability, since the evaluations are then incorporated into the calculation of the finalgrade that students receive for the project.

Another important consideration when defining adequate faculty guidance con-cerns the threshold between sufficient faculty oversight and the provision of toomuch assistance to students. Since faculty members are as invested in the MPAWorkshop projects as students, tension between the faculty member’s supervisoryrole and a more participatory role is not uncommon. To prevent the blurring ofthose boundaries, it is important for the faculty member to establish clear guide-lines with both students and the client as to what they will and will not do. Forinstance, faculty will read and comment on a draft memorandum of understandingbetween students and the client, but they usually will not become involved in thenegotiation of that memorandum. Similarly, the faculty supervisor will often reviewand edit data collection instruments or designs, but will not intervene in the datacollection process per se. Faculty should intervene to address intra-group tensionsonly when they threaten to prevent project completion on time and in compliancewith original expectations. Furthermore, faculty members should be adamant thatthey will read and comment on drafts of final reports, but will not contribute anyoriginal material to those drafts.

Faculty supervising MPA Workshop all must become comfortable not only withallowing students to work autonomously, but also with the prospect that studentsmay not live up to expectations. Proper framing of the purpose, limitations, andrealities of MPA Workshop to clients in advance reduces the likelihood that poor


student performance will compromise the reputation of the faculty member or theinstitution. It also reduces the likelihood that students will be placed into a settingwhere they will not be able to succeed. Given that there are many projects each year,and several faculty members who supervise them, it is natural to expect some vari-ation among faculty advisors. Some are more involved in managing student proj-ects, others are more “hands off.” In the end, faculty members need to balance theexperiential learning goals of the capstone with the reputation of the program asreflected by the performance of the student groups.

CONCLUSION

MPA Workshop at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University—based on an experi-ential learning model of team-based consulting for a public or non-profit client—embodies a unique way to implement a capstone experience. The timing at the endof the degree requirements allows students to focus on a public policy or organiza-tional issue during an intensive period, drawing on skills learned in the MPA pro-gram. For readers evaluating the appropriateness of the workshop for their ownprograms, we list dos and don’ts:

Dos for MPA Workshop:

• Plan ahead. Identify potential projects at least two months in advance.• Seek a variety of projects, rather than concentrating on one or two policy

areas or management issues.• Allow students to rank project assignments by preference.• Set realistic expectations with clients by describing pedagogical objectives

and limitations of MPA workshop.• Ensure that important stakeholders in the client agency are on board and

informed. • Require students to complete memoranda of understanding.• Make sure that groups are functioning well and remain on track during the

four-week program. Intervene when group dynamics are counterproductive toproject quality.

• Reinforce craft skills during the workshop through supervision of the work,final report, and oral presentation.

Don’ts for MPA Workshop:

• Do not take projects that are overly ambitious in either data collection oranalysis.

• Do not tell students what to do or do work on their behalf during the projectperiod.

• Do not release a project to the media without first clearing such a decisionwith the client and the students.

• Do not overlook the importance of student and client evaluation of the MPAWorkshop process.

• Do not be afraid to let groups struggle or even fail.• Do not expect all faculty members to approach MPA Workshop in the same

manner; allow and encourage diversity in mentoring approaches.• Do not forget that this is a learning experience for you and the client, as well

as for the students.


The MPA Workshop can be adapted to other public affairs programs with studentcohorts as large as 140 and as small as 20. Maxwell faculty advisors enjoy the work-shop, and several faculty members have been supervising workshops for manyyears.4 Since the workshop follows the spring semester, it allows faculty supervisorsto work on research while, at the same time, supervising one to four projects. Fac-ulty advisors gain experience in project management by directing their student con-sulting teams—a useful skill in professional public affairs programs—and it givesthe faculty member an opportunity to interact with government and non-profitagencies while providing examples and case studies for their semester-lengthclasses. MPA Workshop links the program to both local agencies and the broaderpolicy communities. This advances the service component that is part of the over-all mission of public affairs programs around the country. In short, the capstoneexperience is one form of experiential learning that helps us achieve the broad mis-sion embedded in professional education for public service.

SCOTT W. ALLARD is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy atBrown University.

JEFFREY D. STRAUSSMAN is Professor and Chair, Public Administration, MaxwellSchool of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

REFERENCES

Cohen, S., Eimicke, W., & Ukeles, J. (1995). Teaching the craft of policy and managementanalysis: the workshop sequence of Columbia University’s graduate program in public pol-icy and administration. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 14, 606–626.

Flynn, T., Sandfort, J., & Selden, S. (2001). A three-dimensional approach to learning in pub-lic management. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 20, 551–564.

Roberts, G., & Pavlak, T. (2002). Designing the MPA capstone course: a structured-flexibilityapproach. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 8, 179–191.

Vining, A., &Weimer, D. (2002). Introducing policy analysis craft: the sheltered workshop.Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 21, 697–707.

4 Faculty members supervise workshops on a voluntary basis and receive extra compensation for theirparticipation.

Documents

Managing intensive student consulting capstone projects: The Maxwell school experience