Eastern Oregon University
College of Business

SYLLABUS

The Liberal Studies Capstone--LS 401, BA 403
For Liberal Studies programs that include Business as the primary subject.
Online Course

• Course number and title: The capstone may be either BA 403--Business/Psychology preapproved program or LS 401 for Liberal Studies programs with two minors. You will enroll in the one that is appropriate.
• BA 403-Capstone--5 credits.
• LS 401-Capstone--4 credits.

• Dr. Robert Larison
• School of Education and Business
• Eastern Oregon University
• 1 University Boulevard
• La Grande, Oregon 97850
• e-mail: blarison@eou.edu
• fax: (541) 962-3701
• phone: (541) 962-3558 (use email!)
• website: www.eou.edu/~blarison

About the course: The objective of the capstone in a Liberal Studies program is to provide a culminating and coalescing experience within the major. This activity will require the application of central concepts and skills within the academic content of of the major and will result in an academic product that may vary in form depending on the student and their program but will generally be a traditional research paper.

A research paper is the only option available to Business/Psychology prearranged program students and most other Liberal Studies students. The paper will be focused primarily on a business topic and will be supplemented and enriched by references to applicapable topics from the student's other discipline area. The topic will be determined by the interest of the student but must be approved by a business advisor prior to registration with DDE. The topic should be of great interest to the student and, hopefully, appicable to their career--either now or in the future. Examples of Business/Psychology topics students have chosen in the past include:

• Evaluation and diagnosis of morale problems in a manufacturing operation.
• The impact of senior executive compensation on the morale of lower level executives.
• Evaluation of a piecework incentive plan in a manufacturing environment.
• The effect of recent eligibility rule changes on the Boy Scouts of America.
• The impact of e-mail on organizational communication in a community college.
• Development of a grant development plan for a clinic for unwed teenage mothers.

The topic.

The most difficult part of the capstone process is simply selecting an appropriate topic. The topic will be primarily a business one that is supported by the second discipline included in the student's Liberal Studies program. Many students have a specific interest that the capstone will allow them to explore. Some students really do not have any real idea of what topic they would like to address. Students should contact their instructor for either a face-to-face, telephone, or e-mail discussion of options and interest areas. Ideally, this discussion should take place well prior to registration for the capstone so that time pressures do not place undue pressure on the student. Capstones usually take two terms to complete---one for the development of the idea and identifying needed information, and one for the preparation of the paper. Students should register for the capstone in the second term. See the projected schedule below.

The paper.

The capstone paper should be prepared in a professional manner, usually making use of the APA style or another standard format. All sources should be footnoted or endnoted and a bibliography page will be included. There is no real standard for length--it should be as long as needed--but not a book. Most are around 20-25 pages. When appropriate, appendixes may be included with the paper.

• 12 weeks prior to the quarter in which student enrolls in the capstone: Students will contact their capstone instructor (in person; e-mail; phone)to begin development of a project concept. This will be especially important for experiential based projects or academic projects that will require significant primary data gathering. Some projects may well extend over a number of quarters so some students will begin their project well in advance of the quarter in which they are formally registered for their capstone.

• 8 weeks prior to registration quarter: Students will formalize their topic and compile materials required for registration for the capstone. These will usually include an outline of the project, a justification for the project, an admission form to the Liberal Studies program, and other materials. Contact your local DDE center for current information about what else is required for registration. Registration materials should be submitted to your DDE center for approval and registration to the capstone.

• 6 weeks prior to registration capstone: Student should expect notification of the approval of their capstone proposal.

• Week 1 (of registered quarter): Contact instructor and indicate that you have registered and provide a progress report. E-mail works best. Continue work on project. Submit detailed outline to instructor if not done already. Instructor feedback on outline.

• Week 2: Continue work on project.

• Week 3: Continue work on project.

• Week 4: Submit portion of rough draft for instructor comment.

• Week 5: Continue work on project.

• Week 6: Continue work on project.

• Week 7: Continue work on project.

• Week 8: Continue work on project.

• Week 9: Mail capstone project to Instructor:
• Week 10: Capstone arrives at EOU and is evaluated.
• Week 11: Capstone graded

NOTE: REMEMBER THAT MOST PROJECTS WILL TAKE MORE THAN ONE QUARTER AND IF YOU BEGIN THE CAPSTONE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE REGISTRATION QUARTER IT MAY WELL CONTINUE ON INTO THE NEXT QUARTER. THIS WILL BE ESPECIALLY APPLY TO STUDENTS WHO REGISTER LATE IN THE QUARTER.