URBS 489 Capstone
Spring Semester 2014
Wednesdays 6:00 – 8:45 p.m.
This syllabus is subject to change without notice. Contact the professor for most recent changes
This is a blended class of on/campus and online coursework
A special acknowledgement to Dr. Cherrington is in order for use of her syllabi
Instructor: Mr. Mitchell R. Berg
E-mail: mitchell.berg@mnsu.edu
Office Hours: MH106A
Phone/Voice Mail:
(C) 507-389-5727
Classroom:
Morris Hall 112
Required Course Texts:
Readings – to be assigned
Course Overview:
This course is designed to help prepare you for the transition from undergraduate college
student to professional employee and/or graduate student. It will bring together the experience,
education, and personal depth of the collective college experience with professional
advancement skills such as resume and portfolio writing, editing, communication and
presentation skills -- all conducted in a teamwork environment with the facilitation, mentorship
and supervision of faculty. This course is highly interactive and designed to be taught within an
environment of shared student-faculty responsibility for learning. This course helps students
build teamwork, communication, and organizational skills while practicing professional skills and
techniques earned in other coursework or experienced in this course for the first time.
Interaction will be informal with casual interactions, practical hands-on exercises, out of class
exercises, projects, role-playing, and group discussions. This course is about the student; it is
designed to help the student view her/himself in a new light that acknowledges, even embraces,
a full and dynamic set of professional skills. It should be a rewarding, satisfying, confidencebuilding, even fun, experience.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will demonstrate competency in knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to gain
employment in, and function in, the professional practice:
Team Effectiveness
1. Understand and experience problem solving in a team setting
2. Plan and implement professional projects in a team setting
3. Understand and experience the dynamics of effective communication in a team environment
Professional Skills
1. Crafting the most dynamic and meaningful resumes
2. Designing the most illuminating and memorable portfolios
3. Communicating with a prospective (or current) employer and crafting personal
communication styles that effectively highlight talents and skills
Additionally, this course is designed to help students gain a fuller sense of their:
1. Confidence in abilities and skills in a team and individual setting
2. Confidence in ability to communicate and negotiate in a team setting
3. Perspective/expectations of working life in the “real world”
4. Ability to practice professional skills such as writing, research, problem solving
Requirements:
Students are expected to actively participate and contribute positively to the learning process,
both in and out of class. The nature of the project process used and the building block approach
to crafting solutions makes it imperative that a student attend as many class sessions as
possible. Additionally, because teamwork and teambuilding is an integral part of this course, a
student cannot miss many of the class sessions and expect to do well. Each session is unique
and tied to the class before it and the class after it – students should be prepared to embrace
many different learning experiences, each designed to help the student not only learn and grow
as a professional, but also as a person. The key requirements for this course are an open mind,
a willingness to discuss new concepts, and the ability to grow.
Grading:
There are 100 points for the course, divided as follows:
Attendance and Participation
Portfolio
Guest Speaker Questions
Individual Resume (5)/Cvr ltr. (5)
Group Project
Points
20
30
10
10
30
Portfolio:
Students will be asked to prepare a professional portfolio. The portfolio will consist of, but
not be limited to:
 Resume
 Letters of Recommendations
 Letters of Achievement and Recognitions
 Summary of classes and conferences attended
 Samples of class work
 Samples of work done in internships or at work
To receive all 30 points each student must:
 Prepare a draft of their work (please refer to D2L, for the most up-to-date due dates,
as there are multiple due dates)
 Participate in a minimum of three peer reviews for a total of three different times
(please refer to D2L for the most up-to-date listing of dates)
 Submit a final portfolio by the last day of class.
Group Project:
Students will be asked to work together on a group project to benefit a local community.
The project will be announced in class and must be completed prior to the completion of the
semester. There will be multiple due dates assigned for this project. In order to receive full
points, all students must adhere to the due dates, of which the most current and up-to-date
listing will be put up on D2L. Students will be awarded a maximum of 25 points based on
the following
 Individual work within the group
10 points
 Accomplishment of group task 15 points
 Group presentation
5 points
Individual Resume and Cover letter:
Students must complete a professional cover letter and resume. In order to receive all 10
points each student must submit, on time (refer to D2L for the most up-to-date listing of
dates), a:
 Draft Cover letter and Resume
 Participate in a minimum of three peer reviews
 Submit a final resume and cover letter.
Final:
The final examine will be the Portfolio.
Guest Speakers:
Throughout the semester guest lecturers may speak to the class. These appearances will be
listed on D2L or announced. Be sure to ask the instructor the week before their appearance for
some background information on speaker as you will be required to develop two (2) intelligent
and meaningful questions to pose to them. Your questions must be typed and have your name
and date showing in the upper right hand corner to earn credit. They are to be turned in at the
start of class in order to receive credit. Note: Open laptops, text messaging, or cell phone
use during these presentations are prohibited.
Course Attendance and Participation:
You are expected to attend each and every class. Students coming in late or leaving early will
not get full attendance points. This is a blended course, for which some of the classes will not
be held in person, but will be held on-line. For those classes that are held on-line students will
receive attendance points based on the quality of participation from the on-line discussions.
Excused absences are only permitted for University sponsored events or activities. A total of
20 class points will be awarded. Class participation shall be considered when awarding
attendance points.
Student Code of Ethics:
Students should familiarize themselves with the university’s policy on plagiarism. Be sure to
properly cite using MLA or APA style all works used and correct world-wide web URL’s
consulted. Plagiarized assignments will result in a failing grade.
Class Cancellations:
Due to inclement weather or events beyond the university’s or the professor’s control there may
be a class session (or more) that will need to be cancelled. Every available attempt will be
made to contact each student via D2L or at the least an announcement shall be posted on the
class door. Nevertheless, if a class is cancelled all assignments, readings and papers shall be
due on the date listed in the course calendar by 6:00 p.m. of the day of class.
If, however, a class is cancelled the professor has the right to adjust the syllabus and course
schedule as deemed necessary. Any changes or adjustment to this syllabus or course
schedule shall be sent out in writing and, if possible, posted onto D2L.
ADA:
ADA requires that the university provide services for persons with disabilities. For more
information regarding the services that are available to you, please contact the MSU Disability
Services Office at 507-389-2825 or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY). If you are a person with a
disability, please discuss any special needs with me within the first week of class. This will
allow you and the instructor ample opportunities to make arrangement for taking notes,
completion of assignment and examinations.
Other Policies: You should exchange contact information with at least two of your fellow
students. These contacts should be used to learn about what you missed when absent.
Assignments may be posted on D2L .
Course Calendar
1/15
1/22
1/29
2/5
2/12
2/19
2/26
3/5
3/12
3/19
3/26
4/2
4/9
4/16
4/23
4/30
Introduction and tour of the library (Guest Speaker Evan Rusch)
Group project and Portfolio discussion and Graduate School (Guest Speaker
Chris Mickle)
Careers in City Government (Guest Speakers Brad Potter and Michael Boulton)
and Portfolio and Group project
Discussion
MSU Career Development Center (Guest Speaker-Kristin Underwood) and
writing cover letters
Interviewing 101(Guest Speaker Sharon Klumpp) and have a draft of your
Cover letter and resume ready for peer review
Group project discussion
Group project and Portfolio discussion (on-line)
Portfolio development and Cover letter and Resume due
Spring Break
Ethics (Guest Speaker Jim Scheibel)
Group project discussion (on-line)
Careers in the for profit sector
Group project discussion (on-line)
Careers in the Non-profit sector (Guest Speakers Anna Thill and Dave Engstrom)
Group project discussion
Final Group Project Presentation and Portfolio due
Student Portfolio Due Dates
Title Page
Resume
Classes Taken
Conferences attended
Sample classwork
assignments
Professional Work
Additional supporting info
References and reference
letters
Group work Due Dates:
Team #1
Team #2
Team #3
Team #4
Presentation an
Peer Review
19-Feb
5-Mar
19-Mar
30-Apr
Draft due on
29-Jan
12-Feb
29-Jan
23-Apr
29-Jan
23-Apr
26-Mar
26-Mar
Final
Peer
Submission
Review
due on
29-Jan
30-Apr
12-Feb
30-Apr
29-Jan
30-Apr
23-Apr
30-Apr
29-Jan
23-Apr
30-Apr
30-Apr
30-Apr
30-Apr
PEER REVIEW RUBRIC
Group Project Presentations
Presentation
Visual Elements (5)
Novice
Problems with
organization and
style.
Competent
Proficient
Minor problems in
organization or errors.
Clear Organization.
Irrelevant Content.
Relevant Content.
Supportive Content.
Unprofessional
Quality.
Simple, Clear Design.
Error Free.
Neat Appearance.
Delivery (5)
Disfluency interferes
with presentation.
Minor disfluency or
awkward intonation.
Fluid and Expressive.
Unclear or difficult to
understand.
Clear voice, may lack
expression.
Facial Expression and eye
contact.
Conversational Intonation.
Content (15 )
Unclear explanation.
Does not address
main purpose and
objectives.
Provides explanation.
Relates main purpose
and objectives
Clear explanations.
Developed and applied
purpose and objectives.
RUBRIC FOR THE COVERLETTER:
MISSING
STRUCTURE OF THE
COVERLETTER
SALUTATION
INTRODUCTION
BODY
CONCLUSION
OVERALL PAPER MECHANICS
SPELLING
GRAMMAR
TYPOS
PROPER FONT/SIZE
OVERALL WRITING
CLEAR
UNDERSTANDABLE
FOCUSED
INTERESTING
OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE COVERLETTER
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
MANY
PROBLEMS
NEARLY PROBLEMFEW PROBLEMS FREE
RUBRIC FOR THE RESUME
MISSING
STRUCTURE OF THE RESUME
OBJECTIVE STATEMENT
EDUCATION
JOB EXPERIENCE
ACTIVITIES, VOLUNTEER
EXPERIENCE, COMPUTER SKILLS,
AND ETC
OVERALL PAPER MECHANICS
SPELLING
GRAMMAR
TYPOS
PROPER FONT/SIZE
OVERALL WRITING
CLEAR
UNDERSTANDABLE
FOCUSED
INTERESTING
OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE RESUME
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
MANY
PROBLEMS
FEW PROBLEMS
NEARLY
PROBLEMFREE
RUBRIC FOR THE PORTFOLIO
MISSING
MATERIALS USED
VARIETY
LAYOUT
OVERALL PAPER MECHANICS
SPELLING
GRAMMAR
TYPOS
PROPER FONT/SIZE
OVERALL IMPRESSION OF MATERIALS
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
Reviewer Remarks:
GOOD
AMOUNT
FEW
NEARLY PROBLEM-FREE