MPH CAPSTONE REQUIREMENTS
Starting in Spring, 2008, students registering for the Capstone will be required to attend a biweekly seminar addressing components of the Capstone requirement.
The capstone project should be built around a specific question or hypothesis, should require background reading, problem and hypothesis statement, and some form of data collection, management, and presentation. Quantitative projects should include descriptive statistics and some basic analytic statistics, whenever possible. Qualitative projects are only appropriate if the student has completed at least one qualitative research methods course.
The EOHS MPH degree includes a Capstone completion requirement. A Capstone is a research-quality poster presentation of the students’ own work that demonstrates the ability to identify a public health problem concerning exposure assessment, outcomes measurement or intervention development. The Capstone will address some aspect of occupational and environmental health through the collection and/or systematic evaluation of data and synthesis of the results in standard scientific format. Students in the comprehensive MPH track may choose to report on their fieldwork experience, if appropriate, or on another experience, such as a research assistantship, volunteer activity, or public-health related employment. Students in the PEP track may choose to report a research project or may evaluate some aspect of public health related work. The Capstone project should include problem evaluation. Straightforward literature reviews or workplace reports are generally not acceptable.
Students should meet with faculty advisors to identify appropriate topics for the capstone at least one semester before registering. Students should address issues concerning human subjects research protections at this meeting. While the Capstone is not primarily research-based and may not require formal IRB approval, all MPH students should have completed IRB and HIPAA training prior to developing the project.
Students and faculty advisors should plan to meet frequently during the semester in which the capstone is to be presented, but not less than monthly. Faculty advisors should review the content of the presentation at least two weeks prior to the final presentation. After the poster has been completed, the student should request the original form and have the approval/pass section signed by both the primary advisor/mentor faculty member as well as the second faculty reader. This form must be completed and returned to Ms. Rios before the poster presentation can be included in the schedule, at least one week before the date scheduled.
Students will present the posters at the EOHS Capstone date for the Fall, Spring, or Summer semester. Students unable to participate in a given semester should plan on presenting at the subsequent semester. Grading is satisfactory/unsatisfactory based on agreement of faculty advisor and faculty reader, but no grades will be assigned in the absence of formal poster presentation.
Capstone Poster Template
The capstone project should be built around a specific question or hypothesis, should require background reading, problem and hypothesis statement, and some form of data collection, management, and presentation. Quantitative projects should include descriptive statistics and some basic analytic statistics, whenever possible. Qualitative projects are only appropriate if the student has completed at least one qualitative research methods course. Poster presentations should include title, author(s), background, problem statement/hypothesis, methods, results, discussion and conclusion sections, with an acknowledgement, including others engaged in the project who were not already listed as co-authors, organization at which the project took place, and all sources of funding.
The SPH Office of Research Services provides professional-looking poster printing services for students who are presenting at research/practice conferences. Posters for other activities can not be accommodated. SPH students are entitled to two (2) free posters per student per academic year (summer, fall, and spring terms). If you have any questions regarding this service, please contact Julie Kong, jckong@uic.edu.
Mentor/Advisor and Reader Agreement Form
The CAPSTONE MENTOR/READER form should be completed prior to registering for the Capstone (IPHS 698), signed by the primary mentor/advisor faculty member and by an additional EOHS faculty member who agrees to evaluate and grade the final product and serve as the “reader”. The form is then returned to Iraida Rios, the Academic Coordinator.
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