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Sample Reports of Past Capstone Workshops
About
Capstone workshops apply the practical skills and analytical knowledge learned at SIPA to a real-world issue. Students are organized into small consulting teams and assigned a substantive, policy-oriented project with an external client. Clients include public agencies (from the local to national level), international NGOs and multi-national organizations, and major firms in the private sector—recent examples include Booz Allen Hamilton, Clinton Global Initiative, Congressional Research Service, Human Rights Watch, J.P. Morgan, New York City Mayor’s Office, and the World Bank Group.
Student teams, working under the supervision of a faculty expert, answer a carefully defined problem posed by the client. Each team produces an actionable report and an oral briefing of their findings at the close of the workshop that is designed to translate into real change on the ground.
For a sampling of past Capstone projects and reports, please click here.
Prospective Clients
The collaboration between SIPA students and the organizations benefits both parties. The organizations benefit from the expertise of SIPA students, who have a wide variety of professional and educational backgrounds and who are in the final semester of a demanding, two-year professional degree program at one of the leading schools of international and public affairs in the world. The students benefit from the opportunity to put learning into practice. We seek to partner with organizations that can offer a project that is timely, but not urgent, which can be completed within a four-month period, that is of value both to the organization itself and to the learning experience of students—and produces actionable recommendations, which ideally will be utilized by the client within the near future.
The workshop process begins at the end of the spring semester (late April) through the summer (June–August), when possible project ideas are discussed with clients. By the end of September, a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding is developed. In October, students submit a formal application to the Capstone program, rank ordering their first through fifth choice. Students are selected by the faculty advisor and are matched with projects based on their demonstrated skill sets and interests.
Supported by a Columbia faculty advisor, each student team starts work by late January on a draft work plan. Based on their desk and field research, each team prepares a report and recommendations for review by the client in late April. Students work on average 6-8 hours per week on their project.
Client Responsibilities
Clients are expected to be a partner in the project; the first part of the process is to work with the faculty advisor in the late summer/early fall to define the project goals and deliverables. Over the course of the project (late January through early May) clients are asked to participate in three standard meetings—these are: an initial “kick-off” meeting, mid-term presentation, and final presentation. Beyond these meetings, the client should be available for periodic calls over the course of the semester with the team for status updates (generally twice a month throughout the project). There is no fee for participation in the Capstone workshop, however, if students are required to travel outside of New York for their project, clients are asked to help share the cost of travel for the team.
Application
If you are interested in becoming a potential Capstone client, please complete the Capstone Client Application form here. The deadline to apply has now passed, but we will still consider your proposal if we have not yet filled all available workshops or we will consider the proposal for the following round of workshops.