Sustainability Capstone Project Partner Information
Each semester, UGA's Sustainability Certificate students collaborate with leading industry, government, and community partners to craft innovative solutions for real-world sustainability challenges. Partners gain unique access to multidisciplinary student talent while addressing pressing organizational needs while students gain meaningful experiential learning.
BACKGROUND
The capstone project is the final requirement of the Sustainability Certificate. Students work in interdisciplinary teams with a campus or community partner, developing, managing, and carrying out an applied project in sustainability with extensive program oversight. These projects provide an opportunity for students to apply their specific discipline/area of expertise and sustainability competencies to develop creative solutions to complex industry challenges.
CAPSTONE DETAILS
Length of commitment: 1 semester or 15 Weeks, Fall and Spring Semesters
Team Size: 2-5 Interdisciplinary Students
Engagement: Capstone project and deliverables co-designed with the project partner. Partners meet regularly with their student team.
Project Sponsorship: Corporate partners sponsor the Sustainability Certificate Program at a level they deem appropriate to support these experiential learning opportunities.
Project Benefits: Access to UGA talent and expertise, pipeline to interdisciplinary graduates with developed competencies that have been applied to integrated projects, and an opportunity to source sustainable solutions to real-world, sustainability challenges.
Projects can cover a wide range of activities, including but not limited to research, data collection and analysis, certifications, pilot program development and implementation, case studies, education/communication, marketing, event planning, product creation/distribution, restoration, installations (such as gardens or habitat), cost benefit analysis, life cycle assessment. Other ideas are welcome. The best projects are well-defined with specific deliverables.
What to expect? Sustainability Certificate students approach this partnership similar to a consultant (the students) and client (you) relationship. They will work with you to determine your project needs and assess how their individual skills and expertise might best address these needs. The Sustainability Capstone Course provides the scaffolding for effective project management. Final deliverables are agreed upon by all members of the partnership, and the semester culminates in a final presentation of the project by the students.
Please reach out to Tyra Byers, Program Director, at scdirector@uga.edu if you have any questions.