Sustainability Capstone Project Partner Information

Sustainability Certificate Capstone Projects help clients address pressing sustainability challenges while providing students with an opportunity to apply their academic learning and develop valuable skills. This partnership is meant to connect you with a talented group of passionate students to build your capacity to address strategic, sustainability priorities and operational challenges. In tandem, students gain valuable professional skills and competencies, and we all benefit from a more connected, invigorated, and sustainable community. 

 Capstone teams are typically made up of 3-5 students from over 70 majors, overseen by a faculty mentor to ensure quality and provide expertise.  The best projects are solutions-oriented and present a feasible scope of work.  Governmental, non-governmental, non-profit, industrial, for-profit, and university-affiliated organizations are all welcome to submit proposals. In order to be eligible to host a Capstone team, organizations must:  

  1. Have a specific project that addresses a defined sustainability challenge that can be accomplished by a small team of students in 3.5 months. Although projects can be refined once the team has been assigned, general scope and deliverables should be determined in advance.
  2. Have organizational capacity to sustain support for the capstone project (including staff time and expertise to mentor the capstone team). 

Partners can submit project requests using this form. The deadline to request Fall projects is July 15. The deadline to request Spring projects is November 15. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your project details prior to submitting a project request form, please email Tyra Byers at tyrab@uga.edu.  

You can view a list of past projects since fall 2020 here.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT?

Projects can cover a wide range of activities including but not limited to: research, data collection, data analysis, pilot program development and implementation, education/communication, marketing, event planning, product creation/distribution, installations (such as gardens or habitat), cost benefit analysis, life cycle assessment. Other ideas are welcome. Sustainability Certificate students come from a wide range of academic disciplines.  

Examples include: Research, B-Corp Certification, Life Cycle Assessments, GIS Mapping, Marketing,Product Creation, Education and Outreach, Installations, Consulting, Cost Benefit Analysis, Systems Analysis,Program Development, Promotion 

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?

Students are trained to 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 should be agreed upon by all members of the partnership, and the semester will culminate in a final presentation of the project by the students. 

Community partners should expect to devote ~10+ hours to the project and meet with student teams at least 5 times over the course of the semester. 

Students will devote 3-5 hours each per week to their capstone project including meetings. 

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

  1. Once you have submitted a project need and brief description, we will allow students enrolled in the Sustainability Capstone course to rank their top projects.  
  2. Based on rankings and the needs of the project, we will identifying a team of students to help address your project goals. 
  3. Before the start of classes, you will receive an e-mail with your student team and contact information and a schedule for the semester. 
  4. The students will meet with you the first week or two of classes to learn more about the project and identify deliverables. They will then create a project Workplan and Timeline, which will be shared with you for review and revision. 
  5. Students will also identify a Subject Matter Expert, typically a faculty member at UGA, with expertise in the project area to provide input and guidance. 
  6. Teams will meet regularly with you at an agreed upon schedule. 
  7. Students will submit their final deliverables the last week of the semester. 
  8. You will also receive and return a team evaluation form that helps inform student grades for the course. 
  9. Students will present to you and other members of the sustainability community during their final exam period. 

Please reach out to scdirector@uga.edu if you have any questions. There is also more information available here: https://sustainability.uga.edu/certificate/students/capstones/ 

SUBMIT A PROJECT REQUEST:  https://ugeorgia.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5pVEC29uIadLLH8