This year’s capstone course will run April 22, 2019 - June 27, 2019 (10 weeks).
The approximate timeline is below, followed by additional detail on each event.
| Event | Deadline/Period |
|---|---|
| Suggested initial submission of proposal | November 15, 2018 |
| Proposal deadline | December 31, 2018 |
| Students rate proposals | January 10, 2019 |
| Selection of proposals | January 15, 2019 |
| Partners accept invitations | January 30, 2019 |
| Capstone fair | March 1, 2019 |
| Students rate the projects | early March, 2019 |
| Partners provide legal documents | March 15, 2019 |
| Partners demonstrate/declare readiness of data | March 15, 2019 |
| Students are assigned to projects | March 15, 2019 |
| Kickoff meetings | April 1 - April 15, 2019 |
| Phase 1: student proposals | May 5, 2019 |
| Phase 2: project development | May 5 - June 20, 2019 |
| Student presentations | June 15 - June 25, 2019 |
Proposal revision process
Members of an organization interested in participating as a capstone partner should submit a project proposal.
Members of the MDS leadership team will review the proposal, and work with the potential partner to establish a finalized proposal. Potential partners should feel free to ask us for our opinion on any aspect of this step ahead of time, such as whether the main idea of the proposal is appropriate.
We recommend your first submission of the proposal to be well before the December 31st deadline, so that we can offer suggestions in case it needs revision.
Students rate proposals
A list of finalized proposals, along with one-sentence summaries, will be posted on a “project board” viewable by the students. The students will then rate their interest in the proposals.
Selection of proposals
The MDS leadership team will select proposals based primarily on student interest, and will invite the successful organizations to be a capstone partner.
Partners accept invitations
The successful capstone partners accept the offers, and confirm their attendance at the capstone fair.
Capstone fair
Capstone partners must attend the Capstone Fair, to be held in February 2019 (date TBD), to meet with the students and answer any questions they may have. Detailed information will be emailed to each capstone partner.
Students rate the projects
After the capstone fair, the students assign a final rating to the projects.
Partners provide legal documents and declare conflicts of interest
Before students rate the projects, they should have access to any legal documents they would need to sign in order to work on the project. Thus, partners must provide these documents before the rating stage. Furthermore, students should be aware of any potential conflicts of interest before rating the project, so partners are asked to declare these as well.
Partners provide data
Before a project is accepted, the partner must provide MDS with a demonstration or written (email) declaration that the data has already been collected and prepared, and exists in its entirety (in the form specified in the proposal), and is ready to be shared with the students.
Partners should feel free to ask us for our standard agreement at any point in the selection procedure.
Students are assigned to projects
Based on student interest, the MDS leadership team assigns student groups to the projects. In the unlikely scenario that there is insufficient interest in a project, no student group will be assigned to that project.
Kickoff meetings
The students will arrange a date and time with their capstone partner and teaching fellow mentor to have an initial meeting to discuss the project.
Student proposal stage
Students propose the data product and approach.
- The student team works with each other, colleagues, and teaching fellows to develop an approach in a 2-day hackathon.
- Students present the proposal at UBC, to solicit ideas and feedback.
- Students write the proposal. This will be passed to the capstone partner to check that the proposed product is indeed in line with the capstone partner’s needs.
Project development stage
Students develop the data product. This involves:
- Regular meetings with the teaching fellow mentor.
- Regular meetings with the capstone partner.
Project presentations
Towards the end of June, students present their project in the following settings:
- To their classmates at UBC (graded by the project mentors).
- At their partner organization.
- At an end-of-program celebration at UBC.