Prescott College
AC-4: Applied Learning

COR40005 Core Curriculum: Senior Project

All seniors are required to complete a capstone project to graduate. The Co-director of Sustainability manages and oversees all student capstones and indicates which ones address a sustainability challenge. Capstones can take many forms, such as a traditional thesis, a workshop, an art exhibit, a community event, a hands-on demonstration, etc. Previously completed capstones with a sustainability focus include a bike repair station, a data-driven campaign for a zero-waste campus, a rain garden to remediate road runoff, and developing a poultry therapy and care zone.

Sustainability Fund Projects

Students can apply to the college's sustainability fund to pursue a project addressing a campus sustainability challenge. Often, this funding is given to seniors conducting their capstone projects; however, it is also open to any other student. The student applying for funds is matched with a mentor from the Sustainability Council to work together to develop the project, ensuring quality of work and process. To encourage students to apply for funds, the Sustainability Council curates a "priority list" of projects to which students can apply and receive funding to assist their completion.

ECOSA

Students in the ECOSA program focus on sustainable design and biomimicry, often using the campus as a living laboratory. Several ECOSA classes have contributed to the Campus Master Plan, including constructing models to be considered by Executive Leadership. Students created models around the Student Activity Zone and the Crossroads Courtyard, which are central components of campus. Examples of models have included a sustainability ramada, flexible solar shades in the hottest areas of campus, noise-dampening garden walls, and social gathering spaces throughout campus.

COR40005 Core Curriculum: Senior Project

Seniors meet regularly with their project mentor in the development of their capstone. Ultimately, students are assessed by their mentor via their self-constructed learning outcomes, thus allowing for flexibility based on the project goals. Sustainability projects are evaluated by our sustainability faculty members and often reviewed by the Sustainability Council if funding was awarded (see below).

Sustainability Fund Projects

Students who apply to receive sustainability funding are guided and mentored by a member of the Sustainability Council until their project is complete; this includes technical advice, stakeholder assessment/mapping, writing proposals to executive staff, and creating a final component of communication to the council. Students who receive funding must also provide a final report to the council assessing and sharing the impact of their project or event on addressing a sustainability challenge. This reflection component is used to evaluate the success of the project and the likelihood of funding similar projects in the future.

ECOSA

At the end of ECOSA courses, students present these models and visions to executive, sustainability, and facilities staff members for feedback and consideration. They reflect as a group their collective visions via a whole systems view of all the interconnected parts: art, design, and technical skills; the impacts of culture and community; urban planning; architecture, interior architecture, and alternative building methods; biomimicry, permaculture, the natural world, and ecologies; and the roles of technology, communication, and presentation. They are also assessed individually by their models and originality for improving areas around campus.

There is a master list of potential projects for students beginning to work on their senior capstones. Faculty and staff add projects to the list and students can contact the listed contact if they are interested in a particular project. The list is updated every term with new projects.