Beginning this spring, the College of Information Science (InfoSci) will add more value to our undergraduate student capstone experience by partnering with dedicated professionals—and we invite you to join us as a project partner.
The College of Information Science undergraduate capstone provides students with real-world experiences before they transition to professional careers. The program leads to significant development in their project management and communication skills while providing concrete application of their technical knowledge. It teaches students to apply what they have learned throughout their time at the U of A to tackle real problems and challenges, which they’ll do daily in their careers across a broad range of tech-driven careers. Explore recent undergraduate capstone projects.
In addition to benefiting students, partner projects benefit your organization through the projects themselves, which may include analysis of complex data questions; design, building and testing of prototypes; generation of new ideas to improve existing products or processes; and more. Working with a student capstone team also serves as an opportunity for your organization to recruit top talent.
Ready to join us as a project partner?
After reviewing the guidelines below for sponsoring a capstone project, view our sample proposal here and then contact Michael McKisson no later than December 5 to confirm your commitment.
Partner Capstone Project Timeline: Spring 2025
- Project commitment deadline: December 5, 2024
- Project submission deadline: December 16, 2024
- Open house: January 16, 2025
- A career fair-style event for sponsors to meet the students and for the students to learn more about the partner projects
- Project matching: Class period following open house, January 16, 2025
- Projects proposal work begins: Next class period after matching
- Proposal signed and work begins: 2 weeks after project matching
- iShowcase project presentations: May 7, 2025
Partner Guidelines for Sponsoring a Capstone Project
Overview
The capstone course combines students across three College of Information Science programs—BS in Information Science, BS in Game Design and Development and BA in Information Science and Arts—and is a culminating experience for our students before they graduate.
InfoSci Student Skills
In addition to foundational skills in collaboration, creativity and communication, students bring a variety of technical skills to the project, which may include:
Programming Languages
- Python
- C#
- C++
- Javascript
- R
- SQL
Data Science & Analytics
- Data analysis
- Data analytics
- Data cleaning
- Data Viz
- Machine learning
- Natural language processing
- Database management
Cloud & DevOps
- AWS
Game Development & Web Technologies
- Web development
- HTML/CSS
- Unity
Design & User Experience
- UX/UI design
- User-centered design
3D & Geospatial Technologies
- 3D Modeling
- GIS
The Student Team
We look to you for suggestions as to the best team composition from among these skill sets, but we request flexibility because the composition may need to change based on availability of the desired students.
Assume that you will have a team of 3-5 students working on the project for an average of 8 hours per week per student over the 15-week academic semester (approximately 500 total hours of labor). Challenging students can be highly beneficial, as long as the project remains achievable within the constraints of their available resources.
Communications Expectations
In general, the more contact there is between a partner and the student team, the better the project outcome will be. We therefore request that sponsors name a key contact and an alternate so that students may be able to get in touch with the project partner when questions arise.
Project Requirements
We ask that sponsors provide a brief description of the project goals and required deliverables. It is helpful to supplement the summary with detailed requirements that will become the focus of the project planning and design. The development of statement of work is the first major team activity at the start of the semester.
Once the design is approved by the project partner and instructor, the team begins working on the deliverables for final presentation at the University of Arizona iShowcase held on the final day of each semester.
Finally, remember that this is a student project, and although the vast majority of our projects are successful, we are unable to guarantee project success. Please do not give students a project that is on a critical path for your company.
Sponsorship Cost
At this time, the College of Information is not charging project partners. However, partners are expected to provide the resources necessary for project completion, which could include hosting, software or subscriptions necessary to implement the design solution.
Next Steps & Additional Information
If you're ready to move forward, after reviewing our sample project proposal, please contact Michael McKisson, associate professor of practice and director of undergraduate studies, at mckisson@arizona.edu by December 5, 2024.