Culminating Project Completion Steps

Year 1
  1. Become familiar with Culminating Project options and expectations.
  2. Generate topic ideas and questions.
  3. Meet with your prospective advisor(s) to discuss possible topics.
  4. Practice sharing a brief ‘elevator pitch’ about your Culminating Project topic with PPA peers and/or colleagues—a good thesis pitch takes under two minutes to introduce (a) the problem or issue, (b) what you hope to learn about it, (c) how you plan to study/learn this, and (d) why you believe tackling this problem or issue matters and to whom.
  5. Confirm your Culminating Project and Option.
  6. Establish an organized electronic filing system to keep your project materials organized.
 
Year 2 (prior to taking PPA 500)
  1. Look for opportunities to complete assignments/artifacts related to your topic in PPA classes.
  2. Scan and collect initial literature on your topic.
  3. Review latest PPA Culminating Project requirements.
  4. Prepare and submit a PPA 500 Enrollment Petition and supporting documents/artifacts to your advisor (timing will vary for part- and full-time students).
  5. Incorporate any feedback from your advisor(s) so you are ready to submit your petition and advance to candidacy.
  6. Complete your Advancement to Candidacy Form in your MySacState account.
  7. Enroll in PPA 500.
  8. Complete Institutional Review Board (IRB) CITI training and protocol if you will be conducting any original research with human subjects as a part of your project (e.g., interviews, surveys, or focus groups); talk with your advisor about this if you are uncertain about IRB requirements and process.
 
 Final Semester (During PPA 500)
  1. Prepare a more detailed Culminating Project work plan with guidance from your advisor and PPA 500 instructor.
  2. Establish feedback process and timeline with advisors.
  3. Prepare additional drafts and revisions of Culminating Project documents with guidance from your advisor.
  4. Ask a PPA peer to provide feedback on your drafts.
  5. Read final drafts out loud and make edits.
  6. Complete a final document formatting check.
  7. Prepare and submit your final Culminating Project!