(EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.) Heralded a second year for its senior capstone experience, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville again joins the ranks of an elite 15 universities—including Yale, Harvard, MIT, Duke and Princeton—for its comprehensive programs measuring the competency of graduating seniors.
At SIUE, the program is called senior assignment and is required curriculum for all seniors to demonstrate their degree of general education knowledge, as well as knowledge within their disciplines prior to graduation.
The University again was included as a “Top School” in U.S. News, ranked 12th among public universities in the Midwestern master’s universities category; 55th among all Midwestern master’s universities, which includes 142 institutions. This is an improvement from the University’s ranking as 58th last year—16th among public universities in the category.
SIUE’s senior assignment program has been recognized on several occasions, recently as a model for other institutions across the nation. In a report from The Association of American Colleges and Universities, SIUE’s program was lauded as an effective tool in gauging the comprehensiveness of academic programs.
“Many places do not assess general education, but our assessment is all-encompassing,” said Lesa Stern, director of SIUE’s undergraduate assessment and program review, and the Undergraduate Research Academy. “Some universities have a standard, ongoing assessment. Each department owns the senior assignment here so they can craft it to assess the skills and capabilities of graduates.”
It was explained that SIUE’s assessment program is not the same as traditional capstone programs, which assess individual learning. The University’s senior assignment program assesses the overall program effectiveness and the degree of interdisciplinary competence among graduates.
“A good example of a senior assignment program here would be the public relations track of speech communication” Stern said, noting seniors form small groups and each group submits a proposal to an outside company or organization outlining details of putting on a special event. Such organizations in the past have included the Collinsville Area Recreation District and the National Children’s Cancer Society.
“In the spring, the students actually put on the event for these organizations,” Stern said. “If they do it well as senior assignment candidates, they can do it in the real world.”
This type of assignment incorporates more than the knowledge gained during the students’ track of study, Stern said, adding that it involves critical thinking, budgeting and people skills, and other skills that students gain during the early stages of study at the University.
