Students seeking a degree through the Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) program are required to complete a final capstone project. The purpose of this evidenced-based project is for students to demonstrate their ability to critically analyze a problem related to their interdisciplinary concentration/major. The BIS 490 Capstone Course represents the culminating and integrating educational activity of BIS students. Using a research process, students acquire significant knowledge in areas directly related to their educational goals. By means of an investigative or creative project (see “Two Options for Completing BIS 490 Project” below), students in BIS 490 synthesize knowledge gained from the student’s interdisciplinary program of study. Regardless of type of project, the student’s faculty mentor guides the oversight of the project, providing input and mentoring in the development of a proposal through the semester-long project. Each project includes a mandatory written component that strictly follows GMU’s writing intensive guidelines. A second person (committee member) is identified who acts as a reader during the writing and revision of the written component.
BIS 390 is the precursor to BIS 490. In BIS 390 you will write a research proposal that will become your BIS 490 Senior Project. During the BIS 490 Senior Project semester, you will be undertaking an original research study that is designed to answer one or more research questions.
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If you have more than 6 credits remaining on your educational contract, you will not be allowed to register for BIS 490/491.
During the semester you complete BIS 490/491, you may:
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The Capstone course is a requirement of the BIS concentration. It can be a project or thesis on a topic directly relevant to the student’s concentration and is guided by the student’s faculty mentor. The faculty mentor and the BIS director must approve the selected topic prior to enrollment. A grade of C or better is required to complete BIS 490, which fulfills the university’s synthesis requirement.
Possible Research Components for Non-traditional BIS 490 Projects (.pdf)
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*NOTE: It is expected that the project/ research paper will entail more work than a term paper normally submitted in partial fulfillment of a three-credit course. Regardless of the nature of the capstone activity, the written component must adhere to the university's writing intensive requirements. As such, revising multiple drafts is expected with final draft at least 3500 words.
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INVESTIGATIVE: The investigative option allows students to design and carry out a research project under the mentorship of a faculty mentor. When applicable, this type of 490 project could be conducted with the research agenda of the faculty mentor. The following components are expected in this type of project: problem or need statement, research questions, methodology/design, data collection, findings, analysis/interpretation of findings, conclusions/recommendations. This type of project may be reporting on research conducted by others via an extensive research paper (5000-word minimum); it may also be primary research conducted by the BIS student with oversight by the faculty mentor.
See Sample Proposal (.pdf)
CREATIVE: This option allows students the latitude to actually create an end product that is closely connected to their core concentration. End products might be a multimedia presentation (CD ROM or Web-Based), sculpture, musical score, theatrical production, novelette, to name a few. As with both options, the student poses a problem/issue or need statement and develops research questions that will be answered in the development of the end product. These creative projects still require a minimum of a 3500-word written component that include citations from time-appropriate literature, excerpts from journal entries written while completing the project, references to observations of and/or interviews with people who have expertise related to the project topic, feedback from other individuals relative to the on-going development of the end product, etc.
See Sample (.pdf)
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NOTE: The Executive Summary must be attached to the Permission to Register form, along with the research proposal, and be submitted to the BIS office by the middle of the month prior to the month in which classes begin (e.g., for spring semester paperwork is to be submitted by mid-December).
The Executive Summary is an abbreviated research proposal for the Senior Project, which has been developed with input from the faculty mentor. This proposal is a 2-3 page document, which includes:
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In consultation with the Faculty Mentor, a Reader/2nd Committee member is identified to serve as a resource to the BIS 490 project. This individual is selected because of his/her expertise, interest in the project, editing ability, etc. This individual usually interacts with the student, faculty mentor and project toward the end of the BIS 490 semester. It is recommended that the 3 committee members (BIS student, Faculty Mentor, Reader) interact early in the BIS 490 semester and determine the specific expectations for the reader. The committee member must also sign the Permission to Register form, thus expressing willingness to review the project. (There are no substitutes for this signature.) The committee member need not be affiliated with GMU, but must have expertise relevant to the project subject matter. Preferably, the committee member will also hold a masters' degree.
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The faculty mentor, with input from the committee member, makes the final determination of the grade based on the evaluative criteria for assessing and evaluating the project and written component that were established at the beginning of the semester. A grade of C or better is required for graduation.
At the discretion of the mentor, a grade of IP (In Progress) may be assigned if the project is too extensive to be completed in one semester or if circumstances beyond the control of students prevent them from completing the project on schedule. Unlike an Incomplete” (IN), an IP in BIS 490 is not treated as an unsatisfactory grade. The IP must be completed in time for a grade to be assigned by the end of the following semester (except for graduating students. See deadlines and dates). Otherwise, the Office of the Registrar will change the IP to a grade of F.
Outstanding BIS 490 Projects may be nominated by faculty
mentors to be considered for recognition at the University’s
Annual Convocation.
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What follows is a suggested guide for the student and faculty mentor to use in specifying the exact steps and/or stages that will be used to successfully complete the BIS 490 project. Each student, in concert with his/her faculty mentor, develops specific evaluative criteria for the purpose of evaluating/assessing the BIS 490 entire project. Each student’s weekly activities will vary based on the nature of the project and its relationship to his/her core concentration.
Weeks 1 – 5
Conceptualize and prepare materials/tools for the project:
Weeks 6-10
Focus in on critical components/sections of project:
Weeks 11-15
Continue to write major portions of the written component:
The Robert T. Hawkes, Jr. Award for Outstanding BIS Project
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The Outstanding BIS project should be judged substantially superior (in ideas, expression, and/or organization) to other project entries. The content and form in which it is submitted are unlimited. It is possible that this award and one of the following may be given to the same project.
Previous winners:
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The BIS Creative Project should be original, unique, expressive, and imaginative. Examples of such projects include, but are not limited to: original dramatic productions (live, film, videotape), webpages, interactive video, paintings, photography, literature, public relations packages, music, dance, or sculpture.
Previous winners:
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The BIS Project in the Public Interest should be a paper or project, that has a significant impact on the university, region, state, or nation and serves to benefit the public.
Previous winners: