Liberal Arts Capstone

[resistk]

I need to do the liberal arts capstone next year for my BALS. My proposed topic will deal with comparing the cultures of two countries. Problem I see is that TESU provides no information on the mentors' specialties.  Does it not matter or does anyone know where to find a list TESU faculty to check their areas of expertise?

[studyingfortests]

From my experience, my mentor had a pretty wide knowledgebase to work from, but even in the areas he know little about (such as my capstone), he was still invaluable in immediately grasping the core elements of what should be covered, and helping me to organize it. I wouldn't worry about finding someone with particular expertise. I would recommend that if there's any way you can get August Black, that you choose him as your mentor. His sections fill up fast, he is very highly regarded, and one of the top 3 professors I've had anywhere. Incredibly available, helpful, patient, and just a great guy.

[spohara]

I need to do the liberal arts capstone next year for my BALS. My proposed topic will deal with comparing the cultures of two countries. Problem I see is that TESU provides no information on the mentors' specialties.  Does it not matter or does anyone know where to find a list TESU faculty to check their areas of expertise?

You can check ratemyprofessor or just google their name +TESU and you should be able to find some kind of bio.  I really don't think it matters much.  What I will say is for my capstone, my mentor had cut/paste feedback and changed like 2 lines to make it unique.  They didn't really dive into my paper and offer substantive comments on the topic or suggest specific directions to go or problem areas.  I'm not sure how the others are.

[Pats20]

I’m not sure I would even want an expert in my topic. That sounds like double trouble. The mentor is supposed to mentor on composition, format and mechanics. Not so much the subject matter. I had Black, I don’t really recommend him unless you like chicken scratch from top to bottom. He’s very hard to please. On the other hand he always says to call him any time for assistance, if you like doing that sort of thing.

[jch]

Echoing the other comments here: the biggest things you want from a capstone mentor are quality feedback and assistance. They're mainly there to help you research and develop your ideas, not to be SME's.

[davewill]

I had James Cody. He is an English professor, and was one of the better TESU mentors I had. Always prompt with grading and quick to respond to messages. I echo the others, the mentor doesn't really help you with content, but rather with composition and format.

[studyingfortests]

I’m not sure I would even want an expert in my topic. That sounds like double trouble. The mentor is supposed to mentor on composition, format and mechanics. Not so much the subject matter. I had Black, I don’t really recommend him unless you like chicken scratch from top to bottom. He’s very hard to please. On the other hand he always says to call him any time for assistance, if you like doing that sort of thing.

He's hard to please because he is incredibly precise with APA, and wants to help his students be the best possible writers. Because of him, when I went on to my master's degree, I had multiple professors comment on how on-point my APA was, and how concise my writing was. Neither of those would have been the case had I not had Dr. Black. And mind you, I had done a lot of writing, for decades, before having Dr. Black's class.

It really depends on what you are after.  If you want to learn how to write at a graduate level and to deeply understand the importance of clarity in your writing, Dr. Black is an outstanding mentor.  I suppose if one doesn't give a crap and just wants an easy class then he's not the best.  But in my book, it's really a shame to turn down the opportunity to better one's skills.  The assistance he offers by phone is awesome, and he is literal that it can be any time; one of my friends who also took his class needed to talk to him and the only time was when he got off work at midnight CA time.  Dr. Black is in NC, and told him to go ahead and call him at 3am!  They had a great and helpful conversation.

[Pats20]

I’m not sure I would even want an expert in my topic. That sounds like double trouble. The mentor is supposed to mentor on composition, format and mechanics. Not so much the subject matter. I had Black, I don’t really recommend him unless you like chicken scratch from top to bottom. He’s very hard to please. On the other hand he always says to call him any time for assistance, if you like doing that sort of thing.

He's hard to please because he is incredibly precise with APA, and wants to help his students be the best possible writers. Because of him, when I went on to my master's degree, I had multiple professors comment on how on-point my APA was, and how concise my writing was. Neither of those would have been the case had I not had Dr. Black. And mind you, I had done a lot of writing, for decades, before having Dr. Black's class.

It really depends on what you are after.  If you want to learn how to write at a graduate level and to deeply understand the importance of clarity in your writing, Dr. Black is an outstanding mentor.  I suppose if one doesn't give a crap and just wants an easy class then he's not the best.  But in my book, it's really a shame to turn down the opportunity to better one's skills.  The assistance he offers by phone is awesome, and he is literal that it can be any time; one of my friends who also took his class needed to talk to him and the only time was when he got off work at midnight CA time.  Dr. Black is in NC, and told him to go ahead and call him at 3am!  They had a great and helpful conversation.

Hmmm. Gotcha. It wasn’t easy and I got an A. So I guess I got the best of both. A hard A. 

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I’m not sure I would even want an expert in my topic. That sounds like double trouble. The mentor is supposed to mentor on composition, format and mechanics. Not so much the subject matter. I had Black, I don’t really recommend him unless you like chicken scratch from top to bottom. He’s very hard to please. On the other hand he always says to call him any time for assistance, if you like doing that sort of thing.

He's hard to please because he is incredibly precise with APA, and wants to help his students be the best possible writers. Because of him, when I went on to my master's degree, I had multiple professors comment on how on-point my APA was, and how concise my writing was. Neither of those would have been the case had I not had Dr. Black. And mind you, I had done a lot of writing, for decades, before having Dr. Black's class.

It really depends on what you are after.  If you want to learn how to write at a graduate level and to deeply understand the importance of clarity in your writing, Dr. Black is an outstanding mentor.  I suppose if one doesn't give a crap and just wants an easy class then he's not the best.  But in my book, it's really a shame to turn down the opportunity to better one's skills.  The assistance he offers by phone is awesome, and he is literal that it can be any time; one of my friends who also took his class needed to talk to him and the only time was when he got off work at midnight CA time.  Dr. Black is in NC, and told him to go ahead and call him at 3am!  They had a great and helpful conversation.

Hmmm. Gotcha. It wasn’t easy and I got an A. So I guess I got the best of both. A hard A. 

I didn’t notice where you recommended him or I would’ve refrained from my opinion.

[bjcheung77]

Your capstone doesn't have to be in the degree you're going for, so for example, you're going for the BALS with no concentration, it can be any subject matter that interest you most, you're basically following the capstone requirements for completing rubrics. You need to plan accordingly to the assignments and follow through with discussions, drafts, etc and compile your course content... If you have questions, always get in contact with the prof, and if something comes up in life, you want to extend that class...

[frankc]

James Cody was great, with quick feedback and a quick turn-around time on home works.