Here are the guidelines for the Capstone Essay/Final Paper:
The Capstone Essay is the final assignment turned in as part of BHSV 490: Internship III and Capstone Seminar. Its purpose is to provide a culminating reflection about what it means for you to be a human services professional with a degree.
Students completing the Bachelors degree in Human Services are expected to demonstrate the following:
1. An understanding of, and the ability to practice the asset approach when working as a professional human services provider.
2. An understanding of how an interdisciplinary approach that includes the study of human services, psychology and sociology together can guide and inform human service practice.
3. An ability to actually apply human services knowledge, skills and professional ethics via experiences provided in three internships.
4. An understanding of how changing socio-economic conditions today are redefining the helping professions and human services.
Your Human Services Capstone Essay should answer the question “How would you describe yourself as a human services professional?” by connecting your internship experiences to program course work. The essay should include a discussion of the following:
1. How you apply the Asset Approach in your human service practice.
2. How concepts and theories from the disciplines of human services, psychology and sociology have helped guide and inform your human service practice. (Be sure to give at least one specific example from each academic discipline.)
3. How changing socio-economic conditions today are redefining the helping professions and human services.
4. In addition to the essay you should also include a 1 page summary or abstract of the key points of your essay in your portfolio.
