General Overview
Purpose and Vision
The capstone project should incorporate two of the three Camras Pillars: research, service, and leadership. This ensures that the capstone project is designed to give back to the community regardless of the subject matter. These projects are intended to last one year, and provide the option for scholars to build upon it in future years or to decide to undertake a completely new project. Scholars are able to participate in a project toward the Pillar Society each year that they remain at Illinois Tech as a Camras scholar.
Benefit
There is a direct benefit to the scholar for partaking in this program. Over the course of the year, students will grow intellectually and professionally while working on this project, which takes place outside of their coursework. They will receive recognition upon completion, and also have the opportunity to talk about their accomplishments in the program for professional interviews and graduate school applications. As the program grows, there is also the potential for scholars who have already completed a capstone project to guide students who are participating in it for the first time.
There is also a benefit that allows scholars to give back to their peers and the community regardless of which two pillars they decide to work on. In addition, this is a great opportunity for professional development to add to resumes as well as discuss in job interviews and graduate school applications.
Team or Individual Effort
This project can be done on your own or with a team of other scholars/students. You do not need to decide right away, and can be figured out during the planning phases. If you would like assistance and to work with a team and do not already have people to work with, the executive board can facilitate getting other scholars involved.
Timeline and Time Commitment
Brainstorming phase: The month of September is reserved for applying for the program and brainstorming. Guidelines and assistance will be provided along the way.
Monthly Check-ins: Each month scholars are expected to fill out a capstone update form so that they are held accountable and so that they can get help if needed. In-person meetings are not required.
Presentation at the end of the year: At the end of the academic year, there will be an opportunity to present the work done for the project. More information will be provided during the spring semester.
- Podium Pros: A student organization on campus to help practice and build confidence with public speaking. A large focus of the club is about learning tips that students can practice when in front of the Podium during club meetings, but also providing “homework” that students can take back to work on to further improve their public speaking abilities.
- AFSP Out of the Darkness Walk: Host a walk and multiple informational sessions with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to spread awareness and create a safe space for discussing mental health issues.
- Quiz Bowl: The Quiz Bowl team hosts an event annually focused on connecting current Camras Scholars with Alumni. This event includes two rounds of trivia team competitions (where the winners get a prize) followed by networking with the Alumni. The Camras Quiz Bowl is a fun, intriguing, and unifying element of what is the essence of a networking event.
- Paw Friends of IIT: PAWS Chicago is a non- profit shelter in the city that needs our help! Every month a group goes and assists wherever they need us most. We are often involved in preparing enrichment activities, washing dishes, and socializing the dogs.
- Digital Literacy at Pershing Elementary: Educate elementary to middle school students with how to navigate basic computer functions (file management and office), online safety, and digital footprint awareness alongside introducing them to useful online resources.
- Friends of the Chicago River IIT: Friends of the Chicago River is a non-profit organization solely focused on the health of the river and the community surrounding it. With a hand in almost every area, they have programs involving education and outreach, policy and planning, and on-the-ground projects. The project focuses on bringing Illinois Tech students to the river to pick up litter and be engaged in helping the local community.
- Strategic Defense Seminars: Conduct monthly self-defense seminars to equip the students of IIT with knowledge that can increase their safety and ability to protect themselves. We plan to focus our efforts on teaching women, to circumvent social barriers that prevent women from learning self-defense.
- Research Reach Out: Host lunch seminars to introduce undergraduates to research by having professors with labs talk about their work. Undergraduates will then be able to ask questions regarding the research presented and create a connection with that professor if they are interested.
- Grow Your Roots: The goal of Grow Your Roots is to improve the mental health of Illinois Tech students through providing small plants for them to grow in their dorms or apartments. As a gardener myself, I've noticed the stress relief associated with caring for plants. This project is not a perfect solution to mental health problems among college students, but I believe that the act of gardening on a small scale can greatly benefit the Illinois Tech student body.
- Out of the Darkness Campus Walk: We will host a walk with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to spread awareness and create a safe space for discussing mental health issues.
- Camras Quiz Bowl: Our goal is to assist in the facilitation of a Camras Quiz Bowl event by lending our knowledge related to quiz bowl tournaments, which are team events based on trivia knowledge. Our plans include, but are not necessarily limited to, determining the structure of the game, reformatting existing quiz bowl conventions to accommodate the nature of this event, and relating to the Camras Executive Board the necessary materials. We intend to make sure that the Camras Quiz Bowl will be a fun, intriguing, and unifying element of what is in essence a networking event.
- Podium Pros: Our Pillar Project focuses on building campus inclusivity and helping students work on their public speaking and confidence. We thought the best way that we could do this is through a club that can reach out to every student and become easy to find. Our future plans for the club is to partner with Toastmasters International to help connect students with faculty associated with Illinois Tech and to bring some professional training to students in the club.
- Sharing the Warmth: We have organized a clothing drive in which boxes and signs will be posted around campus for our peers and professors to donate. We aim to collect as many warm clothes as we can for Lincoln Park Community Services homeless shelter. We are both very passionate about giving back to our local community and our way of doing that is sharing warm clothes with those in need!
- World Languages and Cultures Club: Starting a student organization for aspiring students at Illinois Tech who are interested in becoming multilingual and who want to learn about different world cultures. The club aims to bring the campus and the world together in conversation through a wide array of curated cultural events and activities.
- Analysis on the Persisting Effects of Redlining in Chicago Neighborhoods as it relates to Green Infrastructure: This project works to gather qualitative data to survey parts of Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood in surface temperature, CO2 air readings, soil macronutrients and density, and land use. Potentially partnering with Blacks in Green (BIG), the research would be used to detail a green infrastructure plan for the neighborhood, including bureaucratic and private funding sources that can be used to argue for investment in the community.
- Camras Website
- Beyond the Sole
- Mental Health of D3 Athletes
- Developing a Piezoelectric Composite for Urban Sustainability