Capstone Workshops at SIPA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

Capstone Workshops at SIPA COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog The following was composed by John Hughes, a second year MIA student studying Political and Economic Risk Analysis.   Please note that in the past, only MPA students were required to complete a workshop.   Starting with the fall of 2010, all MPA and MIA students will be required to complete a workshop to graduate. _____________________________ This year SIPA has doubled the number of Capstone workshops available to students to 32, assuring that a wide range of students will be able to take a workshop this spring.      MPA students are required to take a workshop as part of their degree, as are concentrators in Economic and Political Development and Energy and Environmental Policy.   With so many workshops on offer this year, however, many students not in one of these groups should also have a chance to participate. The workshops range from one implementing global food security priorities with Booz Allen Hamilton to one looking at how America should deal with non-state terrorist groups for the Center for American Progress.   Each workshop gives students the chance to work directly with a real-world client, is limited to six students, and is assigned a faculty advisor to help facilitate interaction between the group and the client.   Thus, students have an amazing opportunity to work on a real project for a client in an intimate setting, ensuring that each has a chance to interact with the sponsor.   For a list of this year’s workshops check out this link: http://sipa.columbia.edu/academics/workshops/projects.html#core The Economic and Political Development (EPD) and Energy and Environmental Policy (EEP) concentrations, as mentioned, have their own set of workshops, separate from the list above.    This gives students in these concentrations the opportunity to choose from a number of workshops directly related to their field. The EPD workshops, in particular, are always highly regarded, as they give EPD students the opportunity to go abroad for a couple weeks to work in the field.   Many EPD students cite the workshop as the highlight of their SIPA education, providing them with valuable field experience that gives them a leg up when applying for development positions.   For more information on the EPD workshops check out this link: http://sipa.columbia.edu/academics/concentrations/epd/workshop.html