Eight students completed their Capstone course this semester, participating in three Idaho municipal research projects – two for McCall and one for Bellevue. Each of the projects addressed a question currently under review in city government. What is the impact of the short-term rental market on McCall? What are the cost, liability and water delivery impacts to Bellevue if a whitewater wave park is built on the Big Wood River? What is the impact of illegal fireworks to McCall?
Capstone classes represent the culmination of graduate work. Idaho Policy Institute (IPI) Assistant Research Professor, Dr. Cheong Kim, supervised projects assigned to this semester’s Master’s of Public Administration students. Students worked independently on the research, which included a review of current Idaho policy impacting the subject, data collection from similar cities with like concerns, phone interviews and/or surveys. The approach to data collection varied by project and in each case, the students included relevant data in a final report to their respective city.
Each report also included a summary with recommendations. These recommendations derived from the data students collected and included the pros and cons inherent in action. Students were responsible for every aspect of report production but interacted regularly with Dr. Kim for guidance on research design and analysis.
Kim joined Boise State in 2014 and this is his first experience directing the Capstone class. “I really enjoyed overseeing the class,” said Kim, “The students were impressive – they were excited about doing research that has the potential to make a positive impact on the real world. Seeing their excitement was very fulfilling.”
Emily Burns, Melinda Gauthier-Baderman, Aaron Gunderson, Summer Hirschfield, Kevin Holmes, Haley Robinson, Gabriel Stephens and Angie Zirschky presented their projects to IPI Assistant Director Vanessa Fry December 6 and will be forwarding their final reports to the cities by mid-December.