Syllabus

DSW 821 – Doctoral Capstone Project Seminar I (Fall 2026)

Credits - 3

Description

This is the first of two doctoral project seminar courses designed to support and advance students in their journey to implement their doctoral research project.

Materials

Dedoose www.dedoose.com or another qualitative data analysis software.

Students will need to purchase a monthly subscription to  Dedoose when they are prepared to analyze their data.

DeCarlo, M., Cummings, C., & Agnelli, K. (2021, August 23). Graduate research methods in social work: A project-based approach. Graduate Research Methods in Social Work. 

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

DSW Core Expertise and Skills

  1. Advance practice through innovative approaches
  2. Use and critically evaluate research and knowledge
  3. Engage in scientific inquiry that reflects doctoral-level scholarship
  4. Develop and disseminate practice-relevant, research-informed knowledge through a variety of channels such as scholarship
  5. Provide leadership in social work practice and/or education
  6. Develop and Maintain Substantive Expertise in One or More Areas of Social Work

Assignments

Discussion Boards

  • Discussions boards are available as ongoing collaboration spaces where scholar-practitioners can ask questions, seek feedback, and support peers as they move through the DSW Research Project.

Proposed Timeline

  • Scholar-practitioners will submit a proposed timeline that will map projected or completed dates for major research tasks, including IRB approval, participant recruitment, data collection, and data analysis, to support project management and timely progress.

Second Committee Member Identification

  • Scholar-practitioners will begin identifying a potential second committee member whose expertise or interests will support and strengthen the DSW Research Project.

Second Committee Member Finalized

  • Scholar-practitioners will submit the finalized second committee member name and contact information. The second committee member should be connected to UNE, doctorally prepared, hold a social work degree, and be available to support the project through the findings presentation, paper review, defense, and final deliverable stages.

Senior Advising Meetings

  • Recurring Senior Advising Meetings will provide structured check-ins with the Senior Advisor to review progress, document milestones, identify next steps, and maintain the Senior Advisor Meeting Form and meeting log.

DSW Research Project Evaluations

  • The DSW Research Project Evaluation will be completed with the Senior Advisor and Second Committee member to document progress toward research milestones, note barriers or challenges, and establish a plan for continued progress.

Reflection Journals

  • APA-formatted reflection journals will ask scholar-practitioners to reflect on the current stage of the project, challenges or barriers, anticipated completion of the current step, and the support needed from the Senior Advisor. Journals should be at least one page, double-spaced, and written in APA format.

Findings Presentation Check List

  • The Findings Presentation Check List will prepare scholar-practitioners for the committee presentation by organizing themes and subthemes, linking findings to literature and practice, representing participant voice through direct quotes, and noting reflexivity, positionality, and ethical considerations.

Findings Presentation

  • The Findings Presentation will be a committee-facing presentation of research findings using the course template and approval form. The presentation should demonstrate clear themes, connections to literature and practice, readiness to respond to committee questions, and ethical, culturally responsive inquiry.

Draft Paper Sections

  • Draft paper sections will build the publishable paper through staged submissions that will include a findings outline, a draft findings section, a draft research methodology section, and a draft introduction and literature review. Drafts should align with the selected scholarly journal and demonstrate doctoral-level critical thinking, scholarly writing, and appropriate AI citation when AI is used.

Final Project Timeline

  • The Final Project Timeline will map the remaining steps for completion of the publishable paper, presentation of research to the DSW UNE community, and final project deliverable in DSW 822.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

AssignmentPointsTotal
Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement Quiz11
Week 1 Proposed Timeline11
Week 1 Second Committee Member Outreach 11
Week 2 Senior Advising Meeting77
Week 3 Reflection Journal77
Week 3 Second Committee Member Finalized 22
Week 4 DSW Research Project Evaluation 77
Week 5 Reflection Journal 77
Week 6 Senior Advising Meeting 77
Week 7 Reflection Journal 77
Week 8 DSW Research Project Evaluation 77
Week 9 Reflection Journal 77
Week 10 Senior Advising Meeting77
Week 10 Findings Presentation Check List11
Week 11 Findings Presentation1515
Week 12 DSW Research Project Evaluation77
Week 14 Senior Advisor Meeting44
Week 15 DSW Research Project Evaluation33
Week 16 Final Project Timeline22
100

This course is pass/fail.

Schedule

Fall Term Dates: September 2 – December 18, 2026

Course weeks run from 12:00 AM ET on Monday through 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, with the exception of Week 1, which starts on Wednesday and Week 16, which ends on Friday.

Week 1: Wednesday – Sunday
Week 2: Monday – Sunday
Week 3: Monday – Sunday
Week 4: Monday – Sunday
Week 5: Monday – Sunday
Week 6: Monday – Sunday
Week 7: Monday – Sunday
Week 8: Monday – Sunday
Week 9: Monday – Sunday
Week 10: Monday – Sunday
Week 11: Monday – Sunday
Week 12: Monday – Sunday
Week 13: Monday – Sunday
Week 14: Monday – Sunday
Week 15: Monday – Sunday
Week 16: Monday – Friday

Week 1: Research, Integrity, & Ethics

  • Acknowledgment of Academic Engagement
  • Discussion: Introduction (no response required)
  • IRB Proposal Application and Approval
  • Proposed Timeline
  • Second Committee Member Outreach

Week 2: Participant Recruitment

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Senior Advisor Meeting

Week 3: Participant Recruitment Continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Reflection Journal
  • Second Committee Member Identification

Week 4: Participant Recruitment Continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Senior Advisor Meeting
  • DSW Research Project Evaluation

Week 5: Data Collection

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Reflection Journal

Week 6: Data Collection Continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Senior Advisor Meeting

Week 7: Data Collection Continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Reflection Journal

Week 8: Data Collection Continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Senior Advisor Meeting
  • DSW Research Project Evaluation

Week 9: Data Transcription and Analysis

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Reflection Journal

Week 10: Data Transcription and Analysis Continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration (optional)
  • Senior Advisor Meeting
  • Findings Presentation Check List

Week 11: Findings Presentation

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration
  • Findings Presentation

Week 12: Preparing your Publishable Paper: Findings

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration
  • Senior Advisor Meeting
  • Findings Draft Part 1 (Outline)
  • DSW Research Project Evaluation

Week 13: Preparing your Publishable Paper: Findings continued

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration
  • Draft Findings Section

Week 14: Preparing your Publishable Paper: Research Methodology

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration
  • Senior Advisor Meeting
  • Draft Research Methodology

Week 15: Preparing your Publishable Paper: Introduction & Literature Review

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration
  • Draft Introduction & Literature Review
  • DSW Research Project Evaluation

Week 16: Next Steps

  • Discussion: DSW Research Project Collaboration
  • Final Project Timeline

 

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Social Work page

UNE Libraries:

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.

ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.

Career Ready Program

The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!

The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.

Policies

Essential Academic and Technical Standards

Please review the essential academic and technical standards of the University of New England School Social Work (SSW): https://online.une.edu/social-work/academic-and-technical-standards-une-online-ssw/

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Artificial Intelligence Use Policy

The DSW program acknowledges that using generative AI can be both helpful and potentially harmful in scholarly writing. It is unclear at this time what the impact of AI use might have on the ability to be published or engage in scholarly platforms. In alignment with UNE’s stance on AI use, the DSW program encourages scholar-practitioners to acclimate themselves to ethical and appropriate use of AI. Scholar-practitioners are required to disclose the use of AI for all assignments in the program during submission through citation (in alignment with many scholarly publications and CSWE) and publication notes. Assignments in the DSW program that require the use of generative AI will be labeled as such, with specific instructions. The use of AI for discussion posts is never permitted (including, but limited to, Grammarly) as discussion forums are meant to mimic live conversations. Scholar-practitioners who are suspected of generative AI use, without citation, will be asked to have a conversation with their instructor to discuss AI use and to share their process and/or demonstrate their process. Failure to do so will result in a zero on the assignment.

Publication Note Example: Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the writing process. Please outline the tool used (name, version, company), purpose, and confirm human review.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Confidentiality Statement

Student and faculty participation in this course will be governed by standards in the NASW Code of Ethics relating to confidentiality in sharing information from their placement sites and practice experiences. Students should be aware that personal information they choose to share in class, class assignments or conversations with faculty does not have the status of privileged information.

Late Policy

Group or Partner Assignments: Assignments that require partner or group work are expected to be turned in on time. Late group or partner assignments will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made with the course faculty. If you are having difficulties connecting with your partner or group members, it is your responsibility to connect with the course faculty for support. As a reminder, your ability to collaborate professionally is being assessed continuously throughout the program. If a group member or partner does not complete their section of the project by the deadline, they will receive a 0. This will not impact the other group members/partner’s grade.

Individual Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction from the total points earned per day for the late submission. After three days, the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% per day grade reduction from the total discussion grade. Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please contact your instructor and your student success counselor prior to assignment deadlines if you are not able to meet the timeframes. Arrangements for extensions regarding extenuating circumstances may be considered by the faculty.  It is the student's responsibility to inform instructors of accommodations secured through the Student Access Center.

Attendance Policy

6- to 8-week courses: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

10+ -week courses: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your Enrollment and Retention Counselor if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. Tuition charges may still apply. Students are strongly urged to consult with Student Financial Services, as course withdrawals may affect financial aid or Veterans benefits.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.