GLOBAL DESIGN TEAMS -GDT- Service Learning for Community Building

The Senior Capstone Experience

Become INVOLVEDStudents: undergraduate seniors from most FAFS disciplines are eligible.Faculty: are sought as advisors, teachers, consultants.Community Stakeholders: companies, industries, NGOs, and interested persons are invited to present a challenge, sponsor a team, engage on a topic of specific interest.

The capstone class at the Faculty of Agricultural & Food

Sciences (FAFS) of the American University of Beirut (AUB) spans two semesters

(fall & spring), during which students gain experience in addressing real world challenges,

such as those they will encounter in the workplace, following graduation. Sponsors

from industry, community, and academia pose challenges for which teams of students from

multiple FAFS’ programs partner to provide comprehensive, inter-disciplinary solutions.

FAFS Global Design Teams (FAFS-GDT)

Throughout two semesters of the capstone project, FAFS students from multiple

departments use their complementary skills to address the project challenge posed by the

sponsor, usually in the areas of sustainable agriculture and food systems. FAFS student

teams meet regularly with their partners using email, video conferences, and travel, as deemed

necessary, during both semesters. Students consult with key stakeholders to define and

understand the project needs, limitations, and deliverables .Assigned advisors, graduate

students, or research assistants mentor each student team. The team designs and delivers effective solutions that are cognizant of local constraints on budget, culture, and capacity.

Contact:Dr. Maya Nabhani | Director of Continuous Academic Improvement | 01-350000, ext. 4406 | www.aub.edu.lb/fafs/GTD

Elements of the FAFS-GDT•Logistical Support – provided by partner institutions; can be academic, Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGOs), Ministries, industries, businesses, community groups, other.•FAFS–AUB Support – shared with partnering organizations, includes financial

assistance and logistical arrangements.•Experiential hands-on learning – that develops useful career skills and provides

real world life and work experience.•Social Responsibility – is a key element, both civic responsibility and community

engagement.•Reciprocity – students and community partner, sharing time, creativity, and

knowledge to address real problems and provide workable solutions.•Needs Based – the stakeholder sponsors identify the challenges.•Critical Thinking – solutions are creative and effective.•Quality Control – through on-going assessment of community needs and

evaluation of progress in addressing them

Sponsors of the FAFS-GDTFAFS GDTs draw upon the technical skills and competencies of the partnering students, employees, academic staff, community sponsors, and volunteers to achieve positive, sustainable interaction that addresses the specific challenges presented for the mutual benefit of all. All the participants are engaged and work together to achieve the project goals. Each team comprises students, faculty advisors, community and industrial sponsors. Each team member contributes time, expertise, and financial support toward the success of the project.

Objectives of the FAFS-GDT•Support community building through student experiential learning •Effective deployment of resources•Empower and enable student success•Student learning and data gathering through informational interviews, focus groups, surveys•Practical solutions to real-life challenges

Project TimelineSUMMER: Contact the Capstone Coordinator: Initial contact with the Capstone Coordinator happens at any time prior to the beginning of the fall semester, preferably during the summer months. To begin the conversation, sponsors send a brief statement of the proposed project, including its purpose and feasibility.

FALL Semester•Early August: Conceptual Design: Sponsor and FAFS faculty

identify the concept and confirm it as a potential project for the coming year.

•Late August: Draft of the Project Deliverables: Assigned FAFS Faculty provides a one page description of the proposed deliverables to the Sponsor for approval and feedback.

•Early October: Project Assignment: Potential projects are presented to students, who declare their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices of projects. The Capstone coordinator assigns student teams.

•Mid November: Meet the team: The first direct contact between sponsor, team members, and faculty advisor(s) is a classroom meeting to identify specific project deliverables and needs.

•Early December: In-Class Student Presentation: The team presents the design plan to the sponsors (frontally or virtually) for feedback.

•Exam Week and Winter Break (No Classes)

SPRING Semester•Early January: Get Started: literature review, brain storming

for possible solutions, initiate hands-on work•Early April: Submit Final Design: students visit sponsors for

this presentation.

CAPSTONE EVENT Poster Symposium: (early May) in a public event, students present their summary posters to sponsors, faculty, and guests. Students present, explain, and celebrate their experience.

TAMU - AUB capstone team won first place in the 2018 Biological & Agricultural Engineering Capstone Event. Their design challenge was to treat the 30,000 gallons of wastewater produced daily at the UN Refugee camp in Sidon (expected to become the campus of Al Imam Al Ouzai University after the 1,500 Syrian refugees are re-settled)

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