UB Curriculum Capstone (UBC 399) is your culminating general education requirement. It is a one-credit course in which you will work in the UBLearns Portfolio tool, with the support of your Capstone instructor, to create a reflective and integrative Capstone ePortfolio based on your UB Curriculum coursework and lived experiences outside of the classroom.
You will create your Capstone ePortfolio using the UBLearns Portfolio tool. More information about the tool will be provided when your course begins.
We recommend that in advance of registering for the Capstone, students begin to select coursework samples and archive your work in UB Box as you proceed through the UB Curriculum coursework. With the Capstone instructor’s guidance and support, you will create the Capstone ePortfolio in a step-by-step process throughout the term. The instructor will periodically review sections of the portfolio and provide you with constructive feedback. You are required to successfully complete UBC 399 to be eligible for graduation.
You will review the courses you have taken to fulfill UB Curriculum requirements and critically reflect on your learning in each course. During this process, you will select at least one course “artifact” to represent an important aspect of your learning in the course. This artifact is placed in your Capstone ePortfolio, along with a short criteria statement that describes the purpose for including this particular piece of work and the aspect of learning it demonstrates.
You will integrate the knowledge and experiences from your Pathways into a meaningful, cross-disciplinary body of knowledge through completion of two integrative essays: one for your Thematic Pathway and one for your Global Pathway.
You can register for UBC 399 once you have either completed or are registered for all other UB Curriculum requirements. The UB Seminar is a pre-requisite for UBC 399. Make sure that you have used the Path Finder Tool to select and save your Pathway courses to HUB. Once your Academic Advising Report (AAR) shows that all areas of the UB Curriculum — with the exception of the Capstone — are satisfied, you can register for UBC 399. If you are not yet Capstone-ready, your registration for UBC 399 will be blocked.
UBC 399 is offered in fall, winter, spring and summer. Students who do not successfully complete the Capstone on their first attempt will be directed to repeat it in any subsequent term.
You can register once you have completed the UB Seminar and have completed or are concurrently enrolled in the remaining UB Curriculum courses. Ineligible students are blocked from registering.
Follow instructions on the Office of the Registrar’s website to resign from UBC 399 (registrar.buffalo.edu/registration/howtoregister/drop-add-resign.php). You can enroll in any future section of the Capstone, including summer and winter session.
UBC 399 is taught virtually via UBPortfolio powered by UB Learns and involves weekly online activities that support the creation of your Capstone ePortfolio. You should plan for at least three hours of engagement with course activities and assignments each week. Instructors will provide in-person and virtual office hours each week.
The Capstone requires you to examine your course experiences. Toward that end, you will need to save “artifacts,” which are representative examples of coursework from your general education classes. For example, perhaps you wrote a particularly meaningful paper for your ENG105 course, or completed a significant lab assignment from your Scientific Literacy course. Ultimately, you should preserve any important coursework you feel was especially relevant to you. The easiest way to do this is using UB Box. As you complete your UB Curriculum requirements, you can select artifacts and add them to your UB Box drive for preservation. Then, when you take the Capstone, you will have them available for easy recall.
You should refer to the Transfer Credit Report (TCR) and the Academic Advising Report (AAR) to determine how transfer work articulates to UB Curriculum requirements. Your Capstone instructor will work with you individually to help you make appropriate connections between your transfer work and the UB Curriculum program.