Capstone Rubric

Field Experience · Elevator Pitch · Trade Show · Portfolio

The Capstone is 25% of the course grade, split into three separately scored parts — the Elevator Pitch, the Trade Show presentation, and the Portfolio. Each is scored on the course's standard scale: 4 Excellent · 3.5 Approaching Excellent · 3 Meets · 2 Does Not Meet · 1 Well Below Standard. Each part is worth roughly 8.3% of the final grade.

How to score these without agonizing
Within each part, score every criterion, then take the average and round to the nearest half-step — that is what 3.5 is for. Do not compute weighted sub-scores; the criteria are equally important on purpose. A student who is a 3 on everything gets a 3, which is exactly right: they met the standard a real audience expects.
Part 1
Elevator Pitch
Black Box stage · 1:30, prepared

Delivered live on the Black Box stage in the Fine Arts Center: a fully prepared 1:30 pitch on themselves and their Field Experience. Nothing to react to and no questions to field — which means this is a clean read on preparation, self-knowledge, and stage presence. Students prep it with the Pitch Prep Sheet.

Criterion 4Excellent 3Meets 2Does Not Meet 1Well Below
Content & SpecificityWhat they actually did Names specific work they owned, with detail only someone who was there could give. A moment, a number, a named task. Clearly describes their placement and real responsibilities. Concrete, not generic. Describes the organization more than their own work. Could be a brochure for the site. Vague throughout. Cannot tell what the student actually did.
Growth & InsightWhat it did to them Names a real change in themselves and what caused it — including a mistake, a correction, or a surprise. Honest, not polished. Identifies something they learned or improved, tied to a specific experience. Generic growth language — "I learned a lot," "it was a great experience" — with nothing behind it. No reflection offered, or contradicts what the rest of the pitch says.
DeliveryVoice, eye contact, presence Composed and genuinely engaging. Eye contact across the room, natural pace, no notes needed. Would hold a hiring manager's attention. Clear, audible, mostly eye contact, minimal filler. Professional. Reads from notes or a phone, rushes, hard to hear, or heavy filler ("um, like, basically"). Inaudible, or reads the whole thing verbatim, or does not finish.
Timing1:30 target Lands within 1:20–1:40 and uses the whole time well. Nothing feels padded or cut. Within 1:15–1:45. Noticeably short (under 1:00) or runs long enough to need cutting off. Under 30 seconds, or so far over that it disrupts the schedule.
Future DirectionWhere it points them Names a concrete next step and ties it directly to what happened at the placement. Includes the honest answer where it applies — confirmed, changed, or ruled out. States clearly whether this confirmed or changed their direction, with a reason. Vague about what comes next, or ends without addressing direction at all. No closing. Trails off, or the ending contradicts the rest of the pitch.
What to watch for when you score these

Because the pitch is fully prepared, weak ones almost always fail in the same two places — and both are fixable in advance if you name them during prep:

Both are cheap to prevent: hear every student's pitch out loud once, at least a week out. A single timed run-through with you catches almost everything the rubric would otherwise punish.

Part 2
Trade Show Presentation
BFAC Lobby · pop-up presentations

Students staff a station in the BFAC Lobby. Guests circulate, and students deliver short pop-up presentations on demand and then take follow-up questions. The skill being tested is different from the pitch: it is repeatability under interruption, and answering people who have no context at all.

Criterion 4Excellent 3Meets 2Does Not Meet 1Well Below
Pop-Up PresentationThe 60–90 sec walkthrough Tailors it to who is standing there — shorter for a passing guest, deeper for someone genuinely interested. Delivers it well the tenth time. Gives a clear, consistent walkthrough of their work every time they are asked. Waits to be asked specific questions instead of presenting, or the walkthrough degrades over the event. Does not present. Guests have to interview the student to learn anything.
Handling QuestionsFrom people with no context Answers confidently, admits the limits of what they know without apologizing, and turns questions into conversation. Answers accurately and in plain language. Asks for clarification when needed. One-word answers, or answers with jargon a guest would not follow, or defers everything to the teacher. Cannot answer basic questions about their own placement.
Station SetupWhat's on the table Deliberately designed. Artifacts arranged to be picked up and discussed, labeled so a guest understands without asking, name and cluster visible from a distance. Organized and complete: name placard, resume, portfolio artifacts, clearly presented. Sparse or disorganized. Missing a placard or resume, or artifacts with no explanation. Essentially bare, or set up after guests arrived.
ProfessionalismDress, presence, stamina Industry-appropriate dress and genuine presence. Engages guests first rather than waiting. Present and attentive the whole event. Professionally dressed, staffs the station throughout, courteous and attentive. Dress below the stated standard, on their phone, sitting when guests approach, or leaves the station unattended. Substantially out of dress code, or largely absent from their station.
Audience AwarenessReading the room Adjusts register naturally for a supervisor, a parent, a sophomore, and an administrator without being told to. Speaks appropriately to adults and peers alike; adapts when asked to. One script regardless of audience, or noticeably informal with adult guests. Disengaged from guests, or inappropriate in tone or content.
Scoring a moving event without a clipboard problem
You cannot watch 14 students continuously. Three things make this workable: (1) circulate with a printed score sheet and mark each student twice at different points in the event — early and late — because stamina is part of what you are measuring. (2) Score Station Setup before doors open, when it is a five-minute walk-around. (3) Recruit two or three of your community partners or the pitch panelists as extra scorers; hand them the same sheet. Their read on "would I hire this person" is more valuable than yours here, and it is the same ask you already make of them at the mock interviews.
Part 3
Portfolio
Full rubric on the Portfolio Guide

The Portfolio is scored on evidence, range, curation, ownership, and professionalism — deliberately not against a fixed checklist, because a welding student and an accounting student should not be bringing the same things. The full rubric and cluster-by-cluster artifact examples live on the Portfolio Guide; the summary is here so all three capstone scores sit on one page.

Criterion 4Excellent 3Meets 2Does Not Meet 1Well Below
Evidence of Real WorkArtifacts from the job Every artifact is something they made, did, or contributed to at the placement. A stranger could see the work itself, not a description of it. Most artifacts come from actual placement work rather than course assignments. Mostly course deliverables — resume, reflections, assignments — with little from the job. No evidence of placement work at all.
RangeMore than one kind of thing Shows several distinct kinds of contribution across the placement — technical work, communication, problem-solving, growth over time. Shows more than one type of contribution. One kind of artifact repeated, or a single project standing in for the whole semester. A single item.
CurationOrganized & labeled Deliberately sequenced and labeled so it reads on its own. Clear why each piece earned its place. Organized and labeled well enough that a guest can follow it with light explanation. Unlabeled or unordered — a pile of artifacts rather than a portfolio. No organization; the student cannot find things when asked.
OwnershipCan they account for it Explains any piece unprompted — what it is, their exact role, what they would do differently. Distinguishes their contribution from the team's without overclaiming. Can explain what each artifact is and what they did on it. Struggles to explain items, or overstates their role. Cannot explain the contents.
ProfessionalismPermission & discretion Permission clearly obtained, confidential material properly handled or excluded, presentation clean enough to hand to an employer as-is. Nothing confidential included; permission obtained for photos; presentation neat. Sloppy presentation, or unclear whether permission was obtained. Includes confidential or identifying information that should not be there.
The one thing that turns this into an automatic conversation
Confidentiality is not a scoring nuance — it is the one place a portfolio can cause real harm. Patient information, client financials, student records, anything under an NDA: if it appears in a portfolio, the score is a 1 on Professionalism and the artifact comes out before the event, not after. Say this explicitly during bootcamp, and again two weeks before the capstone, so no student learns it at their station.

Printable Score Sheet

One per student. Circle a score per criterion, average each part, round to the nearest half-step. The three part scores are the three gradebook entries.

Capstone Score Sheet
Student ______________________ Placement ______________________ Scorer ____________
Part 1 — Elevator Pitch
Content & SpecificityWhat they actually did
4
3.5
3
2
1
Growth & InsightWhat it did to them
4
3.5
3
2
1
DeliveryVoice, eye contact, presence
4
3.5
3
2
1
Timing1:30 target
4
3.5
3
2
1
Future DirectionWhere it points them
4
3.5
3
2
1
Elevator Pitch score  (average, round to nearest half)
Part 2 — Trade Show Presentation
Pop-Up Presentation
4
3.5
3
2
1
Handling Questions
4
3.5
3
2
1
Station SetupScore before doors open
4
3.5
3
2
1
Professionalism
4
3.5
3
2
1
Audience Awareness
4
3.5
3
2
1
Trade Show score
Part 3 — Portfolio
Evidence of Real Work
4
3.5
3
2
1
Range
4
3.5
3
2
1
Curation
4
3.5
3
2
1
Ownership
4
3.5
3
2
1
ProfessionalismConfidentiality breach = automatic 1
4
3.5
3
2
1
Portfolio score
Comments for the student
Enterprise cohort
Enterprise Same three parts, same rubric, in May (week of May 10) instead of December. Two adjustments: the elevator pitch is about the business they built rather than a placement they attended, and the trade show station shows client work and outcomes. The Q4 Review Board folds into the capstone rather than running as a separate session, so the board members present are also your extra scorers.

Related: Portfolio Guide & Artifact Examples · Capstone Details · Grading Policy · Site Observation Rubric