Capstone

Problem solving in the real world is how EMPSA students culminate their time at The Bush School with a two-semester long group project. This opportunity provides students with experience applying curriculum skills to a real problem by working for a client. Through the guidance of a Bush School faculty supervisor, the Capstone cohort creates a formal paper and an oral presentation for the benefit of the client. 

Research Question

As part of an exploration to fund their rapidly growing infrastructure needs and highly limited financial resources, The City of Amarillo sought to determine if impact fees were a viable finance option for their infrastructure needs, and if so, to what extent the impact fees would assist in budgeting for the development.

At the time of our research, Amarillo knew it needed to fight a funding source for infrastructure development, but they did not know how to approach the predicament.  Development impact fees are charged to developers to fund the City's construction of roads, storm drainage, waste water and water infrastructure in new developments. Impact fees were seen by one city official as a potential solution, and we were tasked with uncovering the feasibility of their usage.

Research Process

We used a variety of data from two different data collecting techniques to analyze this problem. Our course of action was split into two parts, one qualitative and one quantitative:

• Literature Review: Our in-depth research uncovered the history of infrastructure funding across Texas as well as various court cases involving impact fees. Much of the literature review centered on Texas Local Government Code Chapter 395, the law that dictates how impact fees in Texas can be implemented and used. We learned that Chapter 395 must be followed precisely in the implementation and collection of impact fees. The literature also told us that infrastructure funding is a huge problem across Texas and most of America as systems and technologies that were deemed to last for decades have failed to reach that mark leading to a lack of financial planning at national, state, and local levels. The Texas cities that implement impact fees have a stable GDP growth rate of 2-3% annually and an annual population increase of at least 1% annually.

• Survey: Our team created a user-friendly survey using Qualtrics for optimal accuracy in data collection. From the survey results, we drafted questions to help us learn the need for impact fees, the practical process for implementing them, and the implications of choosing to implement them. The team entered the questions into Qualtrics in a manner that allowed a participant's response to a question guide them to the next question. This process allowed us to gain as much information as possible from the participants without them answering questions that were superfluous. In an effort to have as much participation as possible, team members wrote emails to the selected individuals before the survey was sent to them to inform them of our project and inviting them to participate in the survey when it was sent by Qualtrics. A few days after the survey was sent, follow up emails and phone calls were made by the team to those who had not yet responded.  Ultimately, we received a 44% response rate to the survey, and the information we collected was crucial in our analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of development impact fees. We credit our high response rate to the detailed process we followed in designing and conducting the survey. 

Capstone Reflection

The Capstone process was truly a highlight of my time at The Bush School. I felt I was able to combine my expertise as an educator with the course work I had completed to guide my team to completing a successful project. Project management is a skill I enjoy utilizing, and Capstone was a perfect opportunity to exercise it. We had to create work flow timelines that fit within the overall timeline of the combined semesters while realizing how long each element of the project would take.

I also enjoyed the challenge of managing a wide range of personalities and work styles. With the average age of our team being about 45 and everyone holding management positions in their careers, it was intriguing to learn how to break long-standing work habits that weren't beneficial to our project. Utilizing Google Calendar, hosting regular Zoom calls with the team leaders, and interfacing with Dr. Nakamura on behalf of the team were useful tools in managing the team. 

I was able to adapt my leadership style to meet the needs of each individual, something that was time consuming but worth the effort as our final project was excellent. A few of the team members struggled with knowing where to start on the work they signed up to do. Despite the project break down, these individuals felt overwhelmed with the scope of work, the timeline of a two semester project, and struggled to understand how their individual pieces would fit into the overall project. To strengthen their confidence, I spent time mentoring them one on one and paired them with a research partner to avoid them feeling isolated in the work flow.