Skip to main content

Undergraduate students completing their Junior year with a 3.7 cumulative gpa at the end of the spring term are eligible to request candidacy for Graduation with Honors and to propose Honors Thesis Research.

Proposals

The Honors Thesis proposal should be a full statement of the topic, the scope of the study, the methodology, and the materials to be used in the research. Proposals should be approximately five pages long, including the reading list. The proposal is a demonstration of a commitment to an extensive study, so it should be developed in close consultation with the faculty supervisor. An initial proposal should be prepared at the end of the spring term, and refined in reading and research in the summer months. The Academic Standards Committee now expects that proposals will be submitted for review at the end of the spring term prior to the fall registration for Honors Research or, at least prior to the first week of fall semester classes.

Schedules and Expectations

While the proposal is being developed, the faculty supervisor and the candidate should agree upon a schedule of meetings, target dates for the submission of interim reports or preparatory papers or chapters of the study, and the expected date of submission of the near-final copy of the thesis to be defended. This continues the progress of the study and prevents misunderstandings about the scope and direction of the study. Revisions may be completed well before the thesis defense if a near-final copy is available to the supervisor and the Second Reader in March. The student must defend before the last day of classes in the spring term.

Criteria

The Academic Standards Committee recommends that the faculty supervisor inform the candidate of the criteria to be used in evaluating interim papers or chapters and the completed thesis. In general, the Committee believes that an Honors Thesis should demonstrate the student's capacity for quality research and should give evidence of mastery of the material. More important than any general standard is the mutually accepted understanding of the criteria to be used by the faculty supervisor in evaluating all of the work of the candidate.

The Second Reader and the Thesis Defense

The thesis should be examined and defended before the Faculty Supervisor and the Second Reader before the end of scheduled classes in the spring term. The Committee recommends that the Second Reader be involved early in the study, preferably early enough to be named as a reader when the proposal is submitted for review and surely no later than the March submission of the near-final draft. The faculty supervisor and the candidate should discuss the defense in advance, particularly clarifying the role of the supervisor as advocate or as critic of the paper, the role of the Second Reader, and expectations of the scope of the defense.

Grades and Honors

Candidates for Honors should be aware that the Faculty Supervisor must make two judgments about the completed thesis research: what grade is appropriate, and does it merit Graduation with Honors? While those evaluations tend to be symmetrical, it is possible that thesis research earning a superior grade does not, in the assessment of the faculty supervisor, warrant Graduation with Honors.

Expenses and Funds

A small fund of money is available to assist with some of the costs of research, including travel and duplicating costs. The Academic Standards Committee reviews requests for these funds and decides upon equitable allocations based on estimates before the expenses are incurred.

Signatures and Approvals

The Honors Thesis Research proposal submitted to the Academic Standards and Scholarships Committee should be accompanied by the

Honors_Thesis_Signature_Form.doc

which has the signatures of the applicant, the supervising faculty member, and the Chairperson of the faculty member's department. Those signatures attest to the signatories' common understanding of the scope of the study, the commitments of time necessary to complete and to supervise the research, and the faculty member's judgment that the applicant has the ability to complete the proposed study in a satisfactory manner.

Grades and Eligibility

Candidates for Graduation with Honors are required to maintain a minimum gpa of 3.7 during both of the semesters in which they are conducting research and writing the thesis. If a candidate drops below 3.7, eligibility for Graduation with Honors ends. The supervising Faculty member must then determine if the research done to that point is sufficient to qualify for four credits per semester of Independent Study (ILR 4990).