Honors Thesis

The format of the thesis is determined by the department. The nature of the oral defense is also based on departmental practices. Some departments require public presentations open to students and faculty, while others may opt for a defense to an Honors Thesis Committee consisting of two or more faculty members. Please contact your department's Honors Coordinator for more information.

Students will be given instructions from the Honors Program on how to register for the appropriate section of IDS 395.

Purpose

  • To allow students to engage in an intensive research project related to issues in their major discipline.
  • To earn Honors credit hours.
  • To encourage interaction between Honors students and faculty.
  • To fulfill the requirements for the Certificate in University Honors and the University Honors Scholar designations and to support Departmental Honors requirements

Expectations

The Honors Thesis culminates in a comprehensive written report describing the research project. An oral defense of the thesis is also required. Contact the Departmental Honors Coordinator regarding expectations for format of the Thesis and details about the expectations for the oral defense.

Students may earn 1 - 6 hours of credit. No more than a total of 9 credits of 299 and IDS 395 can be applied toward graduation.

Procedures

The student contacts a faculty member to see if he or she would be willing to supervise an Honors Thesis.

The student writes a description of the proposal that he or she and the faculty supervisor agree upon. The proposal description should include a description of the proposed research, evaluation criteria, and due dates. The number of credit hours the student will receive must also be indicated (i.e., 1 – 6 credits). In addition, the student should indicate the appropriate decimal for their major on the form and add the name of the major to the course title on the Honors Thesis contract.

Proposals must be approved by the faculty supervisor, as well as the Department Chair.

The Honors Program gives the student a permit to register for this course (course number IDS 395.xx) upon approval of the Thesis Contract. THE STUDENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR REGISTERING FOR THIS COURSE ONCE THE PERMIT HAS BEEN ADDED.

The Honors Thesis Contract is to be returned to the Honors Office by the 15th day of the semester. The white copy is to be returned to the Honors Office, the green copy is for Records, yellow is for the Department, pink is for the Faculty Supervisor, and goldenrod is for the student.

Evaluation

After the student and faculty supervisor have agreed upon a proposal, the Honors Program reviews the contract for incomplete information. If information is missing, the student will be contacted in order to complete the contract.

At the end of the semester, the student’s faculty supervisor turns the student’s grade into the Honors Program.