Ho no r s The s i s Gui de l i ne s f o r The s i s Adv i s o r s a nd Se c o nd Re a de r s
OVERVIEW OF THE HONORS THESIS
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All Honors students must complete a year-long Honors Thesis project which is due in the
student’s last semester
Upon its completion, students must pass a thesis presentation with their advisor and a
second reader in attendance
The thesis is to be original and good enough to submit to a graduate school in the
student’s field as a sample of his or her best scholarly work.
The thesis must be a minimum of 25 pages unless an exception is granted by the Dean of
the Honors College.
The thesis may be completed in any field but is most commonly in the student’s major.
Examples of acceptable topics include those that involve laboratory research (sciences);
critical analysis of works of literature, philosophy or art (humanities); research using
original sources or field work (social sciences, marketing); original programming
(computer science); analysis of business practices, laws or standards (accounting,
finance, management); or a creative piece of work (art, poetry, theatre).
The thesis must be completed under the supervision of a faculty thesis advisor in
that field.
Students must obtain academic credit in some form for their thesis work. In order
to do so, students can take one of a number of approaches. One option is to use a
Springboard course, which is designed to produce a thesis. If there is no
Springboard course in the student’s thesis major, the student may get credit for the
thesis through an Independent Study course in that field or by taking HON 499.
HON 499 is a one-credit course that is geared toward the Senior Thesis. For more
information about acceptable courses for the thesis, refer to the List of
Springboard Courses form.
All students must present their thesis at a thesis presentation at the end of their last
semester. At the Thesis Presentation, the student provides an overview of his or her work
in a presentation open to the public in addition to their thesis advisor and a second reader.
Students must pass the thesis presentation in order to pass their thesis. If a student is
asked to make revisions to the thesis, the student has week to revise and submit the
completed thesis to the Honors College.
1 EXPECTATIONS OF THE FACULTY THESIS ADVISOR
F acult y t h e s i s a dvis ors shou ld r e gul ar l y m eet with the stud ent t hro u gho ut the
academic ye a r, eit he r i n a S p r i n g b o a r d cl ass o r in dividu all y. Th e advi s or’ s r oles
are to:
• W ork clos el y with t he stud ent in d eve lopin g a r ese a rch topi c and a pl an for
inv esti gatin g it.
• Dev elo p a timel ine wi th the stud ent , s ettin g both s ho rt -t erm a nd l on g-t e rm
deadlines fo r th e com pletio n o f v ari ous st a ges of t he pr oje ct.
• Assist t he stud ent wit h r es ea rc h m ethods w hen ne c ess ar y.
• Meet r e gul a rl y with t he st ude nt to ev alu at e the pro gr ess of his or he r wor k,
to dis cuss pr obl ems, a nd t o pr ovid e dir ect ion.
• App rov e th e st ude nt’s thesi s a s compl ete a n d sati sf act or y p rior to the Thesis
Presentation.
• P rep a re t h e stud ent fo r th e Thesis Presentation . Th e stud ent mu st b e
prepared t o provi de an ov er vie w of th ei r w ork in a p r e sent ation and to answer
qu estions a s k e d b y th e Faculty Th esi s Ad viso r a n d Second R e a d e r .
• Tak e p a rt in t he Th esi s Pr es ent ation . T he Thesis Ad viso r f a c i l i t a t e s , alon g
with a second reader, a bri e f s chol arl y discussion with th e stu dent. The The sis
Advis or a sse sses th e thesis ; suggests ne ces sa r y re v isions to th e stu de nt ; and
secu res the signatures for the Honors Thesis Assessment Form.
EXPECTATIONS OF THE STUDENT:
To su c ces sfull y c omp lete th e H ono rs Th esis and Th esis P r ese ntati on , th e st ud ent
must wo rk clo sel y wit h a f a c u l t y t hes is advis or (id e all y o ve r th e pe riod o f a ye a r ) .
T he stude nt’s r espo nsibili ties ar e t o:
• Id e ntif y a f a cult y m e mber f rom t hei r fiel d and ask th em i f th e y would be
willing t o s er ve as a t hesis ad viso r . S t ude n ts shoul d s et- u p a me e tin g wit h their
pot enti al advi s or e arl y in th ei r s enio r ye a r (if not at t he e nd of t hei r Junior
year). BHP students are assigned a faculty thesis advisor.
• S t ud ents should notif y th eir a dviso rs of imp ort ant Hon ors Thesis deadlines.
• Enroll in a n ac c epta ble S p rin gbo ard c ours e to s atisf y th eir se nio r thesi s.
• Ea rl y in th e fi rst sem este r of t he stud ent ’s last ye a r, th e stu de nt sh ould meet
with his/h e r th es is ad viso r to de velo p a r es e ar ch t opic a nd a plan fo r
investigating it.
• Meet r e gul a rl y with t hesis ad viso r ov e r th e ye ar to di scu ss th e pr oje ct and
make re vis ion s t o th e thesis as n eed ed.
• Adhere to th e tim elin e dev elop ed with the sis advi sor a nd m eet deadlines provi de d
b y the Ho no rs Coll e ge.
• P ass th e T hesi s P res en tation .
• Submit a bound copy of the final thesis to the Honors
College one-week following the Thesis Presentation.
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