Honors Program, Ethel Waddell Githiil

Senior Thesis Guidelines
(revised August 2008)

1. THESIS FORMAT

A certain thesis format is required of all majors irrespective of the sponsoring department. These requirements are as follows:

• all theses should be bound; you can have this done at no cost to you in the basement of Rockefeller Hall in the Administrative Support Services Office,
• all theses should be accompanied by an abstract;
• all theses should contain a title page,
• all theses should contain a bibliography, and
• all theses should be double-spaced

2. THESES FORMAT STANDARDS SET BY THE VARIOUS ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES

Each academic department should set standards of evaluation and thesis quality and develop procedures to enforce them. This includes:

• the determination of the thesis length
• the determination of footnote style (is appropriate);
• the determination of the number of hours to be awarded for the thesis; and
• the determination of the point in time in a major when the student should begin her thesis and the period of time provided the student for completing it (subject to the deadlines of the Honors Program). The thesis is due in the Honors Program office in May of the year the senior is graduating.

3. MECHANICS OF THESIS SUBMISSION AND DEADLINES

• Upon approval of the thesis topic, the Thesis Advisor is to complete and sign the Honors Thesis Proposal Registration Form. This form requests general background information on the student and her thesis subject. After completing and signing the form, the Thesis Advisor is to forward it to the Chairperson of the major department in which the thesis requirements are being completed. The Department Chairperson is to sign the form and send it to the Director of the Honors Program by October 15.

4. DEADLINES

• The Thesis Proposal Registration Form must be received by the Director of the
  Honors Program within thirty days after the approval of the student's honors thesis topic. Submit signed registration form no later than October 15.
  
• The Thesis and Honors Thesis Approval forms must be received by the Thesis
  Advisor by April 10.
  
• The Thesis and Honors Thesis Final Approval form must be received by the Department Chairperson by April 17.
  
• By May 1, the Honors Thesis Final Approval form must be received by the Director of the Honors Program. The copy of the approval form forwarded to the Director of the Honors Program should be attached to the completed and bound thesis.

5. STUDENTS IN DOUBLE MAJORS OR INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS

• The Honors student who is in a double major or interdisciplinary program is to be permitted to write a discipline-basis thesis in the major department of her choice.
• For the departments in which the thesis in not being done and which has a thesis requirement for all majors in that department, a copy of the thesis will be sent to that department. In addition, that department can elect to impose additional course work up to four hours to replace the hours lost as a result of the student completing the thesis in her other major department.
• Students who choose to write a thesis that is interdisciplinary in nature, may add appropriate faculty from other relevant departments to supplement the thesis evaluation committee within the department in which they complete the thesis requirement.

DOWNLOAD:

HONORS THESIS FINAL APPROVAL FORM (PDF)
THESIS REGISTRATION FORM (PDF)
SENIOR THESIS TOPICS (PDF)