Honors Project Process

Students

The honors project leading to graduation with distinction is a four-semester program of original research directed by faculty in the student’s academic major. The time spent enrolled in an honors project will consist of four semesters, at least three of which shall be in the fall and spring terms.

Eligibility:

• The project must be in the student's major.
• 60 hours must be completed by the start of the first semester of the project, not necessarily at ETBU (this allows transfer students the opportunity to participate).
• The student must have 6 hours completed within the chosen field.
• An overall GPA of 3.50, maintaining a GPA of 3.50 overall, and a 3.75 in the student's major is required.

Time Line:

Initiating the Honors Project

1. Verify your eligibility.
2. Select your honors project supervisor. This should be a faculty member in your academic major.
3. Obtain a first-semester honors project syllabus (See Syllabus on /Academics/honors.htm) and individualize it with your project supervisor.
4. Contact two other faculty members to serve on your honors project committee.

Semester I

1. Register in the first semester of the honors project directed study.
2. With your project supervisor, create a proposal to be submitted to the Honors Committee by April 15th (spring terms) or November 15th (fall terms). See information at the end of this document for proposal requirements.

Semester II

1. Prepare a second semester honors project syllabus in consultation with your project supervisor.
2. Register in second semester honors project directed study.
3. Meet and consult with other members of your Project Committee as needed or as requested by the Project Supervisor.

Semester III

1. Prepare a third semester honors project syllabus in consultation with your Project Supervisor.
2. Register in third semester honors project directed study.
3. Meet and consult with other members of your Project Committee as needed or as requested by the Project Supervisor
4. Prepare a draft document for grading by the Project Committee. This must be turned in to the Project Committee by April 1st (spring terms) or November 1st (fall terms).
5. At the end of the third semester the Project Committee will meet to grade the project on content. The grade must be an "A" or "pass with a grade of 'A' pending corrections," to continue in the Honors Program.

Semester IV

1. Prepare a fourth semester honors project syllabus along with your project supervisor.
2. Register in a one-hour directed study with the Project Supervisor.
3. By February 1st (spring terms) or September 1st (fall terms), the Project Committee will provide the Project Supervisor with a list of content corrections to be completed by the student prior to submission to the University Reader.
4. Submit your corrected project to the Project Supervisor before the deadline for the University Reader (see E. below)
5. The Project Supervisor will submit a corrected copy of the completed paper to the University Reader by February 15th (spring term) or September 15th (fall term).
6. A presentation will be scheduled by the Project Supervisor (if needed).
7. By March 15th (spring terms) or October 15th (fall terms), the University Reader will provide the Project Supervisor with a list of corrections and will designate each project as approved, or approved pending corrections.
8. If corrections are needed, you will make them and submit the corrected project to the Project Supervisor no later than April 1st (spring terms) or November 1st (fall terms). The Project Supervisor will submit the completed paper to the Honors Committee.
9. The Honors Committee will verify that the process is complete and that all of the criteria for the project have been met.
10. The Honors Committee will then file the completed project electronically in Microsoft Word, PDF, or other acceptable format with the Office of Academic Affairs. All projects for the academic year will be archived on a CD at the end of the year.
11. You may celebrate.

Proposal Requirements:

• The formal written proposal should include the following:
• Review of literature or annotated bibliography.
• As applicable within discipline, one of the following:
  • Hypothesis
  • Research question
  • Thesis statement.
• Project overview (as applicable within discipline) including:
  • Methods of research.
  • List and description of research materials.
• Outline of the structure and presentation of the final (as applicable within discipline).
  • Include the scope of paper.
  • Include plans for performance or presentation.
• Project Committee – Names with signatures.
• Dean’s signature – indicating support for the faculty member supervision assignment and the requisite load assignment.

Notes:

• Of the four terms of directed study, three must be either spring or fall terms.
• Appeals for exceptions must be made to the Honors Committee.
• If the student fails to meet the deadlines or expectations of the Committee, the student will be dropped from the program.
• If the student drops from the program, he/she may be allowed to enroll in a directed study in a subsequent term if the student wishes to complete the project. The supervising faculty must agree. Any student dropped for failing to meet deadlines or expectations, whether they finish the project or not, will not be eligible for recognition at the commencement ceremonies.