HON 4V87, Thesis Hours Overview

General Course Description

Here's how the Honors Thesis course, HON 4V87, is generally structured:

Students enroll in the variable hour class, HON 4V87, usually for 2 credit hours during each of their final two semesters (for a total of 4 hours).
Students are placed into a section of HON 4V87 with their thesis mentor as faculty of record.
Grades for the thesis are awarded by the thesis mentor at the end of each semester.
Thesis grades are either "credit" or "no credit" as determined by the thesis advisor.

Specific expectations and deadlines are provided to enrolled students in a semester-specific syllabus each term.

Prerequisites and Course Requirements

During the final two semester before graduation, Honors Program seniors most often enroll in HON 4V87 for two credit hours during each semester. (HON 4V87 is a variable hour class, so the student must specify the number of credit hours for which they are enrolling). In this manner, the Honors Program senior submits a major portion of the thesis project, viz., half the thesis during each term (see “Thesis-Chapter Submissions” below). In most cases, students officially beginning this sequence of Honors Thesis courses should have already completed:

Honors Colloquium (HON 3200)
At least one upper-level Honors contract/unit (usually via an Honors course contract in a 3000- or 4000-level class)
Both Advanced Readings courses (HON 3100 and 3101); and therefore
The formal thesis proposal (one of the requirements for HON 3101)

During the penultimate semester, then, students will generally submit two complete chapters of the Honors thesis. Though these submissions are subject to further revision, they must be more exacting and more polished than mere first drafts.

During the graduation semester, students write and submit the remainder of the chapters of the thesis. The full-draft version of the thesis is often due (at the latest) around Spring Break for May graduates. This final draft of the thesis must be polished and submitted to a faculty committee for an oral defense. After the successful defense, the student then submits a final, properly formatted thesis to the Honors Program office for binding. (Other, smaller-scale requirements will be announced and explained in the relevant syllabus each semester).