Theses Project

Information for Honors Thesis/Project Advisors

Because honors students come from all majors, there’s no uniform answer. If an honors student can develop a project, find an advisor, and get their thesis proposal approved by the Faculty Senate Honors Committee, then that project can move forward. We’ve had everything from dances to novels to scientific studies to service learning projects and traditional scholarly theses.

Traditional genres include scholarly, scientific, pedagogical, and creative projects
Students may also elect to complete experiential learning, volunteerism/community action, action research projects, leadership portfolios, culture projects, and wellness projects

Students contact advisors when they are enrolled in the Honors Thesis Orientation class, with the honors director (usually two falls prior to graduation). At this stage, the advisor serves as a consultant or mentor — the student’s primary professional contact for content-based guidance. Ultimately, the project belongs to the student, and they need to accept responsibility for the planning and work. But for many students, advisors are invaluable sources of advice, feedback and, occasionally, motivation and reprimanding.
During a student’s senior year, the advisor’s role increases. They become responsible for providing feedback on the student’s work within a timely manner. If professional counsel is the main responsibility during junior year, then draft-planning and draft-reading are the main responsibilities during senior year.
Advisors also provide guidance, when needed, about IRB approval for research involving human subjects.
Advisors are also responsible for informing the Honors Director if an honors thesis/senior project is (un)acceptable. The thesis/senior project is “graded” as pass/no credit, and the grade is submitted by the Honors Director.

Some advisors are closely engaged in planning, professional counsel, and deadline-setting. Others are more hands-off. The student & mentor relationship will vary.
The Honors Program does not mandate a minimum number, or weekly schedule, of meetings, but it is expected that advisors and students share the responsibilities of communicating about the thesis and monitoring its progress.
Meetings should become more frequent during the student’s senior year, as the project enters drafting stages and feedback is needed.

The advising relationship is rewarding in and of itself, of course. More formally, for every completed Honors thesis, the thesis advisor of final record will receive 1 full academic credit of course release. In other words, if an advisor mentors three Honors theses to completion, and that professor teaches in a three-credit department, then they earn a three-credit course release.
Departments that require a thesis as part of their major/minor requirements bank only half a credit hour, as do co-advisors (assuming the honors thesis is the same as used for department requirements).
Important: Honors credits cannot be redeemed until someone accrues enough credits for a full-course reassignment in one’s department. They cannot be portioned out or cashed out.
There’s also a strict no-double-dipping policy for Honors credit banking: if a faculty member does an independent study with a student, then the independent study is banked (and cashable) within that faculty’s department; however, they forfeit the honors credits for that thesis project.
For more information about credit banking, including important contingencies for departments that require their own senior projects/theses, please consult the appendix in the Contract Bargaining Agreement.

During fall term of their junior year, honors students enroll in HNR 325: Honors Thesis Orientation. A student’s thesis proposal emerges out of this class.
During winter term of junior year, the students’ thesis proposals come before the 12-person Faculty Senate Honors Committee for review. The key points of that review are communicated to students and advisors following the meeting.
During spring term of junior year, the students enroll in HNR 351: Honors Thesis Development. Students begin writing their thesis/senior project during this class, often beginning their literature review or another relevant section.
During senior year, the students enroll in HNR 378: Senior Honors Project for a minimum of 1 credit up to a maximum of 6 credits. This is where the students’ grades for the thesis are recorded.
During senior year, the students work independently with their advisors to complete their projects.
Depending on a student’s major, they may also be enrolling in thesis prep classes within their major department (see history, math, anthropology, etc.)

Absolutely not. Honors students enroll in thesis credit within their honors curriculum. If thesis credit is required within an honors student’s major, then they should enroll in those major courses instead. The only exception is HNR 325 and HNR 378, which are required for all honors juniors.
There’s a strict no-double-dipping policy for Honors credit banking: if a faculty member does an independent study with a student, then the independent study is banked (and cashable) within that faculty’s department; however, they forfeit the honors credits for that thesis project.

Because Honors students are dispersed among so many different majors, it’s not possible (or desirable) to postulate universally applicable guidelines for the thesis. Often there’s little (or no) common ground between our ten types of senior projects. That’s also why your relationship with your student is primary. To a large extent, you and your student will determine the deadlines and criteria that will govern this project.

Academic Programs and Support Center, Room 210

Phone: (503) 838-8519
Email: honors@wou.edu