THE HONORS PROGRAM AT ALVERNIA COLLEGE

Excellence, Interaction, Enthusiasm

Contract for Senior Honors Thesis

This contract serves as a ‘syllabus’ for your thesis class. It is an agreement between you and the Chair of your committee regarding the work that will be done for you to earn a grade for the course. All contracts must be approved by the Honors Director.

Your name, address, phone, and email:

Your committee Chair:

You must have a minimum of 3 people on your committee: the chair, the Honors Director, and at least one additional person. Who else will you ask to serve on your committee?

What is your topic?

Why is your topic interesting or important?

Approximately how long do you anticipate your thesis will be?

How often will you meet with your Committee Chair?

How will you go about doing your research? Interviews, surveys, and some types of experiments may need approval from the Institutional Research Board (IRB). Will you travel off-campus, or use the library? Will you need materials, funding, lab time, special equipment, or training? If so, how do you plan on obtaining what you need?

FIRST SEMESTER REQUIREMENTS

The thesis is a 2-semester project, with separate grades for each semester. Although you will be working independently, you may want to work with your Chair to establish deadlines if that would be helpful to you. Student grades for the first semester will be based on how well the following assignments are completed. Failure to complete any of these steps will result in a lower grade for the first semester’s work.

• A statement of the research question or hypotheses
• An outline of the thesis
• A minimum of 8-10 pages of text, including:
• An introduction to the topic and question
• A justification of the topic’s importance or an explanation of why it is an interesting topic
• A research design that explains how the research will be conducted and why that’s a good way to conduct research to figure out this question
  • An assessment of resource needs and a plan for obtaining needed equipment, funding, interviews, etc.
• If appropriate, a survey instrument or interview questionnaire, as well as an identified group of potential respondents
• If necessary, IRB approval should be obtained by the end of the first semester
• A literature review of at least 5 pages and accompanying bibliography
• A timeline for the work to be accomplished in the second semester

Both the Chair and the Honors Director should get copies of all first semester work. Final grades for the first semester must be agreed upon by the Chair and the Honors Director.

Final copies of work should be given to committee members for their review no later than 10 days prior to your oral defense.

Anticipated Defense Date (month, year):

Student_____________________________________ Date____________________

Committee chair______________________________ Date_____________________

Honors Director______________________________ Date_____________________

Sign the completed contract and obtain the signature of your committee chair. Bring the signed document to the Director of the Honors Program (406 Francis Hall) for final approval. Copies of the approved contract will be returned to you and to your committee chair.

For More Information, Contact:
Dr. Victoria Williams, Director of the Honors Program
Francis Hall 406
Office Phone (610) 796-5511
Victoria.williams@alvernia.edu

Updated: October 18, 2005

Your comments are welcome.