The Senior Honors Thesis
All honors students are encouraged to undertake a six-hour Senior Honors Thesis their senior year. If you have completed the requirements for the Honors Program and the Senior Honors Thesis, you will graduate not only “with Honors” but also as an “Honors Scholar.” Both notations will appear on your transcript. The six-hour sequence will be included in the total number of credits students need to complete the Honors Program.
The Senior Honors Thesis should be a research paper or project in your major that you are working on for a specific class or professor. A useful place to begin thinking about your thesis is the Schreyer Honors College, Pennsylvania State University.
The Senior Honors Thesis:
- Counts as a 6-credit hour course (over two semesters)
- Allows you to select your own topic
- Involves in-depth research with a faculty advisor
- See Senior Thesis Guidelines for additional information, including information on formatting.
First Semester:
Complete the Senior Thesis Contract Form (First Semester) with the supervising professor. This person will oversee the six-hour project. The first-semester work is normally research, planning, and outlining. The honors contract must be associated with a specific class in which are you enrolled, either a class in your major (such as the Senior Seminar or Senior Capstone) or the Honors Senior Thesis class (Honors 495). A course grade of B or higher is required.
Complete a detailed prospectus outlining in detail the scope of the senior thesis and attach this to the contract. Both are due to the Honors Program Director during the first month of the first semester of work. The Director will review your request and notify you of approval.
Upon completion of the first-semester work, submit the Senior Thesis Completion Form (First Semester) to the Director. Completion forms are due no later than the Tuesday following finals week. If additional time is required, contact the Honors Program Director.
Second Semester:
Complete the Senior Thesis Contract Form (Second Semester) with the supervising professor and submit to the Honors Program Director during the first month of the second semester of work. The second semester is normally reserved for writing and any additional research. Like the first semester, the honors contract must be associated with a specific class in which you are enrolled. A course grade of B or higher is required.
You will make a presentation of your work to the Honors Colloquium or at a regional honors conference during the second semester.
Provide the Director with the second-semester Senior Thesis Completion Form (Second Semester) signed by the supervising professor. Completion forms are due no later than the Tuesday following finals week. If additional time is required, contact the Honors Program Director.
At the end of the second semester, provide the Director with two original copies of your completed work. Both copies will be bound; one copy will be returned to the student, and one copy will become the property of the UMKC Honors Program.