Honors Program Thesis

Students who wish to write an Honors Program Thesis on a topic that they generate themselves must take the following steps, which are generalized here. For specifics, visit the resources in the Honors Program course management system from which you receive emails from the Honors Program: 

1. Register for HON 492. Be sure to have a topic and adviser!
2. The semester for which students are registered for HON 492 is the semester when the presentation will be scheduled, and the final thesis will be due.
3. Students should let the Honors Program secretary know the adviser’s name, adviser’s department, and official title (e.g. Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Dr., and the like), title of the thesis, and time preference by the fifth week of classes during the semester that the presentation is to take place.
4. The Honors Program strongly recommends that students who come up with their own thesis topics apply for research funds from the SVSU Creativity Institute. However, this is not a requirement.
5. During the semester students write their thesis, they will be expected to finish the 30-page paper, and 30 pages is the minimum of written work, not including appendices or Works Cited.
6. Final theses are due to the adviser by the Friday of the last day of classes. If that is unclear, it is the Friday before the Monday when final exams begin.
7. Once your adviser approves it, it should be sent by the student or adviser to the Honors Program chair for review.
8. Once the final thesis is accepted and presentation is complete, the thesis will be sent to the bindery, and the student and adviser will each receive a hard copy. A digital copy will be placed in Zahnow Library.

If students wish to work with a faculty member working on a research project they will need to take the following steps:

1. Be sure that the parameters are clear. For example, if the faculty member has a grant, and the student will be performing a process in the lab that will give the results over to a larger study, it should be explained in the thesis and clear in the minds of the student and faculty member, exactly what the student will get credit for doing and the role it plays in the larger project.
2. A second way to find a research project is to contact a department chair who keeps track of faculty research across campus. The chair typically knows of faculty who are doing research either exactly in the discipline a student chooses or close to that discipline. The chair will then tell the professor that a student wishes to work with him or her on their research project. Faculty are typically delighted to work with Honors Program students. 
• The chair will send the faculty member (now the student's adviser) a signed registration form with the appropriate class listed in the title for both to fill out. Students will need to make an appointment to meet with their advisor as soon as they get approval from the Honors Program Chair. This form is available attached to the “Important Dates” email I send at the beginning of each term and in our Honors Program course management site.

Note: 

• Students are required to work as a research assistant for the faculty member during the semester that they have agreed to write their Honors Thesis. Students will need a polished 30-page paper that will serve as their thesis. The Honors Program recommends that students complete small sections of the paper along the way.
• Be sure to let the Honors Program office coordinator know your information (name, adviser’s name, adviser’s department, adviser’s title, and the title of the thesis) for publication of the event flyer. 
• After the thesis is defended and the completed paper is turned in, the student's adviser and the Chair of the Honors Program will evaluate the paper. If it is satisfactory, the student will be paid $600.00. The student will only receive payment, however, if a satisfactory paper is turned in during the same semester that it is submitted. 

Students in the arts often have different objectives from students in all other disciplines. A fine arts student with an interest in painting, for example, might want to do a show with his or her own paintings instead of a written Honors Program Thesis. This kind of creativity is strongly encouraged. Here are the kinds of steps students will need to take to complete the thesis process:

1. Students can select either the student-directed project style or the faculty-directed research. 
2. Inform the Honors Program Chair of which one the student would like to pursue and get the registration paperwork started. 
3. Students still must write a 30-page paper but will have to write a summary of their work. For example, if they did a show of their art, a summary should accompany their artwork. 
4. Plan on having the show or performance the same week as Honors thesis presentations. Students will be expected to talk about their work after the show. This will constitute their presentation. 
5. Plan on documenting the whole work through pictures and text so that the program has evidence of the work. 
6. The thesis should be completed by the last week of classes, the Friday before the start of final exams week.