Yes, but only if at the time you submit your proposal you have a overall cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher. Please be aware that a student who does not qualify for the College Honors program may be able to pursue a related project as "Readings and Research."
Students in the Honors College are required to complete a College Honors thesis. The College of Arts and Sciences considers the process of writing a College Honors thesis to be the capstone of the Honors College experience. Consequently, departmental honors coursework or "Readings and Research" are not sufficient to fulfill this requirement.
Yes. In this case, you would submit an application package to the College Honors Committee the February before you graduate. Your deadlines are then moved from May to December. Check our "Important Dates" page for specific deadlines.
No. However, the Committee will have difficulty approving an application when the student has no background in a particular area. Consequently, if you wish to write your thesis in an area other than your major, it is wisest to work in an area in which you have significant academic training, such as your minor.
Be aware that this can vary from department to department. The Committee recommends that you start by writing down some ideas that you might like to explore in your thesis. Next, summarize these ideas into two or three short paragraphs-- no more than a page or so. Then, make an appointment with several professors that you think might want to work with you and bring the page with you to show to the professors. Leave it with them so that they have some way to match you with your ideas. If you don't get a response right away, call back those professors you are most eager to work with. This process is best started in the second semester of the junior year, since it can actually take some time to locate an appropriate advisor-- someone with an interest in the area you want to study, but also someone that you feel comfortable with and who will give you the attention required to help you complete your thesis.
As stated in the application package, the entire proposal, excluding references, must not exceed 8 pages. The proposals that are easiest to approve are concise; that is, they make their point strongly and convincingly in the fewest possible words. Longer proposals tend to include unnecessary information that may confuse the Committee, resulting in a request for resubmission or clarification rather than outright acceptance by the Committee. Proposals in the natural sciences tend to be shorter than those in the humanities, as is expected based on the nature of each discipline.
Absolutely, we have several downloadable examples in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
No. Advisors must be tenured or tenure-track professors in the College of Arts and Sciences. As a courtesy, students often refer to all faculty as "Professor," but some faculty are not permitted to serve as advisors. Only Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors in the College of Arts and Sciences can be advisors. Lecturers, Instructors, or faculty from other UVM colleges do not qualify. To find out if a faculty member is permitted to be an advisor, ask him or her or check his or her title in the catalogue (look for the section at the end entitled "Faculty").
In some cases, students wish to work with a professor from another college (for example, Biology majors often wish to secure advisors in the Medical College). In such cases, students must have a tenure-track faculty member from the College of Arts and Sciences as a co-advisor.
Although any UVM faculty member may serve as a second or third member of the thesis committee, the A&S College Honor's Committee strongly recommends that the Committee Chair (who must be from outside the department of the thesis advisor) be a tenured or tenure-track professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.
When submitting a College Honors proposal, students should register for the appropriate Honors course (HON 2XX) through the department in which they hope to pursue their Honors work. For example, Biology students should sign up for HON 208 in the fall and HON 209 in the spring; English students should sign up for HON 220 in the fall and HON 221 in the spring. In the event that an Honors course in the student's department is not listed in the course newspaper, the student should consult with the Chair of the Honors Committee.
Students must take 6.0 credits of HON 2XX coursework to receive College Honors. Typically, these 6 credits are distributed evenly between the first and second semesters, i.e. 3 credits each semester. However, if, for reasons owing to a student's schedule (the student is already registered for, say, 16 credits), a student wishes to do so, College Honors credit may be variably distributed across the two semesters with the permission of the Honors Committee, i.e. 2 credits the first semester and 4 the next, 1 and 5, 4 and 2, or 2 and 4. Please note that this is an "accounting issue" only; students are expected to do an equal amount of work both semesters regardless of how the credit is distributed.
Last modified September 15 2009 04:50 PM
