Spanish major
Honors procedures
I. The student who is invited by the department to consider participating in the Honors Program consults with a faculty member and, together, they discuss the feasibility of an Honorinds project. The faculty member decides whether she/he is willing to serve as the project director.
II. If the faculty member agrees to supervise the Honors Thesis, the student submits an Independent Study (399) for Honors Petition (PDF), with all supporting materials, to the Honors Coordinator.
III. The Honors Coordinator sends copies of the student's petition to the members of the Honors Committee.
A. If all members approve the petition, the student may prepare to begin the project.
B. If one of the members of the Committee does not approve the project, the Honors Coordinator convenes the Committee to discuss the matter. A confidential vote is taken.
1. If a majority of the Committee approves the proposal, the project may be undertaken.
2. If the proposal does not receive majority approval, the Honors Coordinator informs both the student and the proposed project director about the Committee's decision.
a. If the project is not approved, the student has the option of presenting a new or revised proposal. There is no guarantee of approval for a new or revised proposal. After a student's second unsuccessful attempt to secure approval for an Honors project, the Committee has the right to decide by majority vote whether the student should be allowed to make any further proposals.
b. If the project director is not approved, the Committee may recommend another faculty member to the student.
IV. If the Honors Committee approves the proposal, the Honors Coordinator submits the student's Independent Study (399) for Honors Petition to the Department Chair. The student is informed of the Chair's action on the petition and upon approval registers for two quarters of 399 (either in Fall and Winter, or in Winter and Spring).
V. The Honors project director advises and assists the student during the research and writing phases of the project. However, the student bears sole responsibility for the academic content and scholarly apparatus of the completed Honors Thesis.
VI. If, during the course of her/his work on the Honors project, the student believes that she/he is not being well advised by the thesis director, she/he may submit a letter about her/his concerns to he Honors Coordinator.
A. The Honors Coordinator makes a copy of the student's letter available to the Honors project director.
B. The Honors Coordinator presents the matter to the Honors Committee. If the Honors project director is also the Honors Coordinator or a member of the Committee, the Department Chair assumes the responsibilities of the Honors Coordinator or the member in the Honors Committee. The thesis director participates in the discussion but does not have a vote on the matter. The Committee presents appropriate and feasible solutions to the student.
VII. If, during the first quarter of an Independent Study (399) for Honors, the thesis director believes that the student's work has very little, if any, potential for achieving the quality required for Honors level work, she/he should inform the Honors Coordinator of her/his evaluation. The student completes the course, is given a grade for her/his work for that quarter, and does not register for a second quarter of Independent Study (399) for Honors.
VIII. Upon completion, the Honors Thesis is submitted to the Honors Coordinator.
A. The director presents a written evaluation of the Honors Thesis to the Honors Coordinator, with a recommendation about the awarding of Honors for the thesis.
B. Two faculty members, other than the thesis director, read and evaluate the Honors Thesis.
C. Each reader submits to the Honors Coordinator a written evaluation of the thesis and a recommendation regarding the awarding of Honors.
D. The Honors Committee considers the readers' evaluations. A majority vote of the Committee is required to recommend the student for Honors to WCAS.
E. The Honors Coordinator sends the student and the thesis director written notification of the Honors Committee's decision.
F. The Honors Coordinator submits the departmental nomination materials for the Honors candidate to the WCAS Committee on Superior Students and Honors, who make the final decision about the awarding of Honors.
G. All correspondence between the student, the thesis director, the Honors Coordinator, the Honors Committee, the Department Chair, and WCAS, along with the student's Honors Thesis, is kept on file in the Department for a minimum of three years from the end of the academic year in which the student is considered for departmental Honors.
IX. Students in a dual B.A./M.A. program may not submit their M.A. thesis as an Honors Thesis for the B.A.
