Directions for Preparation and Submission

of an Honors Thesis

In order to complete the Honors Institute program and graduate with "Albion College Honors," all Honors students must write an Honors thesis.  The Honors Committee, with the approval of the Educational Policy Committee, has established the following guidelines for an Honors Institute thesis.

 
A.  Getting Started 

  1.       You must submit a Thesis Registry Form (see page 10) to the Honors Director no later than April 30 of your junior year if you plan to graduate either in May or August of the following year.^[1]  For December graduation the corresponding deadline is February 28. On the form, you will indicate the tentative title of your thesis and obtain the signatures of each of your thesis committee members. 

  2.       Each thesis committee must consist of at least three Albion College faculty members: a
            primary thesis advisor and at least two additional readers.  The Honors Director will
            review your thesis committee and must approve any subsequent changes to the
            committee. 

  3.       Although April 30 (February 28) is the deadline for submission of the Registry Form, you are strongly encouraged to pick a thesis topic and committee, submit your Registry Form, and begin work on your thesis long before this deadline.

 
B.  Student and Thesis Committee Responsibilities 

  1.       Your thesis must be reviewed in progress and in final form by your entire thesis committee.  It is your responsibility to work with all members of your thesis committee, not just your thesis advisor, and to keep all committee members informed of your progress by meeting with and regularly submitting to them written drafts of your work for comments and suggestions.

 

  2.       The bibliographic form and specific thesis format will be determined by your thesis committee.

 

  3.       The primary responsibility for the evaluation of the Honors Thesis rests with your thesis committee.  For spring semester graduation, their recommendation in unanimous or majority form must be forwarded for final approval to the Honors Committee by April 1². If you have a disagreement with your thesis committee's evaluation, this must be put in writing and submitted to the Honors Director no later than April 1².

 

  4.       If credit is given for work on your thesis during your graduation semester, the grade will represent an evaluation of the final product.  You must have an overall GPA of 3.5 and a minimum grade of 3.3 on your Thesis to graduate with Albion College Honors.  If the grade is 3.0, you can still graduate with Departmental Honors but not Albion College Honors (you must have at least two committee members from the same department in order to get Departmental Honors).  If the grade is lower than 3.0, the units involved will be treated simply as units toward graduation and you will not receive any Honors designation upon graduation.

 

  5.       Your thesis committee members will indicate their approval of your thesis for Albion College Honors by signing an Honors Thesis Approval form (see page 8) by the April 1 deadline.².  If your committee members approve your thesis only for Departmental Honors they will indicate this by signing a Departmental Honors Thesis approval form (a copy of which is available from the Honors Director.)  If your committee members believe that your work does not merit Honors, they will not sign either form.

 

  6.       If thesis credit is given prior to the graduation semester, evaluation may be in the form of either a numerical grade for the work accomplished during that semester or a grade of P (work in progress) if it is not possible to evaluate the research project until its completion.

 

  7.       Each committee is encouraged to find an off-campus reviewer for the thesis.  When this is done, the reviewer's comments will be only for your personal benefit and will not be part of the "acceptance" aspect of the thesis.

 
C.  Final Deadlines and Requirements 

  1.       There are two deadlines that students must observe in submitting a finished Departmental Honors thesis for spring graduation. 

 

   a.      First, by 4 p.m. on April 1¹ or the first working day thereafter, you must submit to the Honors Coordinator a copy of your Thesis Approval Form (see page 8 below) with the signatures of your committee members. The Coordinator’s office is located on the second floor of the Observatory.

 

   b.      Second, by 4 p.m. on April 7^[2] or the first working day thereafter, you must submit at least two final copies of the thesis to the Honors Coordinator.

 

            Failure to meet these deadlines will result in the thesis not being accepted for Honors for the impending commencement.  It is your responsibility to see that these deadlines are met.

 

  2.       The thesis submitted to the Honors Committee for final approval must be in final form, free of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors.  Any thesis that does not meet these standards will be returned, and, if the April 7 deadline has passed, will be rejected.

 

  3.       You are strongly encouraged to present the results of your thesis at Albion's annual Elkin Isaac Research Symposium.

 
D.  Postponing Graduation to Complete a Thesis 

If you have enough units to graduate in May (December) but are unable to meet the April 1 (December 1) deadline for completion of your Honors thesis, you may elect to postpone your graduation for one semester in order to complete your thesis, provided that you:

 

  1.       obtain the written permission of your thesis committee and submit it to the Honors Director in a timely manner.  A form for this purpose is available from the Honors Coordinator.

 

  2.       complete your thesis no later than the following August (April), if you complete all your other graduation requirements in May (December).  You will then graduate with Albion College Honors after the Summer (Spring) semester.

 

  3.       enroll for ½ units of thesis writing credit for this final semester.

 
E.  Thesis Writing Mechanics 

Beyond the general guidelines above, you must follow these additional instructions in preparing two copies of your final draft for submission to the Honors Committee.

 

  1.       Wordprocessing.  The thesis must be typed on a personal computer using word processing software so that the final draft can be printed on a laser printer.  Personal computers and software that are adequate for this purpose are available in all computer laboratories on campus.  The Instructional Technology office, in the basement of Ferguson Building, provides instruction for both beginners and advanced users on special word processing features that are particularly useful for writing a thesis. 

  2.       Typeface.  The text of the thesis must be printed in a clearly readable 12-point typeface.  Exotic forms of type, such as “script,” are not acceptable.

 

  3.       Paper and Printing.  The first two copies of the thesis submitted to the Honors Committee must be laser printed on the paper the Honors Coordinator will provide to you.  Any of the high-speed laser printers located in the computer labs or department offices on campus is of sufficient quality for printing your final thesis copies. 

  4.       Color Printing.  The Instructional Technology (IT) office has a color laser printer available
            in the 24-hour Computer Lab located in the basement of the Ferguson Building.  However,
            we strongly recommend that if you intend to include color pages in your thesis that you
            allow the IT office to assist you in printing these pages.  (Remember that each color page
            you print will use up 6 units of your print quota.)   

  5.       Figures and Graphs.  Figures, graphs, and illustrations may be created using computer drawing software and laser printed along with the rest of the thesis or may be drawn directly by hand on the same acid-free paper used in the rest of the thesis.  If figures are hand drawn, photocopies of the original illustrations may be used for the second thesis copy submitted to the Honors Committee but the originals of all figures, graphs and illustrations must be included with the first copy.  This original will be bound at library expense and will become a permanent part of the Albion College Library's Collection.  The second copy will be bound at the expense of the Honors Institute and permanently housed in the Honors Center Library.

 

  6.       Binding Personal Thesis Copies.  You may have one or more additional copies of your thesis bound for your personal use.  The first personal copy submitted will be hard-bound free of charge. Additional copies will be bound at cost (as of this writing $4.50 for comb binding and $12 for hardcover binding).    All binding costs must be paid in advance.  If you graduate in May and your personal thesis copies are submitted by the April 7 deadline, they will be back from the bindery and distributed to you before graduation.   If you submit your personal copies for binding later than April 7 or for December or August graduation, they will be returned to you by mail.

 

  7.       Title and Thesis Approval Pages.  You must follow the required form for the title page and for the two approval sheets.  Samples of these pages are provided on pages 7-9.

 

  8.       Margins.  Carefully observe all margins: 1½ inches at the left, 1 inch on the top, bottom and right.  A top margin of 1½ inches must be used for the first page of the text, and for pages beginning new sections or chapters.   Make sure all graphs and figures are drawn or reduced by a photocopier so they fall within these same text margins.

 

  9.       Page Numbering. 

            a.  Begin separate sections or chapters on a new page, unless your thesis committee's
                 directions are based on a system, such as for submission for a particular journal,
                 where this is not done.

b.  Assign a number to each page, even though a number might not appear on that page,
     (e.g., in the case of a title page or a page beginning a new chapter or section.)

 

c.  Use lowercase roman numerals (e.g., ii or iv) for all pages preceding the main text. 
     Pages preceding the main text are normally such items as "Prefaces," "Tables of Content,"
     "Acknowledgments," and the Title Page. However, the two Thesis Approval sheets are
     not considered a part of the thesis and therefore are not given a number.
 

d.  Use Arabic numbers for the main text.

 

10.       Line Spacing.  Double space the text throughout except for long quotations, or in the case of tables and figures where a discipline's customary writing style so allows.

 

11.       Other Questions.  Any other technical questions concerning the acceptability of the production of the two final thesis copies submitted to the Honors Committee should be discussed in advance with the Honors Director.

 

12.       Writing Guides.  Finally, remember that a high standard of accuracy and clarity in written expression is expected.  When in doubt about style or form, consult with your thesis advisor and/or a standard manual of style such as A Manual for Writers, Turabian; Harbrace's College Handbook, or The MLA Style Sheet.

 
F.  Final Thesis Submission Procedures 

 

1.      Each of the thesis copies that you submit for binding must be enclosed in a separate manila envelope.
         These envelopes may be picked up from the Honors Coordinator.

2.      On each thesis envelope, write your name, copy number (#1, # 2, # 3, etc.), and binding instructions
         (hardcover or comb bound). Copy #1 is required. It goes to the Library and must be on the provided
         paper. Copy #2 is required. It goes to the Honors Thesis library and must be on provided paper.
         Copies #1 and #2 will be hard bounded at the college's own expense. Copies #3 and beyond are
         optional and are for your own purposes. They may be on any kind of paper you wish. We will bind
         them for you and, when they are ready, return them to you or to whomever you designate on each
         envelope.

3.      Print one extra copy of your cover page. Place it on the outside of your copies of the Library/Honors
         copy. (Note that your title page must contain your first, middle and last names.) The original cover
         pages should be placed inside the envelopes.

4.      The copies of your thesis for the Library and for the Honors Institute must contain the two Thesis
         Approval forms.
              a. Make sure that your committee members have signed the first Thesis Approval forms. Place
                  these sheets under the title page inside each envelope.
              b. The Coordinator will get the signatures of the Academic Dean & the Honors Director on the
                  second Thesis Approval forms. Instead, just place the unsigned forms on top of the appropriate
                  envelopes.

5.      You must pick up a Thesis Release Form from the Honors Coordinator, fill it out, and include it on
          top of the Library packet under the extra cover page. This form gives or denies the Library
          permission to make copies, in part or in whole, of your thesis for scholarly purposes.

6.      Be sure to double check each thesis to make sure that all pages, including title, approval, diagram and
         text pages are in the correct order.

7.      Remember to bring a check or exact cash to pay for your personal thesis binding costs at the time
         you turn your thesis in to the Honors Coordinator.

 

[SAMPLE TITLE PAGE.  The margins for the title page must be as follows: left margin 1½ inches, right margin 1 inch, top margin 2½ inches.  For the bottom margin, the words “Albion College” must appear 3 inches from the bottom of the page.]

 

 

 

 

 

                                                CENTER TITLE IN CAPS

                        (If title has more than one line, double space between lines.)

                                                                (4 spaces)

 

 

 

 

                                 A Thesis submitted for Albion College Honors

                                                                (4 spaces)

 

 

 

                                                      Your Complete Name

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                             April 1, 2007

                                                                (2 spaces)

 

                                                            Albion College

[SAMPLE APPROVAL SHEET NUMBER ONE.  The margins for this approval sheet must be as follows: left margin 1½ inches, right margin 1 inch, top margin 2½ inches.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doe, John.  Thin-layered chromatographic analysis of amino-acid derivatives.

(2 spaces)

 

This certifies that the thesis here submitted to the Honors Committee has been supervised and read critically by the undersigned who recommend that the thesis be accepted as fulfilling the requirements of the Albion College Honors Institute.

(3 spaces)

 

 

___________________________________

Dr. Jane Smith, Thesis Advisor

Professor of XXXX

(3 spaces)

 

 

______________________________

Dr. Robert Jones, Committee Member

                                                                        Professor of XXXX

(3 spaces)

 

 

___________________________________

Dr. Richard Roe, Committee Member

Associate Professor of XXXX

(3 spaces)

 

 

___________________________________

Dr. Margaret Reno, Committee Member

Assistant Professor of XXXX

(3 spaces)

 

 

___________________________________

Dr. Samuel Johnson, Outside Reader

Professor of XXXX

University of XXXXX

[SAMPLE APPROVAL SHEET NUMBER TWO.  The margins for this approval sheet must be as follows: left margin 1½ inches,  right margin 1 inch, top margin 2½ inches.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doe, John.  Thin-layered chromatographic analysis of amino-acid derivatives.

(2 spaces)

 

This thesis, submitted by John Doe for Albion College Honors, has been approved by the Honors Committee.

(3 spaces)

 

 

                                                                    ___________________________________________

                                                                    Dr. Gene Cline, Honors Director

(3 spaces)

 

 

                                                                    ___________________________________________

                                                                    Dr. Royal Ward, Vice President for Academic Affairs