Once your Application has been submitted to and approved by the Honors in the Major office, you will be authorized to register for Honors thesis credit. Your department will give you the course reference number that you need. Once you have the reference number, you can register for Honors thesis hours as you would for any other class.

The Honors in the Major office DOES NOT register students for Honors thesis hours. Please contact your department for the reference number after you have received notification from the Honors in the Major office that your application has been approved.

An Honors in the Major project is a considerable undertaking. Honors thesis credits should be viewed as regular class credits; you will be most effective if your time is planned accordingly. If you register for three hours of thesis credit, you should plan on spending about ten hours per week on your project (with variations, of course, according to your subject matter, your major, and your thesis director).

If you must take a heavy load of major coursework each semester that remains in order for you to graduate on time (according to your own personal timetable), then taking on a project of this scope is going to require very careful planning. We recommend speaking with an academic advisor in your department as well as your thesis director to discuss your best course of action.

For each term in which you work on your thesis project, you will register for 1-3 hours of Honors thesis credit. The number of hours that you take each term will be determined in close consultation with your thesis director and careful planning of your pattern of enrollment. Honors thesis hours provide upper level credit toward the University requirement and the requirements of many majors.

Thesis hours are assigned a letter grade, but some thesis directors prefer assigning a grade after a project is completed. In this case, you will be assigned an 'I' (Incomplete) until you have successfully defended your thesis, at which point the "I" grade will be replaced by the grade you receive after your project is completed. Other professors are fine with grading based on progress made. Please discuss with your thesis director how you will be evaluated for the purpose of your thesis grade before beginning your thesis work so that you know what to expect.

*NOTE: 'Incomplete' grades that expire count against your GPA, and even when cleared will always show on your transcript. It is important to maintain contact with your thesis director until all 'I' grades have been changed to final letter grades.

Only grades 'B-' and higher will count toward the minimum required for graduating "with Honors" in your major. Grades below that, if they are passing by University standards, will still count toward University requirements for upper level and major coursework.

General Information about Thesis Credit

• In order to graduate "with Honors" in your major, you must have a minimum of six (6) Honors thesis credit hours (maximum number of credits is nine (9)).
• In order to graduate "with Honors" in your major, you must maintain a GPA of 3.200 or higher (and/or meet the GPA requirements as set by your department).
• You can register for 1-3 hours of Honors thesis credit per term as determined in consultation with your thesis director.
• All requirements for Honors in the Major must be completed no more than 3 years from the first term in which you registered for Honors thesis credit.
• You must be enrolled in at least one hour of Honors thesis credit in the term of your defense; all defense term deadlines and guidelines apply.