VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY
SCHOLARSHIP & ADVISING COMMITTEE
STANDARDS FOR HONORS PROJECT WORK

Congratulations on your acceptance into the College of Arts & Sciences Honors program! This experience allows you to undertake an exciting and sophisticated plan of research that will exemplify the high level of academic skill that you have achieved during your time with us. As you know, honors work is far more than a two-semester independent study; successful completion of this project will require you to demonstrate a superior level of thought and analysis. In all instances, you should work closely with your departmental adviser to determine what the norms and standards for honors work in your discipline are. In order to help you plan your work and set appropriate goals for performance, the Scholarship and Advising Committee offers you the following general guidelines:

Preparation to be Undertaken during the Summer:
(Fall Semester for off-cycle projects)

1) Begin compiling a lengthy bibliography of the published works relevant to your topic.

2) Think about long-term strategies for organizing your research notes and findings. You will want to make sure that you use a consistent note-taking style and are able to organize your results so that you can easily find the both the content references and the citation information as needed at any point during your two-semester project. Consult your adviser for advice about potential methods.

3) Begin reading and expect to arrive back on campus with a clear sense of your chosen topic. Your adviser will expect you to be familiar with major issues and to be ready to start research and discussions in earnest. You should be able to place your first interlibrary-loan orders when you return to campus.


Criteria Used for the Evaluation of Progress After the First Semester:
November (or April for off-cycle projects)

1) Students will have produced a substantial written paper that conforms to the styles and standards of their discipline. This paper should be error-free and indicate a high degree of sophistication in both thought and expression.

2) All students will have formulated a clear thesis statement and will exhibit a strong sense of their project’s continuing direction. Science students will have both their instrumentation in place and their experiments planned and ready; in some cases, empirical data collection may have already begun and preliminary statistical analysis considered. In most cases, the committee will look for some evidence that the student has already sketched the broad outlines of the final paper and its constituent parts (argument, sub-sections, major elements that need to be addressed during the second semester).

3) Students should have mastered the secondary literature relating to their topic of study. In the draft submitted at this stage, students will demonstrate that they are aware of all major works pertaining to their subject and its larger context, and will be able to show how their work fits into that existing corpus. This means that students will be able to identify all the various interpretations or theories that surround their subject of investigation. Students in the humanities should be aware that this likely means consulting at least 25-30 sources; students in the sciences may find that 5-10 sources are closer to the norm.

4) Students should have identified and located all material that will still need to be consulted, focusing especially on the primary sources or texts or data sets that provide the specialized insights required for the second semester’s work. This information should be clearly conveyed to the adviser and the committee.

5) Students will have interacted responsibly with their adviser and will have followed up on any suggestions made for the project’s advancement or improvement. The Scholarship and Advising Committee may request a letter from the adviser that would document both the student’s receptivity to direction that has been provided and his or her commitment to the project.

** Please note: If these standards are not met and a sufficiently high standard is not achieved, the student’s project may be discontinued.


Criteria Used for the Final Evaluation of the Project:
April (or November for off-cycle projects)

1) Students will have produced a clear, concise, tightly-argued paper that provides evidence of independent thought and superior research. Although the length and format of this final paper will vary with department, all students who earn honors are required to demonstrate that they have achieved an advanced level of performance.

2) The final draft of the paper will be error-free and structured according to the standards of the student’s discipline. All citations will be provided with careful attention to detail and accuracy.

3) The final draft of the project will demonstrate clear evidence of continued work and improvement during the second semester. Humanities students’ projects will showcase their work with primary sources or documents and will be able to move seamlessly between their own narrow topic and its larger context in their discussions; by the end of the project, it is likely that 40-50 sources will have been consulted. Science students will have carried out their experiments as planned and will have conducted appropriate analysis of their findings. They will demonstrate an understanding of the way in which the results contribute to the knowledge base surrounding their topic and will be able to speculate about the direction of further study in the area. Mastery of concepts and germane scientific terms will be accomplished.

4) Students will have heeded critiques made by their advisers and by the representative of the Scholarship and Advising Committee, and will have made every effort to follow up on suggestions for improvement. If, after careful consideration, the student concludes that a particular suggestion or lead was not useful or relevant, the student will be able to defend that choice. The Committee may request a letter that confirms that the student has interacted responsibly with his or her adviser throughout the process.

5) Students are expected to make some sort of appropriate public presentation of their research. Typically, this takes the form of the student’s participation in The Valparaiso University Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship, a forum which is held on campus in the spring. Other forms of public presentation could include departmental seminars open to the general public or papers presented at academic conferences.

Again, we congratulate you on your tremendous accomplishment and look forward to working with you this year! Our goal is to support you through a challenging and stimulating academic experience. You are welcome to seek our assistance at any point during the year. Good luck and enjoy your project!