Your thesis journey should begin well in advance of registering for thesis credits. You can begin observing, asking questions, and strengthening connections right away.
As you take courses and participate in co- and extra-curricular activities, keep your passions and interests in mind; make note of your interactions with ideas, methods, and even specific faculty members that you feel align with those passions and interest.
Check out faculty bios (usually available on departmental websites) and make note of faculty whose research interests align with yours. Talk to them; if they are teaching a class appropriate to your major and concentration, take it!
Take a look at previous theses, considering both traditional [e.g. research papers, survey papers, systematic reviews] and non-traditional [e.g. performances, creative writing projects, marketing plans] examples.
About two years before you graduate, you should work to identify a project and establish a more formal thesis plan.
Connect. When you are ready to narrow your thesis focus, begin talking with faculty whose interested align with yours. Together you can refine a thesis topic and develop a timeline for your thesis work. The conversation about your timeline is crucial for planning. We suggest spreading your thesis work over at least two semesters, but in some disciplines you may need more time. You might find these tips for connecting with a mentor helpful.
Build your team. You will need a tenured or tenure-track thesis director who will be your main partner in your thesis project and a second reader to guide your work and lend an interdisciplinary perspective. Read more about requirements for your thesis committee here.
Prepare. Think about any approvals you may need for your project. If your project will involve human subjects, vertebrate animals, or recombinant DNA, you will need to get appropriate approvals. These approvals can take months in some cases, so please plan to start the application process early. Your thesis director can help to identify what approvals may be needed.
Engage with campus resources. Consider making an appointment with the librarian assigned to support your academic department. Our librarians can alert you to research resources in your field and discuss the process of doing advanced research in your discipline. You might also make an appointment with a staff member at the University Writing Center. They can help you discuss writing goals and deadlines, and point you to specific resources for writing in your discipline.
Your Senior Honors Thesis is a 3-credit project. We encourage you to divide these 3 credit hours over 2 semesters to give yourself the time you need to complete an excellent thesis.
You must register for thesis hours before the end of the first week of classes in a given semester. Registration requires you to submit a special form that includes faculty signatures. Give yourself time to complete the form and collect the signatures. Note that what you write on this form should pertain only to the semester in which you are registering. You must fill out a separate from for each semester you earn thesis credits.
When you are ready, please share a 1-2 page prospectus (a.k.a. plan) with us through the Honors thesis plan submission form. Many students split their thesis hours into 1 hour of preparatory work in their first thesis semester and 2 hours of research/creative activities and writing in their second thesis semester. If you are in that situation, submitting your plan after you complete your first preparatory hour is ideal. Everyone must submit their plan before the end of the second week of the semester that they complete their second thesis hour.
Check your Degree Works audit to make sure you've met (or will meet!) the Honors College requirements for University or Upper-Division Honors before you plan to graduate. Your International experience may not be marked as complete until after you complete and submit your thesis application; do not be alarmed if that is the case. If you have additional questions about the audit, contact your Honors Academic Mentor or Dr. Mead (meadad@appstate.edu).
Your thesis must include:
a title page using the formatting in the linked sample title page.
an abstract.
double-spaced text, unless specific formatting requires otherwise. Use 1.25-inch left margins, and 1-inch right, top, and bottom margins.
properly formatted citations using a citation style that is appropriate for your discipline. Most importantly, once you choose a reference style, you should be consistent in your application.
Creative thesis projects, such as performances, design projects, or exhibitions, must include a framing essay with a minimum of 10 pages. Projects not related to such creative endeavors will likely contain significantly more written work.
As noted above, consider making appointments with the University Writing Center at various stages of your writing process. They can support you will all components of your thesis, from abstract to citations and bibliography.
After writing your thesis, you will present your findings in your thesis defense. Work with your thesis director to determine exactly when you’re ready for your defense, and when you are ready, complete the following steps:
reserve a room for the thesis defense. Make sure that the room is big enough to hold guests from outside your thesis committee and that it has the technology that you need to give your presentation. Your thesis mentor can use App State’s room reservation system to reserve spaces in Appalachian Hall. If you find any challenges in reserving App Hall spaces, please reach out to Viktoriia Kovtun (kovtunv@appstate.edu) for help.
let the Honors College know about your defense by sharing the details through our Thesis Defense Google Form. This needs to be done at least 3 days in advance of the defense date. Soon after you submit this form you, your thesis committee, and the honors staff will receive calendar invitations to your defense. Someone form the Honors College will do their best to attend your defense, but it’s not required that we be there.
share a copy of your thesis with your committee prior to the defense. Aim to get this copy to them at least one week prior to the date of the defense.
create and deliver a presentation outlining your thesis work. This is your “defense,” although, we like to think of it more as a celebration of your work. The length of the presentation depends on your discipline; your director will let you know their expectations. Typically, presentations are between 20 and 30 minutes, but some are shorter and some are longer.
answer questions from your committee and other guests following the presentation. You may then spend some time talking with just your committee. Following that conversation, you’ll be excused while your committee decides what edits or updates need to be made and the timeline for those updates. Finally, you’ll be invited back to discuss next steps.
complete any edits that the thesis committee shares with you as a result of the thesis defense process.
Collect the following:
a complete, approved copy of your thesis
a digital copy of your thesis cover-page, signed by everyone except the Honors College Dean.
optionally, if you decide to purchase bound copies of your thesis, you’ll need to complete the thesis binding information form and obtain proof of payment via TouchNet
optionally, if you decide to include your thesis in the App State's google scholar indexed online archive you’ll need to complete the linked release form and thesis metadata form.
Then follow the process describe on the Honors College thesis submission webpage to finalize your thesis submission.
Your thesis director is responsible for assigning your thesis grade which they should not assign until they have approve the final copy of your thesis. If you do not have time between the defense and the end of the grading period to implement all necessary changes, you could discuss the possibility of receiving an incomplete grade with your director, although this may delay your graduation. You must receive a B or higher on your thesis to meet the Honors College thesis requirement.