Skip over navigation

Honors in COE

 

“The University shall, at graduation, grant Honors to students whose work in a field of concentration has demonstrated superior quality and culminated in an Honors Thesis of Distinction.”

In all tracks of COE students may graduate with honors if (1) they have excellent grades in concentration courses (2) they find a faculty member or members willing to supervise their work on a honors thesis, and (3) that faculty member (or those faculty members) find(s) the completed thesis to be of honors quality. The thesis advisor will normally be from the department corresponding to the student’s track, but can with the permission of a COE concentration advisor, be someone from another COE-related department. Generally, the thesis requires two semesters of work during the senior year and this work is in addition to the concentration requirements. An honors thesis must represent a substantial effort in research and exposition.

An honors thesis can be descriptive, historical, mathematical, or statistical. It can be oriented toward fact, theory, policy or a combination of these areas. While departments do not specify page lengths or other requirements, the candidate should establish his or her goals in an understanding with the thesis supervisor.

Copies of honors theses written in past years are kept by departments, and interested students are advised to look at them to see what has been done before. To look at past COE theses, contact Christine. You can also check out past honors theses from the Department of Economics.

Students interested in becoming a candidate for honors in COE should follow the specific requirements for honors of the department involved: economics for the business economics track, sociology for the organizational studies track, and engineering for the technology management track, as specified below.

 

Honors thesis in business economics

Students must do the following by the end of the junior year or very early in the senior year:

(i) have at least a 3.5 grade point average in concentration courses;

(ii) find a faculty member willing to supervise the thesis project;

(iii) inform the COE advisor of his or her intention to write a senior thesis and of the name of the thesis supervisor;

(iv) enroll in  the seniors honors tutorial class in the Fall (ECON1960), followed by an independent study in the Spring (ECON1970), or

v) enroll in Data, Statistics and Finance in the Fall (ECON1759), followed by an independent study in the Spring (ECON1970).

 

Honors thesis in organizational studies

Students must do the following by the end of the junior year or very early in the senior year:

(i) have at least a 3.5 grade point average in concentration courses;

(ii) select a topic;

(iii) get the topic approved by the COE advisor and check with him/her before presenting a thesis proposal for approval by a committee of COE faculty;

(iv) find a thesis advisor and a second reader; and

(v) enroll in SOC 1980-1990 under the thesis advisor. Students may also want to enroll in SOC 1950 in the spring of senior year, which is a seminar directed by Professor Greg Elliott for sociology students writing theses.

 

Honors thesis in technology management

Students must do the following by the end of the junior year or very early in the senior year:

(i) have at least a 3.4 grade point average in concentration courses;

(ii) find a faculty supervisor who endorses the student proposal for a thesis;

(iii) apply to the honors program by filling out the relevant form available in the Engineering Student Affairs Office (or download application) prior to November 10 of the student’ senior year;

(iv) if admitted in the Honors program, enroll in ENGN 1950 and/or ENGN 1960; and

(v) maintain good academic performance, complete the honors thesis of distinction, and defend the thesis in an 30-40 minutes oral presentation and examination before the honors thesis committee.