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Honors Senior Project Information for Faculty

The Miami University Honors College aspires to produce students who well embody the concept of “citizen scholars,” using their honors education in ways that enhance existing knowledge and advance the common good. The Honors College requires students who joined the Honors community in the Fall of 2021 or later to demonstrate this commitment to exploring ideas and their consequences beyond the classroom through a culminating Honors Senior Project in order to earn University Honors. This project can assume the form of a traditional research thesis, or it can be achieved through an intensive and sustained creative, pre-professional, or co-curricular activity.

Two Options for Completing the Honors Senior Project

Citizen

This option will provide students with the opportunity to use intensive experiential learning activities as a basis for producing an inquiry based project with relevance to the common good. This can be realized through activities that encompass either:
  1. sustained leadership and service,
  2. pre-professional internships or practica, or
  3. design and creativity.
These projects should involve a minimum of 400 total hours of activity. The focus for all of these projects is activity that engages the world beyond the classroom through creative expression, community service and social impact, entrepreneurship and professional development and growth, and/or leadership and public service. Students will need to spend at least an additional 50 hours working on a reflective analysis component and an inquiry component, such as a professional report, exploration of an original research question, or literature review on a relevant topic. The completed project must be at least 20 double-spaced pages in total, either as one cohesive document or a portfolio of multiple documents. All components of Citizen Honors Senior Projects should be well written and executed to a professional level.

Final submission of completed Citizen projects can take the form of:
  • A written report, such as a business plan or lesson plans, with analytical reflection
  • A performance or other creative based display
  • A portfolio of works

Scholar

This option allows the student to delve into topics of interest to them through intensive research that results in a traditional thesis, written to the standards of their major field of study. The thesis is understood to be an academic product and it will always involve significant inquiry and research under the direction of a faculty mentor. Through their thesis, a student will present new ways of looking at the world, develop expert interest in a particular topic, and contribute to the ongoing scholarly conversation in their field. The thesis must contain original research and it must mirror the quality of writing and thought typically seen in publishable scholarship. A student is expected to produce some new insights or interpretations on the topic investigated. There is not a set minimum length for Scholar projects, however, most projects will be a minimum of 20 pages, up to 50 pages, dependent on the standards of the academic discipline. Students are strongly encouraged to present their work at Miami's Undergraduate Research Forum. 

Scholar projects can be completed through, but are not limited to:
  • Departmental Honors thesis
  • Yearlong independent studies
  • Research connected to on-campus research labs
  • Extended capstone projects 
  • Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program
  • Geoffrion Family Fellows program
  • CAS Dean's Scholar Program
  • Combined Bachelor's-Master's degree thesis completed as undergraduates

All Honors Senior Projects Require:

  • Inquiry based work that asks a question and results in the creation of new understanding or knowledge
  • A faculty or staff mentor (faculty is required for Scholar projects)
  • A written component for the final submission to the Honors College
  • A mentor approved, project proposal submitted one year before graduation
  • Clear delineation of individual work completed if the project was conducted as part of a larger team
  • If a student expands their capstone or Senior Design Project course, the Honors Senior Project component must extend their learning beyond any assigned work submitted for a grade (see "Honors Senior Project Mentorship" section below for more details)
    • Note on capstones: The Honors Senior Project will not substitute a major or university required capstone course
  • Students are highly encouraged to enroll in independent studies, if applicable to their project, however, there is not a required course for students to complete for the Honors Senior Project requirement
Dr. Hay-Rollins working with two students

Timeline for Honors Senior Project

Students must submit a project proposal to the Honors College one year before they graduate. Students should be developing project plans and confirming their ideas with faculty mentors three to four semesters before they graduate. All projects are due by the last day of classes in the term the student graduates. 

The Honors Senior Project proposal form asks for the following information, which should be confirmed between the student and faculty mentor prior to submission:

  • Student information
  • Faculty mentor information
  • Working project title
  • A brief description of the project, including the goals of the project
  • Description of the research method or process to be used for the project and the specific steps the student plans to take to accomplish the project goals
  • Brief description of the project's intended outcomes or product (e.g. a thesis, reflective analysis, business plan, performance, etc.) and the minimum submission requirements (e.g. page length, performance time, etc.)
  • The anticipated significance of the project, not only to the field of study and/or society, but also to the student's educational development
  • A timeline for completing the project, including the measurable goals and deadlines for each semester

Honors Senior Project Mentorship

Who Can Mentor HSP

The Honors College permits any instructor or faculty member to serve as mentors of Honors Senior Projects. We recognize some instructors, especially junior faculty members on the tenure track and/or part-time, adjunct, or per-credit-hour faculty, may not have the time and capacity to mentor students and may need permission from their Department Chair to provide mentorship. We support the decision of any individual faculty member to say no to a student request or a departmental decision to not recommend adjunct or contingent faculty to provide mentorship due to constraints on their time.

All Scholar projects must be mentored by faculty members to ensure rigorous academic work is completed to appropriate research ethics and meets federal regulations regulating the use of human subjects, laboratory animals, radiation, chemicals, and/or recombinant DNA in research.

Graduate students can provide support to Honors College students as they pursue their Honors Senior Project. However, there should also be direct support from a permanent faculty member for Scholar projects. Faculty can recommend that graduate students not provide mentorship or support an Honors Senior Project on a case-by-case basis

Citizen projects can be mentored by faculty, Miami University staff, or non-Miami University employees as appropriate. Citizen project mentors should have the appropriate background and expertise to support a student’s inquiry component and general project goals.

Mentor Role

All students must have a mentor for their Honors Senior Project to help ensure the quality and rigor of the project. Faculty can mentor students through the process of proposing, completing, and submitting their Honors Senior Projects. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete the Honors Senior Project. The mentor relationship varies based on the mentor, student, and project type, however, we do ask mentors to provide guidance and feedback to students on a continuous basis during the process.

Mentors are expected to have relevant expertise to provide appropriate feedback and ensure students are complying with federal regulations regulating the use of human subjects, laboratory animals, radiation, chemicals, and recombinant DNA in research. Miami University has established the following committees to oversee activities and enforce regulations in these areas: Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects Research (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Radiation Safety Committee, Chemical Safety Committee, and Institutional Biosafety Committee. Students are to discuss with their mentor if their proposed study must be reviewed by a committee listed above. If a mentor is unfamiliar with research protocols, they may request the student find a secondary faculty mentor who can ensure compliance with research ethics. 

Please note: Citizen projects will often have a research element that requires review from one of the committees listed above, most often Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects Research (IRB) if a student will be studying living human subjects (interviewing, surveying, observing, etc.).

Mentors will be asked to verify their support of the student project, as well as approve the student’s completion of the Honors Senior Project at the end; see below for more details about final approval. Conditional approval from the project mentor may also be required for students who complete their Honors Senior Project shortly before their undergraduate graduation. Mentors will be contacted about the approval process from honorsadvising@MiamiOH.edu or directly from the student's Honors College advisor.

Approval of Completed Projects

Approval of All Projects:

All completed projects must be submitted by the student before the last day of classes of their final undergraduate term. Students will submit their completed projects via an online form and a copy of their submission will be sent to their project mentor for approval. Mentors have until the day after grades are due for that term to approve the project. Some mentors may be asked to provide conditional approval of the projects earlier in the term to align with Commencement deadlines and that timeline will be communicated months in advance. Please contact the Honors College if you have questions about the approval process or approving a project via Honorsadvising@MiamiOH.edu. Below are the specific thresholds for the different project types.

The definitions of exemplary work, approved work worth of University Honors (the Honors College commencement notation students receive by completing an Honors Senior Project), work that will be approved with additional revisions, and work that is not approved is listed below. If the student's work fits the definition for "approved with revisions" or "not approved," please indicate this in the Honors Senior Project Mentor Approval of Project Submission Form by not approving the project and follow up with the student to request revisions.

  • Exemplary - An overall approval of Exemplary is granted to those students whose Honors Senior Project mentor(s) is satisfied that the research, analysis, writing, and/or performance (when applicable) are at the highest level that could reasonably be expected of an undergraduate student. The Honors Senior Project is Exemplary in most aspects of the project, resulting in a final product of remarkable competence and quality or breaks significant new ground. The project has been thoroughly researched, carefully conceived, and meticulously displayed, performed, or prepared in its final form. A project of this quality might also reveal a degree of originality and ambition that is not commonly found in undergraduate level work. Approximately 1-5% of all Honors Senior Projects receive an overall rating of Exemplary.

    The project mentor(s) may favorably compare the Honors Senior Project to graduate level work, deem it of particular value to the academic discipline, or the project is qualified to be published with the student(s) as a first author or primary author in a scholarly journal.

    For Citizen Projects (projects not entirely based on scholarly work), the project mentor(s) deem the Honors Senior Project a new and meaningful contribution to society or the project meets professional/graduate level work that could be performed, displayed or presented in the venue specific and appropriate to the artistic, technical, or professional discipline.

  • Approved (University Honors) - An overall Approved rating should be awarded to an Honors Senior Project that is deemed overall satisfactory in all aspects of the project. The work in question is appropriately completed; the preparation, performance, or display of the project is thoroughly competent; and the conclusions reached are reasonable and logical. These projects will exhibit a depth of analysis or level of performance/project completion that exceeds a general competence. Work at this level will not only display solid ideas and concepts, but will also exhibit an awareness of the most important implications of its research or inquiry. The work could be presented at a regional or a national conference. An Honors Senior Project earning an Approved rating may be characterized by minimal problems, however it does not reach the level of an Exemplary rating overall.

  • Approved with Revisions - An Approved with Revisions rating will be awarded if the Honors Senior Project mentor(s) decides that there is a need for revisions in order for the student to obtain a satisfactory project as defined above in "Approved (University Honors)". Revisions could include multiple grammatical corrections, providing additional evidence to support the project’s argument, incorporating more in-depth analysis, the project does not meet the established Honors Senior Project thresholds (listed below), etc. The mentor(s) will identify areas for revisions and communicate those to the student following the submission to the mentor. The student must make the revisions to be approved by the project mentor(s) by the last day of classes of their final undergraduate term.

  • Not Approved - The Not Approved rating characterizes work that is insufficient in most, if not all aspects of the project. An Honors Senior Project receiving a Not Approved rating may be characterized by unsatisfactory work in terms of originality, analysis, and comparison to average undergraduate work; student failure to communicate productively with the project mentor(s); lack of proofreading of the final project. Few Miami University Honors College Honors Senior Projects receive a Not Approved score since unsatisfactory work typically is identified by the project mentor(s) ahead of the student’s submission of their project to the Honors College.

 

Collaborative Projects:

Students may work independently or in a group for the Honors Senior Project for both Citizen and Scholar project types. Groups can be comprised of all Honors College students or a combination of Honors College and non-Honors students. Please note that mentors will approve the entire completed project and each Honors College student's contributions during the approval process at the end.

A student's individual contribution to a group project should be equivalent in magnitude to the expectations of the Honors College for a solo Honors Senior Project and this must be outlined in the proposal form.

 

Citizen Projects:

The focus for all of these projects is activity that engages the world beyond the classroom through creative expression, community service and social impact, entrepreneurship and professional development and growth, and/or leadership and public service. All Citizen Projects require the following:

  • A minimum of 400 total hours of activity as the basis of the project, e.g. internship, volunteering, substantial leadership role on campus, etc. 
  • Students will need to spend at least an additional 50 hours working on a reflective analysis component and an inquiry component.
  • The project must last for at least two academic terms, one of which must be a full semester (e.g., summer term and fall semester, or fall and spring semesters).
  • A reflective analysis of the entire project (2000 word minimum) that includes general reflections on the significance of the project to the common good and/or society at the micro or macro level.
  • An inquiry component:
    • We are defining inquiry as "the process of exploring issues, objects or works through the collection and analysis of evidence including combining or synthesizing existing ideas, products, or expertise in original ways to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired goal" (Tennessee Tech University).
    • This should be 2500 words minimum that can take the form of a professional report, exploration of an original research question, or literature review on a relevant topic, such as community needs, outlook of the industry, etc.
    • The inquiry component can be completed before, during, or after the activity.
    • See the note below for creative based project exceptions.
  • The completed project must be at least 20 double-spaced pages in total, either as one cohesive document or a portfolio of multiple documents.
  • All components of Citizen Honors Senior Projects should be well written and executed to a professional level.

NOTE: Creative based projects can include an in-depth analysis that contextualize's how the student's creative work fits into the broader creative tradition, history, and/or genre(s) of the creative discipline as the inquiry component. This may result in an expanded reflection that includes at least 500 words grounding the student's project in existing traditions and/or artists. This analysis should include cited sources. Or a student may build an inquiry component into their project in another way.

Scholar Projects:

The majority of all Scholar projects will be original research conducted through independent studies, Departmental Honors, research lab involvement, research programs at Miami University (e.g. Undergraduate Summer Scholars), and in some cases, master's thesis projects completed in combined bachelor's-master's programs while a student is still classified as an undergraduate student.

  • The Honors College does not have a set minimum length for Scholar projects, however, most projects will be a minimum of 20 pages, depending on the standards of the academic discipline. Projects that result in manuscripts submitted to be published in academic journals are accepted formats and the Honors College defers to the faculty mentor for the appropriate page length.
  • This project will typically last two semesters, however, some students may continue a project started during the summer in the Undergraduate Summer Scholars program or other opportunity.

Capstone Based Projects:

One of the Scholar options is to build off a capstone course to develop a larger project. This allows students to continue developing projects created in capstone courses based on their interests and goals. Students may work independently or in a group for the Honors Senior Project specific portion of the project.

Requirements:

  • The completed Honors Senior Project should be substantially larger than the standard capstone project/course requirements; or the Honors Senior Project must build upon/augment the capstone project in another term with additional work beyond the capstone course requirement.
    • Students extending a one semester capstone course project should spend a minimum of 20-30% of additional work on the project beyond the course requirements for the Honors Senior Project.
    • Students extending a two-semester capstone course project, such as the Senior Design Project in CEC or the Game Preproduction and Production courses for Games + Simulation majors, should spend minimum of 15% of additional work on the project beyond the course requirements for the Honors Senior Project,
  • The exact project/page length for the Honors Senior Project will need to be determined between the student and their mentor, however, it may be appropriate to set a requirement threshold of as much as double the capstone course requirement, depending on the discipline, as most written Scholar Honors Senior Projects are a minimum of 20 pages.  
    • For example, if the capstone course requires a 10-15 page page report, a student may then expand the project to be a 20-35 page in-depth report for the Honors Senior Project or to add additional components to the capstone course report to further academic inquiry opportunities.
  • The entire Honors Senior Project timeline should consist of the term the student completes the capstone course and another term, either the term proceeding or following the capstone course term.
  • These are the minimum requirements, however, faculty mentors may work with Honors College students to set higher standards for the student's work.
  • The student and faculty should agree on the specific Honors Senior Project goals. The student and mentor should determine how the entire Honors Senior Project is evaluated separately from the graded capstone project. 

Format Options:

  • Capstone course plus an independent study to produce a larger academic work than is expected of the capstone course. Students are not required to register for an independent study and can complete their additional work without being enrolled in a course.
  • Capstone course plus an internship (either for credit or not for credit) and a reflective analysis/report that ties the additional capstone course work and the internship together with an overall reflection on the process.
  • Capstone course plus other non-academic based work, as appropriate. 

Recommended Timeline:

  • Completing a capstone course in the fall semester of the student's final year, then continuing working on the extended Honors Senior Project into the following spring semester.
    • First completing a capstone course, then extended work in the subsequent term is the general recommended timeline.
    • Additional work completed the term before the capstone course, such as an internship or independent study, is permissible.
  • It is possible to design an Honors Senior Project with a capstone course taken in a student's final term before their undergraduate graduation if the student works with their faculty mentor to start the project the term prior to their capstone course semester.

Honors Senior Project Proposal:

  • Students must include the capstone course information in the "Project Description" question of the project proposal form. 
  • Students must explain how they plan to build upon or expand the standard capstone requirements for their Honors Senior Project.

 

Honors College

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