Before filing your project proposal form, it is your responsibility to review the guidelines related to your Honors Mentor and Honors Committee Member in relation to the course(s) you will be using for your Honors Project. There are many courses that can be used to fulfill the H7/H8 Commonwealth Honors Project requirements with instructor consent. Your H7 and H8 courses must be upper- or graduate-level and letter-graded. Courses used to fulfill the H8 requirement must be worth at least 3 credits. 
If you do not know who you would like to work with as an Honors Mentor, we recommend doing the following: 
  • Reviewing the faculty page of your department to see faculty research interests 
  • Contacting the Honors Liaison for your department for suggestions of who to work with as an Honors Mentor 
  • Visiting the Honors Project Archive and seeing who has served as an Honors Mentor 
After you generate a list of potential mentors, reach out to them with your potential project ideas or topic. 
Your Honors Committee Member is a second set of expert eyes and a support person for your project. If you do not know who you should select as an Honors Committee Member, we recommend reaching out to your mentor for suggestions of who to ask. They do not have to be from the same department as your mentor. Faculty, staff, outside experts and professionals, or graduate students can serve as committee members.  
Please Note: In some capstone courses your mentor may be assigned to you. If your mentor is from outside of the university or adjunct faculty, your committee member must be full-time and faculty-of-record for your Honors Project course(s). 

The Honor Project Proposal

The Honor Project Proposal must:
  • Indicate the semester(s) in which you are completing your Project
  • Indicate the courses (Capstone, Independent/Directed Study, Senior Research, etc.) you will be using to satisfy your H7/H8 Requirements
  • Include the following elements:
    • Project overview
    • A Project rationale/justification
    • The format of your Project (research thesis, portfolio, capstone add-on, etc.)
    • A description or list of anticipated Project deliverables  
    • The format of the archivable components of your Project (i.e., an article-length document, a reflection paper and blueprints, a script and an artist's statement, a curriculum design, a lab report with an extended discussion and conclusion)
    • A timeline for completion of your work
    • A working bibliography
    • A Proposal Form (Docusign form) signed by your Honors Mentor and at least one additional faculty member. View Project Proposal examples.

Please note:

  • All Honors Theses/Projects MUST have a written component
  • If your intended project presentation deviates from the standard panel presentation (i.e., a theatrical production, museum exhibit, or hour-long thesis defense) please describe your presentation format in your proposal 

Human Subject Research & the Institutional Review Board

If your project involves working with living persons and you wish to present or publish information gathered from human subject the activity is considered human subject research and must be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval or exemption before data collection begins. Everyone involved in the project must complete IRB training and your Honors Mentor serves as the Principal Investigator on your thesis/project. The Honors College recommends any project involving research that must be reviewed and approved/exempted be carried out over two semesters to allow adequate time for data collection and analysis.  

Contingencies & Extenuating Circumstances

  • Students completing projects as part of a group or with a partner must include a distribution of tasks as part of their proposal. 
    • The group/pair may write one proposal, but each member of the group must submit their own copy of the proposal and proposal form because the paperwork is tied to UMS number and is used for transcript and advisement report coding 
  • Students using their Emerging Scholars Project as their Honors Project enroll in a 3-credit Directed Study with their Emerging Scholars Mentor to fulfill their H8. A grad class, second Honors-by-Contract, or 3000+ Honors course must be used to fulfill the H7.
  • Students completing interdisciplinary Honors Projects may enroll in a Directed/Independent Study with their Honors Mentor in their Mentor's department or in Honors Directed Study in the Honors College. Interdisciplinary Honors Projects may be 3 credits (1 Directed/Independent Study) or 6 credits (2 Directed/Independent Studies)
  • In some departments, the first half of a project sequence may be worth fewer than 3 credits. This is acceptable as long as the student completes at least 3 total project credits and at least 18 total credits at the Honors level.
  • Students using ongoing research or proprietary information as part of their Honors Thesis/Project must have their final document vetted and approved by all involved parties before submitting completion materials to the Honors College. If an extension on submission of materials is required please contact the Thesis/Project Coordinator Rae Mansfield.
  • Students interested in using their Professional Co-Op or DifferenceMaker experience as part of their Honors Project Experience should contact the Honors College to develop a personalized plan for fulfilling their H7/H8 requirements.
  • Mathematics students interested in completing an Honors Project using Senior Seminar I & II must submit an Honors Project Proposal while enrolled in MATH 3750. Mathematics students may complete a research thesis by taking MATH 3750, MATH 4750, and MATH 4760. Mathematics Honors students should discuss options with the Mathematics Honors Liaison. 
  • Nursing students taking NURS 4120 as their H7 during summer session and NURS 4150 as their H8 during the fall semester must submit their updated Mentor Forms and Honors Project Proposals to the Honors College by Sept. 15. 
  • Engineering students completing one semester Honors Projects using their Engineering Capstone as their H8 course must submit their updated Mentor Forms and Honors Project Proposals by Oct. 15 (for Fall Capstones) or Feb. 15 (for Spring Capstones). A grad class, second Honors-by-Contract, or 3000+ Honors course must be used to fulfill the H7.
    • Plastics Engineering students using Capstone as their H8 should enroll in PLAS 4170: Honors Capstone Project II as their second Capstone course 
  • Psychology students who plan to complete a research-based thesis project in the Psychology Department, must identify their mentor and take PSYC 4690: Psychology Research III prior to enrolling in their H7.