JMU HONORS PROGRAM

251 Warren Service Drive
MSC 1501
Harrisonburg, VA 22807

Hillcrest House

540.568.6953
540.568.7728 
540.568.8079 (fax)

E-mail:  honors@jmu.edu

Office hours:
Mon.-Fri., 8:00am-5:00pm

 


Communication Studies



GUIDELINES FOR SENIORS HONORS PROJECTS

 

Honors Thesis Eligibility Requirements

  • Students must have a 3.25 GPA in the major in order to be eligible to write an honors thesis. Students must have a 3.25 in the major at the time they register for the 499A phase and they must maintain this 3.25 GPA while working on the honors thesis. If a student's GPA falls below 3.25, his/her committee will review the student's progress on the thesis and reserves the right to terminate the thesis process at that point. If the honors thesis advisor approves, the student may continue the project as an independent study.
  • Students should have completed SCOM 280 prior to beginning the thesis. Ideally, students will be enrolled in their second research methods class (SCOM 381, 383, 385, or 386) either before or concurrent with 499A.
  • Students who are interested in pursuing an honors thesis should meet with the SCOM honors program liaison no later than the first two weeks of the spring semester junior year or 3 semesters prior to graduating. The honors program liaison will discuss the honors thesis process and recommend potential chairs and committee members if the student does not already have a chair/committee established.
  • 499A can either be taken as a full semester course or as a second block course depending on when honors students are able to meet with the SCOM honors liaison.


Honors Thesis Committee

  • One-year/adjunct faculty will not be allowed to serve on honors thesis committees. However, we encourage students to consult with those one-year/adjunct faculty members who have expertise relevant to the student's thesis.
  • Honors thesis committees are comprised of three faculty members. The chair must be a member of the SCOM department. No more than one member may be from outside the department.
  • The honors thesis coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that committees include faculty members with expertise appropriate to the thesis topic. It is particularly important that the committee chair have methodological and substantive expertise that will allow the student to successfully complete his/her research. It is acceptable (and, in fact, often helpful) if one member of the committee does not have expertise in the subject and is able to view the material as an "outsider."

Honors Thesis Process

  • Honors committee chairs are responsible for assigning grades for the honors thesis.
  • If a student receives an “I” at any time they will not be permitted to register for the subsequent honors thesis course(s) (499B, 499C).
  • It is the responsibility of the committee chair and the honors student to work together to ensure that all materials are submitted to the Honors Program by the appropriate dates.