Before You Begin to Write Your Proposal

Application Procedure

Interested students must select an adviser for their honors project. It is preferable that this be done at least one year before graduation. To be accepted into the Honors Program, a student must submit an honors proposal for approval by the adviser, the department chairperson or program head, and the Honors Council. See Proposal Preparation Guidelines for information about writing an Honors proposal. For students graduating in the spring, the proposals are due in the middle of October. The exact due dates for submitting proposals, completing the oral examinations, and submitting the completed thesis or project are indicated on the annual Honors calendar. The due dates for students graduating in December will be arranged with the Directors of the Honors Program on a case-by-case basis. The Honors Council will not accept proposals during the same semester the student expects to graduate.

Qualifying for Honors

The Honors Council wishes to make students and faculty members better informed of Council policy. The policy states that "Honors students normally have an academic average of 3.5 or higher at the time of admission to the Honors Program, although exceptions may be granted by the University Honors Council." The following policy, consistent with the above statement, was initiated, but not publicized, in the year 2000 and continues to be in effect.

Students who have an overall GPA of less than 3.5 must have the advisor submit a letter of support to the Chair of the Honors Council at least three weeks (earlier is better) before an Honors Proposal is submitted. The letter should give the student's overall GPA, the GPA in the major, and should outline the strength of the faculty member's support of the project and reasons for this support. The explanation of extenuating circumstances will help the Council in its deliberations concerning eligibility. If the student is judged eligible, a proposal may then be submitted.

Guidelines used by the Council:

1) If the GPA in the major is > 3.5 and the overall GPA is > 3.3, the student will likely be eligible, provided that advisor support is strong.

2) If the overall GPA is < 3.5, and the GPA in the major is lower than the overall GPA, the student will likely be ineligible.

Such a letter from the advisor has been required in the past, but the letters formerly arrived with the proposal. The intent of the newer policy is to separate the GPA issue from the proposal. Students will know before the final proposal deadline if they are not eligible based on grades; this may save some students from spending time on writing a proposal that would not be read. In other cases, the student may seek an alternative outlet for the project, e.g. departmental thesis or independent study.

Due to student and faculty feedback, the Council has repeatedly considered the eligibility question for several years. We hope to decrease student anxiety over the GPA issue through this announcement. The Council takes this step after consulting departmentally-approved guidelines for Honors. The value and rigidity of the GPA "cutoffs" recommended by departments vary rather widely. For reference, the GPA required for a student to make the Dean's List is 3.5 with a minimum three-course load.

If your research involves human subjects, your proposal will require approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Some examples that some students or faculty might not think of include surveys and interviews. Usually, approval is straightforward for such projects. Many students in psychology, sociology, or education are working with human subjects, and their work often need more extensive review and approval by the IRB. Contact Jerry Rackoff (rackoff@bucknell.edu; 577-3623) in the Office of Institutional Research for more information.