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Honors Theses and Oral Examinations |
Office of the Dean of the College
Wellesley College
Green Hall, Room 345, ext. 3583
To:
Department Chairs, Directors of Interdepartmental Major
Programs, and Honors AdvisorsFrom:
Adele Wolfson, Associate Dean of the College, for the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction
Subject:
Guidelines for Honors Oral Examinations
Senior Thesis | Composition of the Examining Committee | Director's Responsibilities | Examination Procedure | Responsibilities of Curriculum and Instruction Committee Visitor | Award of Honors
As required by Legislation, on Friday, April 11, 2008, the end of the tenth week of the semester, the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction must receive the names of all students who will stand for honors in May 2008. The following general guidelines apply for departmental, interdepartmental and individual major honors candidates.
For all honors candidates pursuing a senior thesis, the deadline for completion of the senior thesis is Tuesday, April 29, 2008. By 4:30 p.m. on that day the official copy of the thesis should be delivered to Jennifer Lewis in the Registrar's Office, Green Hall, Room 336. This copy will be loaned to the honors visitor, who will return it to the Registrar's Office after the oral examination is complete. This copy of the thesis will later be transferred to the College Archives.
Composition of the Examining Committee
The oral examination committee is composed of the honors advisor, the department chair/program director (or a designated representative), a third faculty member from the department/program, and a non-voting visitor representing the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction (CCI). It is essential that one senior member of the department/program participate in the evaluation of the department's/program's candidates. In the case of an individual major, the chair (or deputy) of the department in which the majority of the work is taken participates in the examination.
The advisor is responsible for making sure the student is aware of deadlines and procedures, including the need to present clean, readable, proofread copy of written material. It is the advisor's responsibility to: arrange for the other members of the committee to read the paper(s) or written general examination; inform the committee of the location, date, and time of the examination; and ensure that they are aware of the criteria for a successful honors oral. Before the examination, the advisor should speak with the other members of the Committee, outlining the order of questions and describing the topics that should be covered in the examination. In general, examinations should involve more than the specifics of the paper or project, giving the student an opportunity to demonstrate broad knowledge of the field.
Examinations are normally scheduled during reading period. This year the examination period will be Thursday, May 8 and Monday, May 12, 2008. The examination should be approximately one hour in length. At the beginning of the examination, the honors advisor introduces the other faculty members and explains the general procedures to the student. A conventional format may be followed with each faculty member asking questions for about 15 minutes each, followed by 15 minutes of discussion. Other options include a brief student presentation or a longer lecture followed by a question and answer period. Toward the end of the examination, the honors advisor should ask the Curriculum Committee representative if she/he has any questions. All examiners should keep their questions as brief as possible so that the student has ample opportunity to speak.
Responsibilities of Honors Visitor
The visitor has responsibility to ensure that these guidelines are followed, and if necessary, should act as parliamentarian, interrupting the examiner, and taking part in the discussion of the candidate's performance in the oral. The visitor does not vote, but has the responsibility of returning the honors report form and visitor copy of the thesis to Jennifer Lewis in the Registrar's Office in Green Hall as soon as the oral examination has been completed. In the event that revisions to the thesis are necessary, the visitor copy of the thesis should nevertheless be returned to the Registrar's Office. If revisions to the thesis are suggested or required at the conclusion of the oral examination, the student is responsible for submitting the corrected copy of the thesis to Jennifer Lewis in the Registrar's Office prior to graduation. When the revised copy of thesis has been received, the earlier version will be discarded.
The award of Honors in the Major Field will be based upon the evaluation by the examining committee of the student's work in the honors program, including papers and concluding examinations. The honors advisor completes an honors report form for each of her/his own honors candidates. The Curriculum Committee visitor is responsible for returning the honors report form to the Registrar's Office.
The honors advisor is free to inform the candidate of the examining committee's evaluation of the paper and the oral examination. The student will receive official notice of successful or unsuccessful completion of the honors program from the Office of the Dean of the College soon after the completed honors report form is received.