Political Science Senior Honors Program

Senior Honors Seminar and Senior Thesis

To receive departmental honors, students are required to complete Political Science 191A-B Senior Honors Seminar: Frontiers in Political Science. The two-quarter graded seminar satisfies two upper division Political Science courses toward the twelve required for a degree. Through the two-quarter seminar, students will complete a senior thesis. Please note that POLI 191A is offered only in fall quarter and POLI 191B is offered only in winter quarter and these courses must be taken in consecutive quarters.

Admission Criteria

To be admitted to the seminar, a student must have:

Senior standing in the first quarter of the seminar
Minimum GPA of 3.6 in political science (this includes lower division, courses taken through Education Abroad Program, and Summer Session)
Completed ALL lower-division requirements including POLI 30(D) - Political Inquiry
Completed at least five upper-division Political Science courses
A faculty advisor from the list of Core Faculty in the Department.
Completed and submitted the Senior Honors Seminar Recommendation Form

Final eligibility is evaluated after Summer Session 2 grades have been submitted; this means that students may take courses to complete the criteria above during the summer session(s) prior to the Fall quarter in which the Senior Honors Program begins.

For the 2020 - 2021 Senior Honors Program, the recommendation/advisor form must be submitted to the undergraduate advisor by September 14, 2020.

Finding a Faculty Advisor

To be considered for the honors seminar, students must submit a substantial piece of writing to a member of the faculty. The department defines "substantial" as a paper in which the student has carefully developed an argument and systematically mustered evidence in support of it. This written work is intended to give students practice so that the 40-100-page thesis does not loom as an intimidating prospect. These papers may develop out of any of our upper-division courses that require papers, any departmental seminar, or in conjunction with coursework completed on EAP or OAP.

If the faculty member feels that the student is adequately prepared for the seminar, they will sign the Senior Honors Seminar Recommendation Form stating they are willing to advise the student during the course of the seminar. When submitting the recommendation form and piece of writing to the faculty member, students must provide a copy of their academic history from TritonLink. For ease of reading, select the "sort by subject" link when printing the academic history to print in subject order rather than quarter by quarter.

How the Thesis Grade is Determined

Each thesis will be read by two members of the department faculty; both of whom will assign the thesis a point score. The standard of evaluation will be that normally used by each faculty member to grade seminar papers of graduating seniors. Grades, point scores, and their honors equivalent are as follows:

Letter Grade	Point Score	Honors
A	4.0 3.9 3.8 3.7	Highest Honors Highest Honors High Honors High Honors
A-	3.6 3.5	Honors Honors
A-/B+	3.4 3.3	No Honors No Honors
B	3.0	No Honors
B-	2.7	No Honors
C+	2.3	No Honors
C	2.0	No Honors

If the point scores assigned by two readers differ by more than two tenths of a point (e.g., 3.5 versus 3.8), the thesis will be read by a third reader. Beginning 2013/14, in the honors calculation involving a third reader, the median score will be used.

To graduate with honors in political science, a student must have received an average point score of 3.5 or higher on the honors thesis and maintained a GPA of 3.5 or above in the major through the end of the second quarter of the honors seminar.

How Honors is Awarded

The award of honors level (Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors) is by vote of the political science faculty. The award of honors will be based on the average of (1) the student's departmental grade point average at the end of the second quarter of the honors seminar (50%), and (2) the point score assigned the honors thesis by the readers (50%) .

Timeline for the Senior Honors Seminar Program & Course Enrollment

Pre-Senior Year:

Meet with the Department's Undergraduate Advisor to determine if the Senior Honors Seminar Program is a good fit for you academically:

Verify eligibility requirements
Review application materials needed for program eligibility
Review your POLI GPA
Review remaining courses needed for your Political Science Major

Academic Year Before Desired Participation:

Fall Quarter through Summer Session II: Students continue to take courses needed to be eligible for the Senior Honors Seminar Program. The Political Science GPA is determined AFTER Summer Session II grades have been posted.

Winter Quarter through end of Spring Quarter: Students planning to apply for the program should be seeking out and confirming their Faculty Advisor. The Faculty Advisor MUST be a current Core Faculty member in the Department of Political Science.

Spring Quarter through Summer Session II: Students can begin to submit all required application materials to the Department's Undergraduate Advisor.

Monday prior to Week 0 of Fall Quarter: Deadline for the submission of all application materials.

Week prior to Week 0 of Fall Quarter: Application materials and student eligibility are reviewed; students accepted to the Senior Honors Seminar Program are notified via email and VAC, and they are preauthorized to enroll in POLI 191A for Fall Quarter.

Fall Quarter

Week 0 - Friday of Week 2: Student accepted to the Senior Honors Seminar Program enroll in POLI 191A before the add deadline.

Finals Week: Faculty Advisors are contacted by the Department's Undergraduate Advisor regarding student's grades in POLI 191A.

Post-Finals Week: Department's Undergraduate Advisor preauthorizes eligible students to enroll in POLI 191B for Winter Quarter.

Winter Quarter

Week 0 - Friday of Week 2: Student eligible to continue with the Senior Honors Seminar Program enroll in POLI 191B before the add deadline.

Finals Week: Faculty Advisors are contacted by the Department's Undergraduate Advisor regarding student's grades in POLI 191B.

Post-Finals Week/Spring Break: Students begin to submit their completed thesis online and three (3) bound, hard copies of their completed thesis to the Department's Undergraduate Advisor.

Spring Quarter

Monday of Week 1 by 2:00pm: Deadline for students to submit their completed thesis online and three (3) bound, hard copies of their completed thesis to the Department's Undergraduate Advisor.

Early April - Early May: Department of Political Science Faculty read and evaluate theses. Decisions are made regarding level of honors for each student.

Mid-May: Results of honors are sent to students via email. Those who have earned a level of honors are invited to attend the Senior Honors Reception in mid-June.