Honors Thesis Timeline

Suggested timeline to ensure evaluation of the senior thesis within one quarter

Week 1: Student turns in complete draft to thesis advisor and notifies the undergraduate faculty advisor. The complete draft should be typed double-spaced in standard twelve-point font (e.g., Times New Roman or Cambria) with one-inch margins on each side (allowing space for binding), a title page, page numbers on all but the title page, a table of contents, footnotes or endnotes and bibliography in the format agreed upon with the thesis advisor.  
When the complete draft is turned in, the undergraduate faculty advisor arranges for two readers, at least one of whom is normally a faculty member in Comparative Literature.

Week 3: Thesis advisor reads complete draft and suggests any necessary revisions.

Week 5: Student turns in revised draft to the thesis advisor, the thesis advisor approves the final draft, and the student turns in finished draft to the undergraduate faculty advisor, who distributes them to the two readers. (The student may be asked to provide bound copies (copy-shop binding with one-inch margins on each side after binding) for the purpose of this reader review.)

Week 7: Each reader sends a short reader's report, including a recommended grade of Highest Honors, High Honors, Honors, or no honors, to the undergraduate faculty advisor, who shares the reports with the thesis advisor. The thesis advisor meets with the student and discusses the readers' reports. The thesis advisor recommends a thesis grade to the undergraduate faculty advisor.

Week 8: The undergraduate faculty advisor reviews the thesis along with the readers' reports and the thesis advisor's recommendation, and assigns Highest Honors, High Honors, Honors, or no honors based on the recommended thesis grade and the student’s cumulative GPA, which must meet the annual ranges for honors set by the College of Letters and Science. One bound copy of the thesis is returned to the student and the other bound copy is placed in the Comparative Literature library and (in electronic form) on the Comparative Literature website.