Undergraduate Programs – Honors
Departmental Honors Track Requirements
The departmental honors track assists Commonwealth College students with special interest in political science in fulfilling requirements for graduation with High Latin Honors (magna or summa cum laude). The honors track is particularly beneficial for students who wish to pursue intensive study in a particular area of political science, or who expect to go on to law school or graduate study in the discipline.
Admission
Admission to the departmental track in political science is a two-part process. The student must first be admitted into Commonwealth College and then accepted by the Departmental Honors Coordinator into the political science honors track. In most cases, admission to the departmental track will be automatic, since there are no requirements for admission above those stipulated by Commonwealth College. However, each student is responsible for demonstrating a realistic ability to fulfill all the requirements for earning departmental honors within the time he or she has available before graduation.
GPA Requirements
All students admitted into and enrolled in the departmental track must maintain a minimum overall GPA of 3.2. In order to qualify for higher honors, the following overall averages must be attained: Magna cum laude: 3.5–3.799 Summa cum laude: 3.8–4.0
Additionally, students must earn a B+ or higher for Magna or A- or higher for Summa in their capstone experience work.
Honors Track Requirements
Students who wish to graduate with Departmental Honors must complete one of the three options listed below. Up to two Honors courses may be taken through the Five College interchange or while studying at another university, subject to submission and approval of an Honors Course substitution petition to Commonwealth College and the department. Such courses must meet the usual university and department requirements for Honors credit. The Honors Thesis (Option One) is the preferred option, and should be followed if it can be done without hardship or inconvenience.
Option One: Honors Thesis
Students must complete, with grades of B or better, the number of courses required in their Commonwealth College contract. Of these, two (2) must be departmental honors offerings. In addition, students must complete the Honors Thesis courses (POLISCI 499Y/T) with grades of B+ or higher for Magna cum laude and A- or higher for Summa cum laude. Students must follow Commonwealth College guidelines for manuscript archiving.
The two departmental offerings may be separate honors courses (course offerings having an H designation), regular courses with a one-credit Honors Colloquium attached, or regular courses with an Honors Independent Study (HIS) of one credit or more attached. To be counted as one of these two, the student must earn a minimum grade of B in a separate honors course or for both the regular course and the attached colloquium/HIS. At least one (1) of the departmental honors courses must be at the 300-level or above, and no more than one (1) may be an Honors Independent Study.
The Honors Thesis (POLISCI 499Y/T) will be offered over two semesters for three (3) units of credit in each semester. Ideally, students will begin the research component in the second semester of their junior year (POLISCI 499Y) and complete the research and writing component (POLISCI 499T) in the first semester of their senior year. The entire thesis and the oral “defense” must be completed by the end of classes of their final senior semester (POLISCI 499T). Students will receive an in-progress grade (Y) at the end of the research semester, which will be converted to a regular letter grade (by the Thesis Chair) upon completion of the thesis. The thesis should reflect an understanding of the importance of the topic to the relevant subfield of the discipline, careful and critical reading of the literature relevant to the student’s topic, and original thought or empirical evidence pertaining to the topic. Faculty should be careful not to expect master’s or doctoral quality results in an undergraduate Honors Thesis, but neither should they expect a mere recitation of the readily available literature on the topic.
The Honors Thesis will be prepared under the guidance of an Honors Thesis Committee of at least two (2) members. The Chair of the committee must be a regular or visiting faculty member of the Department of Political Science (including Five-College Professors). The remaining member(s) may be a faculty member or current Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Political Science, or a faculty member in any other department at the University or one of the member colleges of the Five-College Consortium. The second reader must be chosen in consultation with the thesis committee Chair and the Department Honors Coordinator. Upon completion of the thesis, the student will make an oral presentation and defense of the thesis to the committee. The grade for the thesis will be based primarily on the quality of the completed thesis and the oral presentation.
The Departmental Honors Coordinator will serve as an ex officio member of all thesis committees of which he or she is not a formal member. Should a committee be deadlocked over the appropriate grade to be granted in POLISCI 499Y and/or 499T, the Departmental Honors Coordinator may cast the deciding vote if so requested by the student and at least one committee member. Upon agreeing to serve as a regular member of a thesis committee, the Departmental Honors Coordinator will, in consultation with the other committee member(s) and the student, appoint another faculty member to fill this role.
The Honors Thesis must be completed, defended, and approved by the Guidance Committee no later than the last day of classes of the semester in which the student will graduate. An earlier completion date is recommended and may be specified by the Guidance Committee. The thesis must be prepared in accordance with the formatting guidelines established by the Modern Language Association, the Chicago Manual of Style, or the American Political Science Review. References and notes should be rendered carefully and consistently, and the papers should be free of all spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors. Typically, an honors thesis in Political Science will consist of a minimum of 10,000–12,000 words, plus notes, appendices, and bibliography. Commonwealth College has prepared a complete description of formal guidelines to be followed by the student (available under “Capstone Experiences” on their website. Upon approval by Thesis Committee, the Honors Candidate (student) will deliver the Honors Thesis to the Commonwealth College Office in Goodell Building. It will eventually be placed in the archives of the University Library.
Option Two: Graduate Seminar and Honors Project
Under this option, students must complete the number of courses required in their Commonwealth College contract. Of these, three (3) must be departmental honors offerings. In addition, students must complete a Political Science graduate research seminar (normally a 700-level course, although some 600-level courses may be substituted with approval of the Departmental Honors Coordinator). All must be completed with grades of B or better. The three departmental offerings may be designated honors courses (course offerings carrying an H designation), regular courses with a one-credit Honors colloquium attached, or regular courses with an Honors Independent Study (HIS) of one credit or more attached. To be counted as one of these three, the student must earn a minimum grade of B for the honors course or for both the regular course and the colloquium or HIS. At least two of the three departmental Honors courses must be at the 300-level or above, and no more than two may be Honors Independent Studies.
To complete the Honors Project, the student must enroll in a Political Science graduate seminar and fulfill the requirements of that seminar, including a substantial research paper of a minimum of 5,000–10,000 words. (Seminars not requiring the preparation of such papers may not be taken to satisfy this option, unless approval for the completion of such a research paper within the context of the seminar is obtained in advance from the instructor.) In addition to receiving credit for the graduate-level seminar, Honors Senior Project students must complete, with a grade of B or better, POLISCI 499P, a three-credit course consisting of an oral presentation of the seminar paper and an oral examination on the paper conducted by an Honors Senior Project Committee chaired by the instructor of the seminar, and consisting of at least one (1) other member of the University or Five-College faculty. With the approval of the Chair and the Departmental Honors Coordinator, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University may be substituted for the University or Five-College faculty member.
The Departmental Honors Coordinator will serve as an ex officio member of all Project committees of which he or she is not a formal member. Should a committee be deadlocked over the appropriate grade to be granted in POLISCI 499P, the Departmental Honors Coordinator may cast the deciding vote if so requested by the student and at least one committee member. Upon agreeing to serve as a regular member of a Project committee, the Departmental Honors Coordinator shall, in consultation with the other committee member(s) and the student, appoint another faculty member to fill this role.
The Honors Senior Project must be completed, defended, and approved by the student’s Honors Senior Project Committee no later than the last day of classes of the semester of the student's graduation. The Honors Senior Project (seminar) paper must be presented in a format consistent with the guidelines established by the Modern Language Association, the Chicago Manual of Style, or the American Political Science Review and meet Commonwealth College requirements for archiving). References or notes should be rendered carefully and consistently, and the papers should be free of all spelling, grammatical and typographical errors. Upon approval by the committee, the student will deliver the Honors Senior Project paper to the Honors Office for archiving.
Option Three: Capstone Experience Linked Courses
Periodically the department will offer Capstone Experience Linked courses
in conjunction with Commonwealth College taught by regular or adjunct political science faculty or senior doctoral candidates. These consist of two 3-credit 499 courses (over two semesters or a semester and summer) with a specific substantive and research focus and are normally taught in a research seminar format. Students may fulfill their senior CE requirement for both Commonwealth College and departmental honors by completing these courses with a grade of B+ or better. These CE courses are normally reserved for seniors, but may be open to juniors with permission of the instructor. In rare cases the Honors Coordinator may approve CE courses taught through other university departments if they have substantial political science focus and content.
Course work requirements for Option Three are the same as in Option Two above.
