499 Grading

Grade the Thesis Seminar work as you would any other course - in accordance with the expectations set forth in the syllabus, or, for the Individually Contracted Thesis, as recorded in the contract as approved on CHC PATHS. The grade should reflect the quality of the student's work, attendance, and participation. 

• Honors Thesis graded “B” or higher in all components will count toward graduation credit and fulfillment of Commonwealth Honors College (CHC) requirements. 
• Honors Thesis coursework graded “D” to “B-” will count toward graduation credit but not fulfillment of CHC requirements. 
• Final grades awarded for the Honors Thesis coursework, as well as Research Manuscript or Creative Portfolio, will affect the CHC Honors credentials awarded at graduation. Please see Graduation with Honors for details.  

In the event of extenuating circumstances that delay completion of a 499 course, Honors College students should be given the same respect and consideration as other students, neither more nor less. Refer to the Undergraduate Registrar's Academic Regulations Handbook for standard policies. 

Grade Submission Process 

• Individually Contracted Thesis courses registered as "HONORS" 499Y/T/P: for current or previous 3 semesters, instructor forwards grade to CHC Roster Coordinator (RC).
• Individually Contracted Thesis courses registered as "DEPARTMENT X" 499Y/T/P" (e.g., HIST, ENGL, CMPSCI): for current or previous 3 semesters, instructor forwards grades to the Department Multi-instructor Roster Coordinator (DRC) for the department in which 499Y/T/P is registered; DRC submits/changes grades directly on SPIRE.*
• Seminars registered as either "HONORS" or "DEPARTMENT X" 499 (e.g., 499A/B, 499C/D, etc.): for current or previous 3 semesters, instructor has online access to SPIRE grade roster and submits grades

*SPIRE offers additional details regarding submitting grade changes online (INC, NR, Y, or '__' (blank). For further assistance, contact your department's Roster Coordinator or Administrative Assistant.

Honors Thesis Grading Guidelines 

Grading options for the Honors Thesis may vary. Visit the Honors Thesis Grading Guidelines page for more details. 

Other Grading Issues 

Some students may feel in jeopardy if they are earning less than our required grade minimum for CHC Honors with distinction. To earn CHC Honors credentials, students must earn the following minimum grades for both their Honors Thesis coursework and the final Research Manuscript or Creative Portfolio: 

• A-  for Honors with greater or greatest distinction 
• B+ for Honors with distinction 
• B   for Honors 

We encourage ongoing communication between you and your Honors Thesis students regarding their progress. If any of your students are in jeopardy, please have a candid discussion with them as soon as possible, document your conversations in writing, and refer the student to a Commonwealth College advisor if necessary. 

Please be aware that Honors College students cannot be cleared for graduation until Honors Thesis INC, NR, Y, or '__' grades have been converted to final grades on SPIRE.

Contacts 

Feel free to contact Dominic Usher, dusher [at] umass [dot] edu (dusher[at]umass[dot]edu) if you have questions. 

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499 Guidelines for Faculty

The Honors Thesis, which may be completed in a Research Manuscript or Creative Portfolio format, is designed to provide students with an opportunity to integrate their undergraduate experiences and prepare for their careers. Building on the knowledge and skills they have acquired, students pursue research questions, create art, engage the wider community in meaningful activity, or work intensively on one of a variety of other academic projects.

Expectations for the Honors Thesis are high. Whether the intended end product is a Research Manuscript or a Creative Portfolio (comprising a manuscript and an artifact), all Honors Theses: 

• Are 6+ credits. 
• Begin with creative inquiry and systematic research. 
• Include documentation of substantive scholarly endeavor. 
• Culminate in a final presentation. 

Honors Thesis Formats 

The Honors Thesis may be done in either of two formats.

1. Research Manuscript - The Research Manuscript is the customary format for presenting extended investigation and research, resulting in a written document of 40-60 pages.  
    
2. Creative Portfolio  - The Creative Portfolio format involves a written document of 10-20 pages coupled with a creative artifact, such as a performance, musical score, architectural blueprint, engineering invention, screenplay, business case study, collection of original poetry, or art exhibition.  

Thesis Approaches 

There are two ways for students to approach the Honors Thesis: through a Thesis Seminar or by pursuing an Individually Contracted Thesis.  

Thesis Seminars (faculty initiated) 

Format: These 6+ credit Thesis Seminars require the approval of a syllabus by the Commonwealth Honors College Council. They are generally taught seminar style in a traditional classroom setting and are typically offered as two 4-credit courses taken sequentially over two semesters (usually the fall and spring of the senior year).

Thesis Seminars, like their individually-contracted counterparts, require major scholarly undertakings that result in a Research Manuscript or Creative Portfolio format. In lieu of a final presentation, most Honors seminars include a presentation to course members, the instructor, or both. Many seminars require that the presentation be at the annual April Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference.

Registration: Most Thesis Seminars are registered by students directly on SPIRE. Occasionally, registration may require instructor permission beforehand to ensure that students fully understand and are able to commit to course expectations. Such instructions will be noted in the course description in the Commonwealth Honors College online Honors Course Guide.

Syllabus Approval: Instructors who are interested in proposing a Thesis Seminar must submit a Thesis Seminar Proposal to the Commonwealth Honors College office for review by the Commonwealth Honors College Council (CHCC). If the Thesis Seminar is approved, and funding is available from Commonwealth Honors College or the instructor’s department, the course will be offered and advertised in the Commonwealth Honors College online Honors Course Guide. 

Individually Contracted Thesis (student initiated) 

An Individually Contracted Thesis requires an agreed-upon and approved contract, proposal, and guidance committee and terminates with a presentation or performance. Each is typically six or more credits and taken over two semesters (often the fall and spring of the senior year).

Proposal Overview

A proposal is required for each semester of the Independently Contracted Thesis: the 499Y Semester Plan Proposal (Honors Thesis Part 1) and 499T/P Honors Thesis Proposal (Honors Thesis Part 2) require a definition of the Honors Thesis work and establish a comprehensive list of goals, methodology, evaluation procedures, and faculty expectations. 

Proposal submission: The Individually Contracted Thesis is registered by Commonwealth Honors College after approval by the CHCC Academic Standards Committee. Students submit their proposals via the PATHS website. Faculty who have agreed to act as the chair of a student’s Thesis Committee are expected to work with the student in advance of the submission deadline to help the student prepare the 499Y Semester Plan Proposal (Honors Thesis Part 1) for the first semester. 

Detailed information about the Individually Contracted Thesis is available regarding the proposal requirements, general timeline, composition of the Thesis Committee, and presentation. If the work involves live human beings, the faculty should provide relevant information for the student to incorporate into the proposal and should also guide the student through the IRB approval process, if necessary, as the proposal is passed on for review by the Honors Program Director and the Academic Standards Committee.

Other comments are encouraged to clarify, for example, the role of the student when multiple students are working on the same project, or to explain why the second committee member is not a UMass faculty member. It is particularly important that the proposal contain a description of an activity or assignment that can be evaluated by the end of the add-drop period, ensure that satisfactory progress is being made.

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Honors Thesis Grading Guidelines

Faculty should submit grades for the Honors Thesis through their normal department channels.  

FIRST SEMESTER GRADING 

These guidelines detail grading options for the first semester of a two-semester Honors Thesis. 

Standard Grading 

Choose standard grading (A, A-, B+, B, etc.) when the thesis has clearly defined assignments or benchmarks that can be tallied into a semester grade that will not be altered by subsequent work. For example, an instructor might

• Submit an “A” for a student who has conducted excellent research to date 
• Submit an appropriately low grade for a student whose performance to date is unacceptable due to frequent absence, or inadequate reporting or research.  

Advantages of standard grading 

• Revised grading will be not be required later 
• The student receives a clear, unambiguous progress assessment 

Note: The grade for the first semester may differ from the grade of the second semester based upon the quality of the student's work in each semester.

YEAR-LONG/DEFERRED GRADING 

“Y” Grading 

Year-long grading allows the submission of a “Y” grade as a non-penalty incomplete. 

• Thesis Seminars may be designated as "Y" grading by the instructor during the course scheduling process. If selected, "Y" grading should also be noted in the syllabus. 
• An Independently Contracted Thesis is always scheduled with the "Y" grading option.  

Choose “Y” grading when you wish to 

• Grade the year-long effort only after the end of the second semester and you are able to determine with confidence that the student has made satisfactory progress in the first semester (otherwise a low grade may be more appropriate) 
• Use the “Y” grade as a neutral placeholder until the second semester is complete (vs. an INC grade which would average as an "F" until the grade is changed).  

Consequences of Y grading 

• In addition to submitting the grade for the final semester on SPIRE, you will need to submit a change of grade for the "Y" semester to a final grade.  (You may do so on SPIRE for the most recent four semesters or via a UG Registrar's "Change of Grade" form for older semesters.) 
• Students may be ignorant of serious problems with their coursework unless you have had a candid discussion with them. 

SECOND SEMESTER, CONCURRENT, OR YEAR-LONG GRADING

These guidelines detail grading options for the following circumstances:

• Single semester Honors Thesis or project (6 credit minimum) 
• Concurrent Honors Thesis or project pair (3 + 3 credit minimum) 
• Final semester of an Honors Thesis 

Upon completion of a single-semester Honors Thesis, a set of paired Thesis Seminars, or the final semester of an Honors Thesis, the instructor may submit either a final grade(s) or "INCs" on the SPIRE grade roster(s). Note: Seminar grades should not be submitted until the final Honors Thesis Research Manuscripts or Creative Portfolios have been evaluated and graded.

Standard Grading

If a standard grade (“A”, “A-“, “B+”, “B," etc.) is submitted for the final semester (and in the case of a thesis sequence, if a standard grade was submitted for the first semester) then no further grading action is required.

INC and Y Grading:

If an INC is submitted for the final semester (or if a “Y grade was submitted earlier for the first semester of a Thesis) then you will need to also convert the "Ys" and/or “INCs” to standard grades upon completion of the student's work.  You may do so on SPIRE (for the most recent four semesters) or via a "Change of Grade" form (for older semesters).

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Proposing a Thesis Seminar 499 Course

There are many reasons to consider proposing a 499 C/D* Thesis Seminar course to the Commonwealth Honors College (CHC), especially as there is more Honors College student demand than course supply. 

 Reasons to Propose a Thesis Seminar

• It provides Honors College students with a substantial educational experience that will be excellent preparation for their careers. They will have an opportunity to develop/acquire disciplinary research skills, learn about a topic of current research interest, conduct research and write an in-depth, extended account of their work, enhance their academic qualifications for graduate school.  
• It provides YOU with a dozen or so highly motivated, smart research assistants, whom you will train during the first semester and then advise on the development and execution of their research during the second semester. Their findings might generate materials for journal articles, or be the basis of book chapters, or for use in your teaching of other classes.  
• Your Department may be eligible for course funding support.  

Funding Eligibility

• The Thesis Seminar must be open to CHC students of all majors and appeal to students from a range of fields. 499 courses that primarily serve majors of the offering Department are not eligible for funding. If student enrollment shifts over time to become mainly departmental majors, the Department may become ineligible for funding. 
• CHC standard funding for courses approved for funding is $7,500 per course. For two-semester 499 seminars, total funding is $15,000. 
• Funds must be available and CHC must provide positive agreement. 

Consult Before You Commit

Before you invest a lot of time and effort in submitting the rather detailed documentation that the CHC Council course committee will want to see to evaluate your proposal, here are a few things to think about.  If you decide to proceed, we suggest you create a two-page summary of what you have in mind and send it to Dominick Usher, Senior Assistant Dean, for preliminary evaluation (dusher [at] umass [dot] edu (dusher[at]umass[dot]edu)). 

Note that CHC has phased out the word “capstone,” even though it does still appear in some URLs and documents. Dominick can also send you one or more example syllabi from successful past proposals that have similarities to what you plan.

Thesis Seminar Format

• Course length: Two (2) semesters

• Total course credits: 8 credits recommended; at least 6 credits required

• Student capacity: 12 students minimum - 15 students maximum per course   

In the most common model, the fall course is mostly coursework, so that the students get up to speed with the relevant topics, and will involve getting the students to write, preferably a variety of high and low stakes pieces. At the end of the semester, students should submit a substantial written paper (15 – 20 pages) that describes work done during the semester on the topic that will eventually form the Honors Thesis and outlines possible future work for the spring. 

In the spring semester, students will spend a substantial amount of time on their Honors Thesis research and the associated writing, although there should be class activities as well. We expect that students will meet regularly with the instructor in one-on-one situations and get feedback on both ideas and the written drafts. 

Honors Thesis Content 

The Honors Thesis should be substantial, between 40 – 60 pages. Oral communication of findings is important, and CHC expects to see in-class progress presentations and a more formal final presentation. An excellent “external” venue is the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference, held towards the end of April, with abstracts due around mid-February.

Typically, students are admitted by consent of the instructor, and we recommend that you incorporate some description of your selection process in your documentation (and the notifications that appear on SPIRE) that may include face-to-face meetings and/or email communications so that you can align the student’s expectations with your own, and establish whether the student already has ideas for an Honors Thesis topic. Some instructors ask for a writing sample. In the fall course, we encourage instructors to ask for a substantial piece of formal writing prior to the end of the “W” period, ideally one that requests an exploration of the topic and direction of the Honors Thesis, and build on that work with a more extensive paper due at the end of the semester. As students will not have much time to choose their topics, encouraging them to bring some ideas to the course seems sensible.

Thesis Seminar Proposal Submission

The Thesis Seminar proposal is submitted through the Campus Course Management System.

* Other alphas are available and may be deemed appropriate according to the structure of the 499 course. The most common is C/D indicating Thesis Seminar. The sequence N/O is used if students are producing a Creative Portfolio rather than a Research Manuscript.

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