Departmental Honors

Pursue a thesis your senior year.

All students in the Honors College are required to produce a thesis before graduating.

Departmental Honors is a distinction conferred at the student’s graduation for the successful completion of an approved two-semester academic thesis in the major discipline.

Candidates for Departmental Honors must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, and a thesis proposal must be approved by the major department before the student begins work on the thesis.

Students also have the option of completing an interdisciplinary Honors College thesis. This track is particularly suitable for students whose research/creative interests do not fit neatly within a single disciplinary field.  

Students completing a non-departmental thesis must also have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, and a thesis proposal must be approved by the Honors College before the student begins work on the thesis.

The Process

After a thesis proposal is approved, the student works for two semesters under the supervision of a selected professor.

At the end of the first semester, the student prepares a progress report to be approved by an examination committee at a formal progress review meeting to allow for guidance and feedback midway through the thesis work.

Near the end of the second semester, the student defends the final thesis before the examination committee, which makes a final determination about whether or not to recommend the candidate for honors.

Final approved theses are cataloged in the UTC Library via UTC Scholar.

Administrative record-keeping related to Departmental Honors is managed by the Honors College. Policies and procedures governing Departmental Honors are outlined in the Honors Thesis Manual.

Submit questions or comments to [email protected]