Project Guidelines

1. Seek employment or experience early in your undergraduate studies as an assistant to a faculty member in research, teaching, extension, or administration. Use this experience to learn.
   1. About the research, teaching, extension, or administration process.
   2. What aspects you enjoy most.
   3. How to team with a faculty member on a project.
2. Select an area to investigate.
   1. Pick a topic about which you are eager to learn more.
   2. Pick a question for which you do not know the answer.
   3. Investigate what others have discovered about your topic. This step will require an extended stay at the library and consultation with a reference librarian.
3. Choose a faculty member to be your Honor's project advisor.
   1. Select someone whose academic interests match yours.
   2. Secure the faculty advisor's permission to study under his/her mentorship.
4. Enroll in an independent student course in the area of your major for 2-3 credit hours.
   1. Because many honor's projects extend over a full academic year, wait until the semester in which you will complete the project to enroll.
   2. Arrange with your faculty advisor to title your project for your transcript.
   3. Begin your work by agreeing on the topic, time line, performance standards, the end product, and the kind of interaction you will have with the advisor.
5. Most projects involve the following elements:
   1. A thorough review of literature that is synthesized and incorporated into your report.
   2. Approximately 40 hours of work for each credit hour earned.
   3. Research of a significant question.
   4. Approval from the University Research Compliance Office if you are conducting research that involves people or animals.
   5. Electronic copies of a written report completed by graduation and submitted to the Dean's Office and the University Honors Program Office.
   6. An Honor's Project Form submitted by project advisor to document your work.
6. (Optional, but recommended) Publish or present your work.
   1. Discuss possible publication or professional presentation opportunities with your project advisor.
   2. Apply to present your paper at the Undergraduate Research Community for Human Science Annual Conference.
   3. Submit your paper to the online Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences. This peer-reviewed electronic journal will publish the best undergraduate research papers submitted. For information, you can contact the editor, Dr. Dorothy Mitstifer at .