 |
 |
|
346 Bancroft Hall, Rock Hill, SC 29733 • 803/323-2209 • 803/323-2568 (Fax) |
|
 |
|
|
The Political Science Department is strongly committed to
the Winthrop University Honors Program. As evidence of this commitment,
the Political Science Department has the distinction of producing more
honors program graduates than any department in the University, and
several faculty members have served on the Honors Committee. We strongly encourage all eligible students to take honors
courses and to participate in the honors degree program. Taking honors
courses and completing an honors degree is looked upon very favorably by
graduate and professional schools’ admissions committees and is
particularly good preparation for graduate work in Political Science. Students who earn an honors degree must write a thesis. For complete details, please consult the honors program office
or the catalog. The following is a statement of the Political Science
Department’s policies with respect to completing the honors thesis. We
are fully committed to having our students successfully complete their
theses projects in a timely manner, to producing a piece of work in
which they can be proud, and to making the experience a positive one.
These policies were developed with these goals in mind.
The Student’s Rights and Responsibilities: Each
student writing an honors thesis will choose his/her thesis advisor from
among the tenured or tenure-track, full-time members of the Political
Science Department. Part-time faculty members and full-time members on
term (i.e. not tenured or tenure-track) appointments may serve as
members of the thesis committee, but not as the advisor. The student’s advisor should be the faculty member who has
the most expertise in his/her subject area. The student will choose
his/her other readers from Winthrop faculty members based on their
expertise relevant to the thesis topic, after consultation with the
thesis advisor. If a student wishes to choose an advisor whose area of
expertise is not in the field of his/her honors thesis topic, then the
student must choose another topic that is within his/her advisor’s
area of expertise. Whenever possible, the student is expected to present
his/her project and defend it before his/her committee. (Don’t freak.
This is not as bad as it sounds, and is very good practice for a
Master’s or Ph.D. thesis defense.) Students may design any type of thesis project that is
acceptable to the thesis advisor, the readers on his/her committee and
the Honors program. This includes, but is not limited to, writing an
original piece of research or completing a lengthy literature review on
a topic of current relevance to Political Science.
The Thesis Advisor’s Responsibilities:
Honors
Program candidates writing a thesis certainly have the right to some
attention and guidance from their faculty advisors. As such, thesis
students can expect to work closely with their advisors. The advisor
will provide the student with a timeline for completion of the project
that will include specific deadlines and penalties for missed deadlines.
The advisor will provide detailed critiques of the student’s work
throughout the project and communicate the student’s progress to
his/her other committee members. The deadlines should stipulate that the
student complete and circulate a draft of the thesis to the committee
members about a month before the end of the semester. This practice will
allow the student ample time to revise the thesis in response to
committee members’ comments. Nothing in this statement is intended to conflict or
supercede the policies established by the Honors Program at Winthrop
University. Should a question or conflict arise between the
department’s policies and those of the Honors Program, the Honors
Program’s policies will take precedence. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
|
PLSC
Faculty/Staff Directory |
Political Science Program |
Curriculum |
Careers in Political Science
| |
|
|
Rock
Hill, South Carolina 29733 |
|