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University Honors Program

 

Honors Service Project or Entrepreneurship Senior Thesis

As a student-driven service project or entrepreneurial experience can achieve pedagogical goals similar to a “traditional” Senior Thesis, students have the option to complete a “Service Project or Entrepreneurship Senior Thesis.” The deliverables for this option are almost limitless (events, business plans, policy documents, actual products, etc.) but the project outcome must mimic the scope of standard thesis deliverables and represent a similar time commitment over the semester:

3 credits = 112.5 hours total = 7.5 hours per week

4 credits = 150 hours total = 10 hours per week

 

Students interested in this option must complete the following steps:

  1. You must first arrange a meeting with Director Kung ([email protected]) during the semester prior to the semester in which the thesis will be started (in Spring/Summer 2023 for Fall 2023 projects or in Fall 2023 for Spring 2024 projects).
  2. You will then meet with Director Kung to discuss a general plan/outline of the proposed work. At this point, you need not have secured any firm commitments from a faculty advisor (or service organization), but you should know who you would like to work with and have a concrete idea for the form of the final thesis “deliverable.” Director Kung will either give the project “move-ahead” approval or require revisions and arrange for a second meeting.
  3. Once you have secured “move-ahead” approval, you must secure a faculty advisor. Note that since your thesis will be “non-traditional,” there may not be a GW faculty member who has expertise or experience in exactly what you will be working on. That’s okay! When choosing an advisor, it is most important that the faculty member be willing to provide general support and that they are comfortable evaluating a “non-traditional” deliverable. If your work is outside the expertise of your advisor, it would be appropriate for your advisor to arrange for an evaluation of the deliverable by a committee (which might include 2 or 3 other faculty or outside experts) but your advisor remains responsible for submitting your final grade.
  4. Once you have a faculty advisor, you must complete and submit in collaboration with your advisor an Honors Thesis Contract by the standard due date. The contract must be completed in particular detail to describe (1) the driving need/reason for the proposed project and (2) the specific deliverable (the “expected final product”). If you are working with an established organization, you must include in this section a clear description of how your work will align with their needs and how your contribution to that organization will be independent and student driven. 
  5. If you are working with an established organization, you must also submit a “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) signed by a representative of that organization. The MOU should indicate the organization's willingness for you to complete your thesis work with them and attest to the independent nature of your work. Certainly, your work can be drawn from the needs of that organization but because the project must be student driven, it cannot simply have been assigned to you by that organization or be part of their standard day-to-day operation. For example, if you are working with an organization that provides tutoring, then simply being a tutor is not thesis-level but developing a new curriculum for students might be appropriate. 

Project Resources:

Possible Funding Sources: