|
The Honors Senior Capstone Project:
Some Guidelines
|
|
|
1. |
If you joined KSU’s Undergraduate Honors Program after April of 1999, you are required to complete the Honors Senior Capstone project the semester BEFORE you graduate. If you joined the program before April of 1999, you may do your Honors capstone your last semester, but please be advised that you will not have any margin for error should complications arise with the project or major revisions be required in the capstone product or the Honors Portfolio. |
|
|
|
|
2.
|
If you are preparing to do the final capstone project, you MUST enroll in Honors 4499, “The Honors Senior Capstone Experience.” This is a three-semester-hour course designed to give credit for the successful completion of the capstone product AND the Honors Portfolio. Your supervising instructor, Honors mentor, and the members of the Honors Council will collaborate in evaluating the capstone project and portfolio. |
|
Please
note: A capstone course required in a student’s major—History 4499,
for example—may not be substituted for Honors 4499.
|
|
|
3.
|
The semester before you enroll in Honors 4499, you must submit a DETAILED Honors capstone proposal to your Honors mentor and (if different) your supervising instructor, both of whom may suggest revisions. The proposal form can be found at the Honors website, which can be accessed from the KSU home page or the home page for the Department of University Studies. When your mentor and supervising instructor have approved the proposal and affixed their signatures, you should submit the proposal form to the Honors Director. The Honors Council will give the proposal its final review and must approve it before you proceed. |
|
Please
make sure you answer the questions on the capstone proposal form thoroughly.
IN PARTICULAR, BE SPECIFIC ABOUT THE PRODUCT OF YOUR CAPSTONE PROJECT—its
format, its major divisions, its length, etc. Please note, too, that
even if the main product of the experience is not written, some form
of written document—a description and analysis of procedures, for example—must
accompany the product and be incorporated into the appropriate section
of the Honors Portfolio.
|
|
|
Please send the following to the proposal form when
you submit it to the Honors Director:
|
|
| · an abstract that describes your project in jargon-free language appropriate for a diverse academic audience and avoids extensive use of the passive voice | |
| · a working bibliography of sources you may use to set your project in the context of existing research | |
4.
|
If the product of your capstone experience is a paper describing original research or an original synthesis of research in your field, please open the paper with a literature review that firmly establishes the relationship of your work to existing research. In addition, please follow the standard format for formal papers in your field, as dictated, for example, by the APA or MLA style manuals. |
| 5. | Please see the guidelines for preparation of the Honors Portfolio in determining what to include in that binder. |
| 6. | Finally, please adhere to the deadlines established for each stage of the capstone experience. |
|
|
|