Spring 2020 Honors Program Updates

Thesis Defense Information

FALL 2020 THESIS REGISTRATION:

The due date for defending in the fall has been extended to Tuesday, May 12th.  Forms should be downloaded and filled out by the student, then emailed to honors@colorado.edu.  Students are welcome to secure signatures via DocuSign; however, we recognize that this is not always possible.  In lieu of signatures from your Thesis Advisor and Honors Council Representative, please have your Thesis Advisor email honors@colorado.edu stating that they have approved your project and agree to serve as Thesis Advisor.  While you should contact your Honors Council Representative to confirm that they will serve, we will contact them to verify in lieu of a signature.  Outside Readers do not require a signature.  If you have the ability to combine your registration form into the same PDF file as your prospectus, timeline, and bibliography, it is greatly appreciated but not required.  Please email honors@colorado.edu with any questions.

Some of you have asked about issues with lab access and how that might affect your ability to complete your thesis project on time.  If you are unable to complete your lab work, and therefore unable to complete your thesis in the semester that you're scheduled to defend, you do have the option to defer your defense to a future semester.  You do not have to carry a full load of classes, or enroll in any classes at all, to defend; however, you will need to postpone your graduation.  The Honors Program is authorized to award Latin honors to undergraduates only, so this is a key step.  The last day you can notify us to defer is the last day you can defend, so, for example, if you're registered to defend in Fall 2020, the last day you can change your mind and defer to a future semester is November 4, 2020. 

Here are the steps you need to follow to defer:

• Check with your Department's Honors Council Representative for approval, and notify the Honors Program of your plans by emailing honors@colorado.edu
• See your regular advisor to make sure all requirements have been met for graduation
• Change your graduation to a future term via the Buff Portal
• Make sure that all members of your thesis committee are aware of the deferral, and confirm they are available to continue their participation on your committee with the new defense deadline.  If they are not, and you need to make changes to your committee, be sure to notify the Honors Program so that your registration packet can be updated.
• If you would like access to certain university benefits during the semester in which you are not registered (such as an EcoPass, the ability to check out books from the library, etc.), please complete the LOA Optional Benefits Application on the Office of the Registrar's website
• You may also need to check with Financial Aid to make sure that your enrollment status does not affect any student loans or other financial aid you receive

SPRING 2020 THESIS DEFENSE:

Going forward, all Spring 2020 thesis defenses must be conducted remotely since they fall under the category of instructional interaction.  Students, please contact your Honors Council Representative to determine what remote technology will be utilized, and to coordinate the remote defense with your committee.  Please be aware that the oral, interactive nature of a thesis defense is still in place; the only difference is that it will be held remotely instead of in person.

In regards to turning in your defense copy, going forward, we are only accepting electronic submissions in PDF form.  Please be sure to have your first and last name in the title of the PDF, preferably in the format "Last First Defense Copy".  If your PDF is too large to attach to an email, please us OIT's large file transfer and send it to janelle.henderson@colorado.edu.  Here is the link:  https://oit.colorado.edu/services/file-transfer-storage-infrastructure/large-file-transfer

As of March 18th, we have extended the deadlines for defending, turning in defense copies, faculty defense recommendations, and uploading to CU Scholar, as well as the notification date for Honors designations.  Here are the current deadlines:

• April 15, 2020:  Last day to defend and defense copy due by 3:00 p.m.
  • The defense copy is the version of the thesis you defended in front of your committee, and does not include changes your committee may have suggested during your defense.  Please email a PDF version of your thesis as an attachment to honors@colorado.edu, to the attention of Janelle Henderson. If you have already turned in a paper copy, it is not necessary to email a PDF; however, it would be appreciated.  If your PDF is too large to attach to an email, please us OIT's large file transfer and send it to janelle.henderson@colorado.edu.  Here is the link:  https://oit.colorado.edu/services/file-transfer-storage-infrastructure/large-file-transfer
  • Your title page must include your name, department, thesis title, and defense date as well as the names and departments of each of your committee members, with the thesis advisor specified.
  • This is also the last day to defend for this semester.
• April 20, 2020:  Final copy due on CU Scholar by 11:59 p.m.
  • Upload the final copy of your thesis to the Undergraduate Honors Theses repository on CU Scholar (colorado.edu/honors/graduation/cuscholar).
  • If you need to make changes to your uploaded thesis, you can do so for a limited time. Theses will be approved for posting to CU Scholar within four weeks.  If you have uploaded your paper and need to make changes, please email cuscholaradmin@colorado.edu and they will be happy to help.
• April 27, 2020:  Honors designations emailed by 5:00 p.m. Students will be notified of their honors designation at their colorado.edu email address.

Deferring your defense:  If you are having difficulties completing your thesis project and/or defending, you may wish to defer your defense and graduation to a future semester to give yourself more time.  For more information on this option, please see FAQ topics "What do I do if I need to defer my thesis project or no longer want to defend my thesis?" or "I'd like to defer my graduation in order to finish my thesis. Do I have to be enrolled in classes?" on our Latin honors FAQ page for more details.  You do not need to be enrolled in classes in order to defend.  Here is the link to the Latin honors FAQ page:   https://www.colorado.edu/honors/graduationfaq  Please email honors@colorado.edu if you have questions or decide to defer.Please check back here periodically for updates.

FACULTY:  Please click here for information on defense forms and recommendation letters, as well as deadline updates.