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Honors

Senior Honors Thesis

An honors program is available to IS majors who have demonstrated their ability to perform distinguished work. The Honors Thesis allows exceptional students in the undergraduate major to demonstrate the ability to treat a problem in a substantial and scholarly way.  Students write an honors thesis on a topic related to information science and defend it before a faculty committee.  They may graduate with honors or highest honors; this designation is printed on the final transcript and diploma.

Students may apply for the honors program in the spring of their junior year.  Admission to the honors program requires a GPA of 3.5 or better in the major and 3.2 or better overall, and approval of the SILS Director of the honors program.  Continuation in the honors program requires maintenance of a GPA of 3.5 or better, and completion of INLS 691H with a grade of B or better.  
 
The honors program consists of two courses:  INLS 691H, Honors Research, and INLS 692H, Honors Thesis in Information Science.  INLS 691H will be taken in the fall of the senior year.  In this course, each student selects a research topic of interest, learns about research methods, and writes a research proposal.  Assuming satisfactory completion of INLS 691H, students register for INLS 692H in the spring of their senior year.  
 
Each student should select a thesis advisor based on mutual interest in the topic, and the availability of the faculty member to advise the student during the thesis work.  The student and advisor should meet regularly to discuss the student’s research and writing.  
 
By the end of January, the thesis committee should be formed. The thesis committee consists of:
  1. The student’s thesis advisor, chosen while taking INLS 691H,
  2. A second reader, identified jointly by the student and advisor, and
  3. The SILS Director of the honors program (Director of Undergraduate Studies)  

The thesis must be completed and circulated to the thesis committee by the end of March, and the oral defense of the thesis must take place in the middle of April (exact dates will be based on the registrar’s calendar for the year).  The final approved copies of the thesis must be submitted to the SILS office; the due date will be communicated to those in the honors program, and it is always before the end of the semester.

Students who complete a high-quality thesis will graduate with honors; those whose thesis is exceptional will graduate with highest honors.  The SILS Director of the honors program will assemble all thesis advisors and second readers to evaluate the theses to be considered for honors each year.

Examples of BSIS Honors Thesis titles from the past:

  • Student and Faculty Perceptions, Attitudes and Use of Wikipedia by Alexander Foley (BSIS '08)
  • Cognitive Strategies for Constructing and Managing Passwords for Multiple Accounts by Julia Kampov-Polevoi (BSIS '08)
  • Illusionary Privacy in the Digital Landscape:  Identity, Intellectual Property and Privacy Concern on Facebook by Elizabeth Lyons (BSIS '08)
  • PDA:  Personal Digital Assistant or Personally Distracting and Addicting? by Robert Shoemake (BSIS '09)
  • Information Overload in Undergraduate Students by John Weis (BSIS '09)

These titles are available in the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library.  Check out the UNC Library Catalog for more information.

 
For information and university guidelines on preparing your Honors thesis, please visit The Honors Program website.