All Schreyer scholars are assigned both an honors adviser and an academic adviser. The honors adviser is a faculty member whose primary role is to help you navigate your academic life and achieve your goals at Penn State. Among other things, your honors adviser can help you choose the right courses, discuss whether a major is right for you, and review what enrichment and professional development opportunities you should pursue in addition to your coursework. Your academic adviser is there to assist you with practical matters such as scheduling classes and tracking degree requirements, and to help you find solutions to problems that interfere with your success at Penn State.
The thesis adviser is a faculty member who will supervise your honors thesis. You will meet with your thesis adviser on a regular basis during the thesis writing process. It is your responsibility to secure a thesis adviser by the end of your junior year. The honors adviser is a faculty member assigned to you upon entry into the Schreyer Honors College. The honors adviser is there to help you navigate your academic life and achieve your goals at Penn State. While you can discuss your thesis with your honors adviser, most of your interactions during the thesis writing process will be with your thesis adviser. Both your thesis adviser and your honors adviser must approve your thesis.
Most Schreyer scholars do not begin looking for a thesis adviser until their junior year when they start to think about potential topics for their honors thesis. It is often a good idea to have taken courses with potential thesis advisers so that you can get to know them and they can get to know you. Most students arrange to meet with potential thesis advisers to talk about their proposed thesis topic. After you have discussed your potential thesis topic with several faculty members, you must get one of them to agree to act as your thesis adviser. It is your responsibility to secure a thesis adviser by the end of your junior year.
You can find all information on the requirements and expectations of all Schreyer scholars in the Schreyer Honors College Student Handbook.
Yes, you can change your honors adviser. If you have questions or concerns about your honors advising, please contact the Schreyer Honors College of Academic Advising, Dr. Richard Stoller, at rjs@psu.edu.
- Political Science 300H: An Introduction to Thesis Research.
- Political Science 309: Quantitative Political Analysis.
- Data-Intensive Course
- Sophomore year: Complete Political Science 309: Quantitative Political Analysis.
- Junior year: Complete Political Science 300H: An Introduction to Thesis Research. Find a thesis adviser and submit a Thesis Proposal Report.
- Senior Year: Write your honors thesis in Political Science 306H: Senior Thesis Writing Workshop over the entire year and in Political Science 494H: Independent Research during the Spring semester. Submit your thesis and present your research at the Undergraduate Research Exhibition.
The only requirement is that you receive a grade of B+ or better in Political Science 309: Quantitative Political Analysis.
Yes, it is possible for your thesis adviser not to be in the Department of Political Science. It remains your responsibility, though, to find a thesis adviser by the end of your junior year. Your thesis must still be approved by your honors adviser in the Department of Political Science.
To fully complete an honors thesis, students must also produce a video presentation describing their honors thesis project. The video presentation should be no more than 5 minutes in length and must be submitted to their thesis advisor and honors advisor as a YouTube link (set as UNLISTED) via email. Students may wish to include a slideshow to accompany their audio narration in their video presentation. The video presentation should clearly state the thesis title, the student’s name, and the thesis advisor’s name. It’s recommended that the video presentation include the research question, the student’s theory and key hypotheses, an overview of the research design and empirical results, and a short concluding statement. The video presentation should be submitted within 48 hours of Schreyer’s Final Thesis Submission Deadline. Honors thesis video presentations will be posted and made publicly available on the Department of Political Science’s webpage. Important: An honors thesis cannot be approved until the accompanying video presentation has been submitted.