Candidates for Departmental Honors in English, identified by superior performance in their major course work, may be invited to submit a senior thesis (normally written in conjunction with or as a result of study undertaken in a seminar or Directed Reading and Research or Independent Writing Project) and to present their work for discussion with members of the faculty.

The time frame for Departmental Honors is as follows:

1. Spring of junior year: the department will invite qualified juniors to meet with the chair to discuss departmental honors. To qualify, students should have an average of at least 3.50 in English.

2. By September 15 of senior year, those undertaking departmental honors projects should submit to the department chair the name of their faculty advisor and the names of two other department members who have agreed to be readers.

3. Drafts may go to the advisor at any time in the fall. The two faculty readers should also be given drafts beginning in February.

4. The Honors paper must be completed by April 1 to the satisfaction of at least two faculty members within or outside the department in addition to the advisor. The student should submit the semi-final draft to these three readers by Monday after Spring Break. If the three readers recommend revisions, these must be completed by April 1. If the revisions are sufficient and the paper is judged of honors quality, then it will be distributed to the entire department by April 15. If the three readers find the paper not to be of honors quality, they will not recommend it to the full department. 5. After the paper is distributed, the department will invite the author to discuss the paper orally during the reading period at the end of the term. 6. After the oral discussion, the department can vote to award High Honors to those students whose paper and conversation have been judged as outstanding.