Each student is required to complete an Honors Senior Project in the last two to three semesters of their participation in the Honors Program at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  The requirement is designed to provide each student with a rigorous, culminating, scholarship project at the end of their university careers.

Completion of the project will begin with planning based on the following:

• an area of keen academic interest to the student

• the identification of a supervising professor who will supervise and chair the academic committees that are a part of the University independent study requirements

• the identification of two other professors, (in other areas of study) who will support the student's independent study work and senior project

Two independent studies are required to complete the Honors Senior Project and should be used as the vehicles for such.  All work completed in an Independent Study for Senior Project work should be part of the senior project.  If the end result of each Independent Study is an extensive research paper, each should roughly constitute one half of the senior project.

An Explanation of the Connection Between Independent Studies and Senior Projects

A student who is a business major about the Independent Studies (IS) and Honors Senior Project, stated that he is interested in studying patterns of small business in northwestern Pennsylvania. I suggested that he spend the first half of his IS requirement working on a paper which focuses on social, historical, cultural and economic factors in the creation and support of small businesses in the United States. I then suggested that in his second independent study that he focus on researching some of these factors in small businesses in northwest Pennsylvania. Each IS course would result in a 12 – 15 page paper. At the end of the second IS, he would seamlessly combine the two papers to create his Honors Senior Project, titled, “The Socio-Historical Impact of Small Businesses on the Economic Health of the Northwest Region of Pennsylvania.”

Do not think of the IS courses and Honors Senior Project as separate. This structure is designed to provide you with the opportunity to complete your project within it, not external to it. In other words, since you already have to do both, it makes sense to connect them.

Students, who are in disciplines in which writing a paper may not be the first choice, are encouraged to create such scholarship projects consistent with it, with the understanding that there must also be a substantial written portion of your project.
 

The process of constructing the Honors Senior Project parallels the Contract & Independent Study Proposals.  During the second Independent Study, students must submit a proposal for the Honors Senior Project and turn in the requisite forms to the Honors Program Office.

Senior Project Deadlines

Independent Study Deadlines

Independent Study University Policy  --  Important!

Authorization to Enroll in Independent Study

Independent Study Guidelines

Independent Study Proposal Form

Independent Study Progress Form I

Independent Study Progress Form II

Independent Study Completion Form

Independent Study Presentation Form

Independent Study Checklist  --  The Independent Study Checklist is not mandatory.  It is provided in case you might find it helpful.

,