Getting Course Credit for Honors Research and Thesis

Most honors students get course credit for their honors research. This makes sense because producing a good thesis can easily require 200-300 hours of work in all, or 5-10 hours a week during the academic year. Students can enroll in either an upper-division, school/major specific honors program, or in independent study courses (usually 199) with their faculty advisor.

Campuswide Honors does not require students to complete a thesis in their declared major; you can do your research/thesis in any field at UC Irvine that interests you. However, depending on the discipline and your preparedness, it may not always be possible to do research outside your major (for example, if you wish to work with a creative writing faculty member to write a novel for your thesis, but have limited creative writing experience/completed course work at UC Irvine, then this might not be an appropriate choice for you, and you may have difficulty finding an approved faculty advisor). If you plan to participate in a school/major-specific honors program, you will most likely need to do research/thesis in your school/major.

Upper-division honors programs

UC Irvine offers upper-division, school/major-specific honors programs for almost all majors. Honors students are strongly encouraged to consider completing both their school/major-specific honors program and Campuswide Honors. CHC students may turn in the SAME thesis paper to count for BOTH the CHC AND their school/major-specific honors program.  When you submit a copy of the approved thesis from a school/major-specific honors program to Campuswide Honors, it will automatically be accepted as meeting the research/thesis requirements for Honors. If you choose this option, you must turn in a copy of your school/major-specific honors thesis to the CHC AND to your school/major-specific honors program separately by the appropriate deadline(s) and include all supporting paperwork required by Campuswide Honors.

Most upper-division, school/major-specific honors programs require a research experience and completion of an honors thesis/project/report prior to graduation. Individual program descriptions and requirements are included in the General Catalogue sections of each academic unit, with additional information available through academic advising offices and department website.

Many schools have created at least one course in their upper-division honors program that satisfies the upper-division writing requirement of General Education, but there are exceptions. Check with your major advisor to determine the best way to satisfy the upper-division writing requirement.

Some upper-division, school/major-specific honors programs have application processes and deadlines that occur before senior year, minimum GPA requirements, and/or required coursework that could begin sophomore or junior year.  Investigate these options early, when you put together your honors course plan.

Students certified as completing both Campuswide Honors and their school/major-specific honors program will receive the University Honors notation on their final UC Irvine transcript.

Independent study

Students not participating in an upper-division, school/major-specific honors program will need to work with their faculty advisor to determine the appropriate way to get credit for the work they are doing, set goals and deadlines, agree on expectations, establish standards and a method for evaluation, etc.  These students are STRONGLY encouraged to enroll in an independent study course (often 199) for 1-5 units (depending on weekly research time) for a letter grade or Pass/Not Pass. A partial list of campus courses (including both independent study and school/major honors programs) can be found in List of Possible Research/Thesis Courses.

Other Options

Students who don’t enroll in independent study courses or upper-division honors programs should still do the same amount of research work and be held to the same standard as  those doing research for a grade.

Essays, assignments, group projects, etc. completed in typical upper-division class are not usually acceptable honors thesis projects. However, the thesis may expand upon research or ideas initiated in a class.