Recent admitted students surveys show that students come to Tufts bent on doing research _ in fact, 80 percent of incoming students say they have at least some desire to do some form of independent research while at Tufts. But when senior year rolls around, the number of students who pursue honors theses is quite small.
Last year, 71 students _ or 6.7 percent of the class _ completed senior theses, according to the Office of the Dean of the Colleges. There are a number of reasons for this discrepancy, according to Nadia Medina, director of the Academic Resource Center and the Writing Center.
"Different departments have different proposals and guidelines," Medina said.
Many students choose not to pursue theses because they feel unprepared for it. Students have never had to "manage such an unusually long piece of work, nothing remotely close to the 65 to 80 pages in a typical honors thesis," she said.
The tedious process is outlined in a philosophy's department bulletin, which identifies six steps that one must take just to register to write an honors thesis. The economics department has only four such steps. Each department's website cites a different list of requirements.
Many students elect not to write theses because they are not aware of their options and do not plan ahead. When she started classes for the fall, senior Julie Sulman looked into writing a thesis only to discover that she had to have applied last spring.
"By the time students hear about it it's too late to go through all of the paperwork and planning that it takes to organize a thesis," she said.
Other students say that they do not write theses because they are an added pressure in an already stressful academic year.
"I am taking three writing intensive courses, while at the same time applying to law schools, and teaching Persepectives. I feel like I can dedicate my time to the things I am interested in without writing a paper," said Jon Marden, a Spanish and international relations major.
Despite these opinions, administrators and professors tout the benefits of writing theses to students. Dean of the Colleges Charles Inouye travels each year to encourage students abroad to pursue theses when they return. He sees senior research as an opportunity for students to take their passions and create something for others, not as a burden.
"While the senior honors thesis is not for everybody it is the way you get the most out of college by learning to become an independent thinker," Inouye said. "It is a perfect way to get close to faculty members, because you cannot get there on your own; the writer needs the support of their professors."
To help students overcome the difficulties in planning and research, the Academic Resource Center started a workshop program to help students both start and complete an honors thesis. The workshop program will be a central place for students writing in all departments to go for help.
In the first of these workshops, students were given a number of handouts, including one with advice from the class of 2002. The theme of the quotes from students was to write early and to get help from advisors.
"Make deadlines for yourself and submit as many drafts as possible to professors, writing tutors," one student advised on a handout.
Other support offered by the ARC includes an Alumni Mentors program, where students may receive direct help from alumni who wrote theses in their major and/or thesis topic. Trained graduate students are also available to help seniors with writing problems.
Outside of the ARC, faculty members in the international relations and history departments have started a program where students doing a junior-year abroad can begin thinking about and researching on their topic of choice. The program is run by professor Jeanne Penvenne and Richard Eichenberg.
To write a senior honors thesis, several requirements must be met. Students must have made the Dean's List for one semester and must write their thesis within their department major. Students who wish to write a these must hand in their "Honors Thesis Candidate" form into Dowling Hall by Nov.15.
Each student must also form a three-member faculty panel consisting of a panel chair from the writer's major department, a second member from that department, and a third member from outside of the department.
For their work, students receive honors, high honors, and highest honors for their thesis on their diploma in the spring as well.
While writing a senior honors thesis is difficult work, Inouye believes that it is a worthwhile investment of one's time. "Tufts students should take advantage of Tufts' unusual position as a liberal arts teaching institution imbedded in a research University," Inouye said
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