Undergraduate Students
Honors College Recent Students
Student | Semester | Title of Thesis | Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Jenna Lounsbery | 2020, Fall | CiaI and its role in Campylobacter jejuni intracellular survival and replication in human T84 colonic epithelial cells | Pass with Distinction |
Nathan Michellys | 2020, Fall | Increasing food safety of the poultry industry through a protein targeted chicken vaccine | Excellent |
Sarah Fahr | 2018, Spring | Campylobacter jejuni: The Food-Borne Pathogen that Causes Severe Gastritis by Manipulating Human Intestinal Cells | Excellent |
Courtney Klappenbach | 2018, Fall | The foodborne pathogen that manipulates host cell footprints – the mechanical links between intracellular actin bundles and the extracellular matrix | Pass with Distinction |
James Bonner | 2015, Spring | Phosphorylation of GEF-H1 in response to infection by Campylobacter jejuni | Excellent |
Thesis Evaluation Guidelines
The following guidelines are intended to assist the evaluators in properly assessing the quality of the thesis. Obviously, different academic disciplines will have different measures for what constitutes outstanding undergraduate work in their discipline.
Satisfactory (Pass)
A Satisfactory should be awarded a thesis that is deemed overall satisfactory regarding the categories above. A thesis earning a Satisfactory may be characterized by an inconsistent but acceptable oral presentation; a written thesis with some correctable problems in argumentation and structure; with adequate content but lacking depth and originality.
Excellent
A thesis awarded Excellent is characterized by a competent oral presentation and a written document with few problems, noteworthy in some of the above categories while it does not reach the level of ‘extraordinary’ or ‘outstanding’ in most as required for the level of a Nomination for Pass with Distinction(see below).
Pass with Distinction
A Nomination for Pass with Distinction is granted to those students whose performance is outstanding in most of the six categories listed above resulting in a final thesis product of remarkable competence and quality. The evaluators may favorably compare the thesis to graduate student work or deem it of particular value to the academic discipline, potentially to be disseminated as a conference presentation or publication. A thesis nominated for Pass with Distinction will typically have an ‘Outstanding’ in most, if not all, of the above categories. The Honors Council reviews all nominations and determines which nominations will receive a Pass with Distinction. Approx. 10-15% of all Honors theses receive a Pass with Distinction.
Pass with Revisions
A Pass with Revisions will be awarded if the evaluating team decides that there is a need for revisions in order for the student to obtain a Satisfactory. The evaluators will identify areas for revisions and communicate those to the student following the presentation. A deadline will be set for the student to make the revisions to be approved by the thesis advisor. The revised thesis will not be presented.
Fail
Fail characterizes work that is insufficient in most if not all of the categories outlined above. A thesis receiving a Fail may be characterized by student failure to communicate productively with the thesis advisor; lack of proofreading of the final thesis; a superficial and unrehearsed presentation. Few WSU Honors College theses receive a Fail since unsatisfactory thesis work typically is identified ahead of the defense by the Honors College in support of the student and thesis advisor.