Requirements to Graduate with Honors in Sociology
- Graduating “with honors” at the University of Florida is based on a student’s upper division GPA, which pertains to their GPA in ALL coursework (both sociology and non-sociology) taken after 60 credits, including their graduating semester.
- Students can check their upper division GPA on their degree audits. Students achieving a minimum 3.5 upper division GPA upon graduation automatically graduate “with honors” (“cum laude”).
- The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will automatically designate these students as honors graduates.
Eligibility to Graduate with High or Highest Honors in Sociology
- Sociology majors who have the minimum 3.5 upper division GPA by the semester prior to graduating may also have the opportunity to achieve high (magna cum laude) or highest (summa cum laude) honors by completing an honors thesis.
- Students interested in pursuing an honors thesis should speak with the UGC and potential faculty mentor beginning in their second semester of junior year to determine their eligibility and to ensure sufficient time to develop a research idea and secure the permission of a sociology faculty member to advise their honors thesis.
- If possible, students are encouraged (but not required) to enroll in SYA4911 Undergraduate Research prior to the semester in which they complete their thesis (i.e., in the semester prior to their graduating semester). This course allows students a more extended period of time to fully develop their thesis ideas, conduct preliminary research for their project, and obtain IRB approval for any research involving human subjects. The sociology faculty supervising the SYA4911 would presumably continue working with the student as senior thesis mentor in their graduating semester.
Requirements for Conducting a Senior Thesis and Graduating with High or Highest Honors
- Please e-mail undergraduate coordinator, Dr. Tanya Koropeckyj-Cox, in the semester prior to registering for SYA4931 and include the sociology faculty mentor name (graduate students may not serve as mentors) who will supervise the honors thesis, a short description of the proposed research project, and your GPA.
- Once approved, the student should complete registration for SYA4931 Department Honors in Sociology in their graduating semester. This course carries 3 credits of upper division elective sociology coursework.
- Any student whose research directly involves working with human subjects must seek approval of their research protocol from the Institutional Review Board for Human Participants.
- Maintain close contact with the faculty thesis mentor on the development of the thesis project, including literature review, data collection, analysis, reporting and interpretation of the results.
- Once all drafts have been completed, submit one paper copy of the thesis and an Honors Thesis Submission Form to the Sociology Undergraduate Advising Office (3227 Turlington) or to the Main office (3219 Turlington) if advisor is not available. These submissions are due no later than the Friday two weeks before the end of finals week (please check the Registrar’s homepage for the exact deadline each semester).
- Submit an electronic copy of the thesis to the UF Library via their online submission form (see their website for more details and deadlines for each semester). Students who enroll in SYA4931 and complete an honors thesis should inform their supervising faculty mentor of all deadlines and plan accordingly.
- The student’s supervising faculty mentor and the Sociology Undergraduate Coordinator will review the final draft of the thesis, including all completed revisions, and determine the final honors designation. Four designations are possible: 1) no honors (if a student’s upper-division GPA falls below 3.5 upon graduation, even if a “senior thesis” was completed); 2) with honors; 3) with high honors; 4) with highest honors. Final confirmation is given at the CLAS/University level.