SENIOR PROJECT GUIDELINES

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - WEST OAHU

April 14, 2000

The Senior Project is intended to be the students' culminating scholastic effort or capstone experience at the University. The objectives of the Senior Project are to refine communication skills, as well as develop research and information retrieval skills, and other research related competencies. Although the Senior Project is usually in a student's specialization, students may select topics that require multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary study.

Process

1. The Senior Project should be completed in a student's senior year.

2. Students must have the approval and signature of their Senior Project instructors prior to registering for the Senior Project class. If a course request is for more than three (3) credits, additional justification and approvals are required.

3. With the assistance of their professors, students should begin preparing the Senior Project proposals during the semester prior to enrollment in the course, if possible.

4. Students and professors should agree on: (1) a well-defined set of goals and objectives (2) scheduled meeting times and (3) section and/or draft due dates before beginning work on the projects. These agreements may be in the form of syllabi or individual contracts.

5. Senior Project students and teachers should hold a minimum of eight structured meetings during a semester.

6. Students should work closely with their professors during all phases of the Senior Projects. Responsibility for completion of the work rests largely with the students.

7. Students must complete any required courses in research methods and statistics before registering for Senior Project courses unless exceptions are given by the discipline.

8. Senior Projects must adhere to all writing-intensive guidelines.

9. Students must submit a minimum of one outline and one draft of the Senior Project to the Senior Project class instructor (and the supervising professor when that professor is different from the class instructor) before submitting final papers.

10. Grades should be based on the following guidelines:

a. At least 40% of the grade should be based on a written product, per writing- intensive guidelines.

b. When the Senior Project is taught as a class, at least 10% of the grade will be based on the oral presentations.

c. When the Senior Project is taught as a class and when students work with a supervising professor different from the Senior Project class instructor, the grade will be given by the Senior Project class instructor in consultation with the supervising professor.

Product

1. A project based on original or library research related to a particular problem or issue.