1. Enroll in HNRS 496.
2. Meet with advisor at least every two weeks to show work in progress, discuss problems, discuss readings, and make any necessary adjustments in timetable.
3. Try to complete the research and most of the writing. (Although this seems early, please remember that next semester you will be making revisions, typing, choosing your committee, and defending your thesis.)
4. Submit an outline, introduction, and literature review by the Monday of the final week of classes to the Director of the Honors Program. This should be submitted with thesis Advisor’s approval.
5. Attend two meetings of HNRS 496 that serve as thesis “checkpoints.”
6. Practice for Oral Defense by making short presentations to peers and faculty.

HNRS 497 (Spring Senior Year)

1. Enroll in HNRS 497.
2. If you are planning for an oral defense, choose your defense committee. (Remember that your committee must have three members: your Thesis Advisor (chairperson), another person from your major department, and someone from a related department or an Honors Administrator).
3. Schedule your public thesis defense with your director and department chair in your major department. It is up to you to work with your thesis director and your department to host and publicize your defense. Your oral defense must be held in March.
4. Make any changes you and your advisor agree upon, and have four typed copies ready for you and your defense committee at least two weeks before the defense date (i.e., one for you and one for each member of the committee).
5. Present your thesis at the Senior Thesis Symposium in early April.
6. After the public presentation (Symposium or oral defense), make any changes required by the committee and type the final product.
7. Check final format before copying to ensure adherence to guidelines.
8. Submit three (3) copies minimum on thesis-quality paper, individually collected in three (3) manila envelopes and bound only by a clip (no staples, brass tabs, etc.) to LMU Assistant University Librarian/Collections Division along with your receipt from the Controller’s Office showing you have paid for two (2) bindings. Include your name, contact information, and Thesis title on the three envelopes to ensure proper collection.
9. The cost of professionally binding your Thesis according to University Honors Program standards is $26.00 per copy. The Program will pay for the one copy that will be officially catalogued and placed in the LMU Library. The second copy for yourself and the third copy for your Thesis Advisor will be purchased by you. Any additional copies, as well, are your monetary responsibility.
10. These copies MUST be submitted to the Library by the third Monday in April in order to have your bound Thesis by Graduation.