Honours Principles and Guidelines

Purpose

1. Administration of Honours in the Faculty of Arts

1.1. Role of Faculty of Arts Honours Convenor

The Faculty of Arts Honours Convenor is a key academic administrative role in a vital area of Faculty activity which assists with the coordination of Honours programs in schools.

• Works with Associate Dean(s) Education and Associate Dean (Graduate Research) to oversee Honours candidature in the Faculty and to develop and implement Faculty policy on Honours;
• Attends relevant University level committees and disseminates information on Honours;
• Communicates necessary administrative, educational and policy information to Honours Coordinators in the Schools;
• Offers support and oversight in the development of Honours programs and initiatives to Schools;
Oversees the administration of Honours scholarships;
• Attends Education and Student Experience Committee (ESEC) to report on Honours matters;
• Approves student applications for variations in the terms of their Honours candidature; and
• Convenes ad hoc working parties on Honours as the need arises.

1.2 School and Discipline Honours Coordinators

School Honours Coordinator

• Attends relevant Faculty-level Honours meetings;
• Advises the Faculty Honours Convenor of any Honours matters arising in their School;
• Attends, as appropriate, meetings for the ranking of Faculty Honours Scholarships;
• Attends Faculty-level Honours promotion events;
• Offers support and oversight in the development of Honours programs and initiatives within their School;
• Promotes Honours within their School;
• Represents Honours at applicable School-level meetings and committees;
• Administers special consideration, examination and grievances policies as specified in Honours Faculty Principles and Guidelines;
• Ensures uniformity of Honours policies and procedures among relevant School Disciplines.

Discipline/Section/Centre Honours Coordinator

• Attends relevant Faculty and School level Honours meetings and disseminates Honours information to students and supervisors;
• Advises the School Honours Coordinator of any Honours matters arising in their Discipline;
• Administers Honours enrolment, thesis supervisions, thesis examinations and thesis marking within their Discipline;
• Promotes Honours within their Discipline;
• Represents Honours at applicable discipline-level meetings and committees;
• Administers special consideration, examination and grievances policies as specified in Honours Faculty Principles and Guidelines.

In the those Honours programs where there is no School Honours Coordinator/Discipline Structure, the Discipline/Section/Centre Honours Coordinator assumes other responsibilities required of School Honours Coordinators.

2. Honours Entry Requirements

2.1 Applicants with Monash Bachelor’s degree qualifications

• They have completed the degree (or the degree and diploma) requirements and are qualified to graduate.
• They have completed an approved Arts major sequence (48 points or more covering studies at year levels one, two and three) within their chosen Honours discipline(s).
• They have obtained average grades of 70 per cent or better in units in the chosen Honours discipline(s), to the value of 24 points at second and third year levels, 18 points of which must be at third year level.

2.1.1 Double Bachelor’s degree applicants

Applicants who are current candidates in a double degree program and who have not yet completed the requirements for the double qualification must have completed 144 points of study including the normal requirements for their Bachelor of Arts degree. The honours entry criteria outlined in 2.1 above applies.

2.1.2 Honours with a major in a cognate discipline

Applicants who have completed a major in a cognate discipline, may be accepted into Honours in that discipline if approved by the Discipline and Honours convenor. Also, applicants may be accepted when the discipline Honours co-ordinator is satisfied that the major provides an adequate background for that Honours Program.

2.2 Applicants with Bachelor’s degree qualifications from other tertiary institutions

• provide a certified copy of their academic transcript;
• include supporting documentation regarding the content of their course;
• have their course content approved as an acceptable, or equivalent, major by the School in which the applicant will study;
• have obtained average grades of 70 per cent or better in units in the chosen Honours discipline(s), to the value of 24 points at second and third year levels, 18 points of which must be at third year level.

2.3 International students

Currently enrolled Arts international students apply as internal candidates through the Faculty of Arts. Students who have not studied Arts within the last year or students from another faculty or institution must apply through Monash International.

Continuing Arts students seeking to renew their visa, following enrolment and payment of fees, must complete a Confirmation of Course End Date form and lodge it with Monash International. Students will then be issued with an eCOE form enabling them to renew their visa with the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). International students on a student visa are expected to maintain a full-time enrolment at all times.

3. Applications and admission

3.1 Applying for Honours

3.2 Deferring Honours

3.3 Mid-year entry

3.4 Credit for previously completed 4th year units

4. Enrolment

4.1 Concurrent studies at fourth-year level

Candidates in a combined degree program

• Students will be required to undertake the honours program on a part-time basis.

Candidates with incomplete bachelor’s qualification

• Failure to qualify in time for honours candidature must be due to circumstances beyond the student’s control.
• Students must be within 6 points of completion.
• The unit of study must be in an ‘elective’ area – i.e. it will not contribute towards the honours discipline major.
• Students must have the support of the relevant School Honours Coordinator.

4.2 Changes to Honours units

4.3 Withdrawing from a unit after census date

4.4 Changes from full-time to part-time

4.5 Interruptions to candidature

4.5.1 Intermission

4.5.2 Discontinuation

Students may discontinue their honours candidature, but must do so with regard to university policies for undergraduate students, particularly the university calendar for discontinuing units. Depending on whether or not they have completed any units, different re-entry regulations apply.

Students who have successfully completed part of their honours candidature before discontinuing, must re-apply to enter honours. Student must re-apply within five years of their discontinuation. Upon successful readmission students will be given credit for all successfully completed honours coursework units. The maximum credit allowed is 24 points and, while the thesis may build on research from the previous period of candidature, no credit will apply and this component will always be completed as a new and entire enrolment.

Students who discontinue their honours candidature without completing any studies may reapply for honours at a future date but must do so within five years of the date on which they completed their undergraduate studies relevant to the Arts Honours program. The entry requirements for new applicants will apply.

5. Results and assessment

5.1 Reporting of results

Final Honours Grades

• N (0-49)
• HIII (50-59)
• HIIB (60-69)
• HIIA (70-79)
• HI (80-100)

5.2 Extensions for the thesis or equivalent

Students can apply for an extension of up to one week after the thesis due date. Requests for an extension must be made in writing (an email from a Monash student email account is acceptable) to the relevant discipline honours coordinator who may approve the extension. Requests for an extension must be received BEFORE the thesis due date. Students seeking an extension longer than one week, or for any additional time after the first week’s extension, must apply for special consideration following the Faculty of Arts special consideration procedures or to the Faculty of Arts Honours Convenor. Once the application for special consideration has been received and assessed by the Faculty, it will be directed to the school honours coordinator, who, in consultation with the discipline honours coordinator and supervisor, will determine a revised due date for the thesis submission. The Faculty of Arts policy on late submission of undergraduate work and its associated penalties will apply to a thesis submitted after the due date.

Note: Where students undertake part of their Honours degree overseas (Study Abroad etc.) they might be given a later thesis submission date. The submission date must be decided upon before the end of the semester in which the thesis is due. The submission date must be agreed upon by the discipline honours coordinator and the supervisor, and the Faculty Honours Convenor must be informed. The student must also be made aware that a later submission date might impact on their applications for postgraduate scholarships.

5.3 Extensions in Honours Coursework units

5.4 Failing a coursework unit

5.5. Failing the thesis

5.6 Procedure for thesis examination

EXAMINERS: A thesis is to be marked by two examiners. The examiners (neither of whom can be the student’s supervisor) are appointed by the discipline honours coordinator. Ordinarily, examiners are required to be permanent or contract staff members from the discipline in which the thesis is submitted. An examiner from another discipline can be invited to mark a thesis if the subject matter falls within her/his particular area of expertise. Where a student is doing combined honours (i.e. anthropology and sociology), a marker from each discipline must be chosen. Students must be given the opportunity to provide to the discipline honours coordinator names of any individual/s whom they do not wish appointed as examiners. These requests will be kept strictly confidential and will be given due consideration by both discipline and School Honours Coordinators.

MARK: The mark that is awarded will only be a mark of the work submitted. The mark and grade are calculated by averaging the two marks. All thesis grades within a Discipline/Centre/Section must then be ratified by the Discipline Honours Coordinator and another person or persons nominated by the Head of School. Both examiners are required to write comments about the thesis on a separate form which will be returned to the student on completion of the examination. Where the examiners’ marks differ by 10% or more, the thesis must be sent to a third examiner. It is preferable if the third examiner is the discipline honours coordinator, although another examiner can be appointed. The third examiner will be made aware of the two initial marks. The final mark will then be an average of the two closest marks. When a third marker is required, students will be advised by the discipline honours coordinator that there has been a discrepancy of more than 10% between the two examiners and that a third examiner is required. The student should not be advised of the actual numerical marks and should only receive the two final examiners’ reports.

FAIL GRADE FOR A THESIS FROM ONE EXAMINER: Same policy applies as when marks differ by 10% or more.

FAIL GRADE FOR A THESIS FROM TWO EXAMINERS: In the event that both markers deem the thesis to have failed, then a fail mark will be awarded. Students do not have the opportunity to resubmit a thesis. If a student fails the thesis component s/he will be deemed to have failed the entire course and will be ineligible to take out the Honours degree.

STUDENT APPEAL OF MARK: Due to the unique nature of honours thesis marking (as described above) students do not have the right to appeal the final mark for the thesis. Students who are dissatisfied with their mark can elect to lodge a grievance with the Arts Grievance Officer in accordance with the Faculty’s grievance procedures.

6. Grievances

6.1 Academic grievances

6.2 Administrative grievances

7. Guidelines for supervisors of Honours Theses

1. Expertise and qualifications of supervisor. It is preferable if the supervisor of an honours thesis is knowledgeable in the particular research field of the student. However, expertise of the latter kind is not as important for Honours theses as it would be in the case of theses for higher degrees, and Honours students should not be discouraged from undertaking a project of their choice. In order to supervise a thesis, the supervisor is required to have an Honours degree of equivalent and be approved to supervise by the School Honours Coordinator. Non-teaching (i.e. research fellows) or contract staff are permitted to supervise provided they are employed for the duration of the thesis enrolment. The supervisor is required to be familiar with Faculty Honours regulations and guidelines and all School-based documents relating to Honours thesis supervision and examination.
2. Contact. The supervisor must keep in regular contact with the students under her/his supervision; during the semester in which the thesis is due this ordinarily should be at least once every two weeks. For the most part contact is required to be on a face-to-face basis, but where circumstances do not permit this contact via email or by phone is acceptable. The supervisor must keep notes on conversations with his/her students. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate meetings.
3. Student issues. If problems arise, for example a student consistently failing to show up for appointments or not submitting requested work, then the supervisor must discuss the student’s progress with the relevant discipline honours coordinator. The student must then be invited to a meeting with the supervisor and discipline honours coordinator in which her/his progress is discussed and a course of action suggested (e.g. application for special consideration; intermission, discontinuation).
4. Role of supervisor. The supervisor is required to provide adequate guidance to his/her students in respect of the thesis. This includes help with fine-tuning the topic, help in identifying important theoretical and conceptual issues and help in finding appropriate literature. At a later stage the supervisor is expected also to provide editorial advice. The supervisor is not, however, responsible for: the timely participation of external third parties involved in the project; the content of the thesis or any grammatical or typological errors the thesis might contain. The supervisor is required to return corrected thesis drafts promptly; turnaround time should not exceed two weeks.
5. Absences. A supervisor who plans to go on leave during the dissertation period must inform the discipline honours coordinator well in advance so that a replacement can be appointed.

8. Guidelines for students undertaking theses

1. Selecting a supervisor. The procedures by which a supervisor is appointed for the honours thesis may vary slightly from one Discipline, Centre or School to the next. Students may wish to express an opinion as to which member of staff they would ideally like to supervise them. In most cases Disciplines and Centres are likely to agree to such requests, but this may not be possible on all occasions.
2. Selecting a topic. It is the role of the student to identify the thesis topic. The supervisor must offer advice about the suitability and practicality of the topic. While students have a right to work on a topic of interest to them, not all topics are practical. Constraints on topic choice might include ethical considerations, cost of travel or data collection, availability of supervisor, size and expertise mix of department, centre or school.
3. Contact with supervisor. It is important that students keep in regular contact with their supervisor, during the dissertation period at least once every two weeks. For the most part contact is required to be on a face-to-face basis, but where circumstances do not permit this contact via e-mail or by telephone may be acceptable. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the supervisor to arrange appropriate meeting times. Should students be forced to cancel an appointment with their supervisor, they must notify the supervisor in advance.
4. Difficulties with thesis/supervision. It is important that any problems with the progress of the thesis or with supervision are dealt with as they arise and not allowed to worsen through lack of attention. Students are required to keep their supervisor informed if they are experiencing any difficulties which are impeding the progress of the thesis. If they experience problems with the supervisory process which in the first instance cannot be dealt with by consultation with the supervisor, students must discuss the matter with the relevant Honours coordinator (Discipline or School). If these discussions fail to reach a resolution the Coordinator should contact the Faculty Honours Convenor, who in consultation with the Associate Dean Education, will suggest an outcome. If the student is still not satisfied with the outcome, University grievance procedures should be followed.
5. Student responsibilities. Students are expected to respond appropriately to the advice and guidance given by their supervisor in respect of the thesis. The supervisor may point out errors of fact, incorrect dates, incorrect spelling of names or titles, etc. in the students’ drafts and such elementary errors must be corrected by the student as a matter of course. More importantly, in commenting on drafts the supervisor can provide advice on such matters as the nature of arguments advanced, important theoretical and conceptual issues, the employment of evidence, or appropriate literature to be consulted. Ultimately, however, the content of the thesis remains the responsibility of the student. Students are required to submit drafts at a date agreed upon with their supervisor. Students are advised to arrange with their supervisor a realistic timetable for the submission of drafts of the entire thesis. Supervisors may not be able to read drafts given too close to the final submission date of the thesis. Careful planning of and adherence to the stages of writing and submitting drafts can prevent difficulties arising later.
6. Feedback on work. Students must allow sufficient time for their supervisor to return drafts for discussion at the next supervisor’s meeting. Under normal circumstances, the turnaround time will not exceed two weeks. Students must, as a matter of course, keep back-up copies of the thesis at all stages of writing.