As a member of the Chancellor’s Honors Program, I have spent the last two semesters working on a senior thesis. I think that my education has been thoroughly improved by my research requirements, and I believe that theses are still important in upper level education. While I still agree with requiring theses of UT’s top students, I am still upset with the lack of standards and qualifications that the university has in explaining the process of developing a thesis and declaring what exactly constitutes a complete and final project.

First off, most students are thoroughly lost when figuring out where to start. Most people don’t even have a plan until the end of their junior year or beginning of their senior year, at which point they enter freakout mode. Similarly, many people drop out of the Honor’s Program simply so they don’t have to do a thesis project. A clearly established thesis timeline set forth by the university could help to alleviate this confusion. By letting students know roughly when they should start developing a thesis and meeting with potential advisors, students may be more likely to stay in the Honor’s program and put forth the effort to write theses.

Relatedly, many students do not know where to begin looking for an advisor. Thesis grades and completions are determined by an advisor of the student’s choosing, so picking a good advisor is critical. Unfortunately, finding someone who is actually willing to devote time to help develop a quality thesis may be hard. For example, I met with two professors in separate labs in the Department of Microbiology who outright told me that they did not want pre-med students working under them. Whether it’s from an irrational personal bias based on perceived intelligence or possibly something even deeper related to their own career choices, there are professors in our university who refuse to put the education of students first.

While we could debate the ridiculousness of this idea based on the fact that they are employed by a public institution that exists to first and foremost serve the needs of the residents of Tennessee, I would even settle for the university compiling a list of professors who are willing to serve as thesis advisors each year. This would go a long way in ensuring that students could find supportive professors in a timely manner.

Another issue some students run into is the fact that what constitutes a completed thesis is extremely vague. If there are standards out there that address the field of research, length of paper, and complexity of topics, I have yet to find them. I have even met with some professors in an attempt to find them and cannot. I appreciate the fact that some fields may have different qualifications as to what defines “complete,” but surely there can be at least a few broad guidelines that establish general parameters for history, Spanish, accounting, and engineering majors alike. By making these guidelines well known from the beginning, both students and professors are better equipped to produce a polished product.

These are just a few things for the university to consider, but it is certainly not an exhaustive list. Hopefully in the near future the university will set some hard standards for their students. For those of you who haven’t started considering your thesis, my advice is to pick an advisor that you enjoy and can relate to and get started as soon as possible. For those who are in the process, good luck.

— Hunter Tipton is a senior in microbiology. He can be reached at [email protected].