Dietrich College Senior Honors Program Submission Guidelines
Find the timeline and required elements for a successful Dietrich College Senior Honors Thesis.
As a student completing a thesis in the spring semester, the thesis is due in the Dietrich College Dean鈥檚 Office (signed by a student's thesis advisor and department head) by April 26, 2025. Working backward from this date, students should establish a timeline with their thesis advisor and department head as to how much time each feels they will need to read through a student's thesis, offer comments and suggestions and sign and send it on to the next reviewer. The first reviewer should be a student's thesis advisor, the 2nd should be the department head and the 3rd, the dean.聽
A suggested timeline is below:聽
- 4/1/2025 鈥 Final draft due to the student's thesis advisor.
- 4/15/2025 鈥 Due to department head for 2nd reading, signed and approved by the student's thesis advisor.
- 4/26/2025 - Due to the Dean's Office.
The required elements are as follows:
- Copy of student's thesis
- Completed signature page
- Signed publishing agreement and electronic version of a student's thesis (unless the student opts out of this agreement - see details under the 鈥淜iltHub Repository鈥 section below)
The Dean's Office does not require a particular manuscript style for honors theses. Students' theses advisors and/or departments may have style/format requirements.
The signature page is a cover sheet for a student's thesis, which certifies that it has been approved by their advisor, department head and dean. Signature pages are typically created on official departmental letterhead. Students can obtain letterhead from their department. This sample signature page (pdf) illustrates the appropriate format and content. Students should use this as a guide when creating their signature page (using their department鈥檚 letterhead). Students can use the signature page template (docx) (Microsoft Word document), inserting their information, then printing it into their department鈥檚 letterhead.
Students must secure the advisor and department head signatures before submitting their thesis to the dean鈥檚 office.
NOTE: The Dean's Office will obtain the dean's signature, so students do not need to route their thesis to to the dean for approval.
The title of a student's thesis will appear on their final transcript. Please enter the thesis title in SIO in the 鈥淕raduation and Diploma鈥 section (under the 鈥淎cademic Info鈥 tab).
Students are required to present a thesis by participating in the university鈥檚 Meeting of the Minds Undergraduate Research Symposium on Reading Day during spring final exams week. Registering in advance is required. If students are unable to fulfill the presentation requirement via the symposium, they must contact the program director, Joseph Devine, to arrange to fulfill it in an alternate way. December graduates who will be on campus on the Symposium date should plan to register and present.
For more information and to register, visit Meeting of the Minds.
Poster or oral presentation?
Either a poster session or an oral presentation will fulfill the presentation requirement of the Dietrich College Senior Honors program.
Please direct questions on registration to Jen Weidenhof, program coordinator, CMU Undergraduate Research Office.
Instructions for Submitting Your Dietrich College Honors Thesis
As part of the requirement for the Dietrich College Senior Honors Program, all honors students must submit an electronic version of their approved thesis to the University Libraries. Please follow the steps below to complete your submission:
- Prepare your documents:
- Your Senior Honors Thesis must be in PDF format.
- Include your signed and approved coversheet as the first page of the submission.
- Submit your thesis: Use the University Libraries' form titled "."
Once submitted, your thesis will be added to , Carnegie Mellon's institutional repository, where it will be accessible as part of the scholarly record