• Honours home
• 1. Introduction

1.1. Scope of these guidelines
1.2. Sources of information

• 2. Academic requirements of the honours course

2.1. Basic course details
2.2. Course objectives
2.3. Areas of specialisation
2.4. Admission requirements
2.5. Repeating units for honours admission purposes
2.6. Period of candidature and enrolment
2.7. Advanced standing for previous studies

• 3. Roles and responsibilities

3.1. Faculty Board
3.2. Faculty Education Committee
3.3. Faculty Board of Examiners
3.4. Associate Dean (Education)
3.5. Faculty Academic Manager
3.6. Faculty Honours Committee and Board of Examiners (FHC&BE)
3.7. School Honours Coordinator
3.8. Academic supervisors
3.9. Students

• 4. Approved honours requirements for each area of specialisation

4.1. Objectives for each area of specialisation
4.2. Publication of assessment requirements
4.3. Honours assessment guidelines for typical assessment tasks
4.4. Submission of results for honours component units
4.5. Overall honours mark and grade

• 5. Faculty honours administration

5.1. Admission and enrolment
5.2. Deferment and intermission
5.3. Load management and quotas
5.4. Honours units
5.5. Special consideration
5.6. Appeal process
5.7. Scholarships
5.8. Graduation

• 6. School academic responsibilities

6.1. Provision of induction information
6.2. School policies on supervisory practices
6.3. Absences of supervisors
6.4. Identification and roles of co-supervisors
6.5. Assessment processes and criteria
6.6. General guidelines for the final research project thesis

List of appendices
• Appendix 1 – Relevant university policies and procedures
• Appendix 2 – Objectives of honours in areas of specialisation
• Appendix 3 – Full-time and part-time honours unit structure
• Appendix 4 – Honours research thesis assessment guidelines
• Appendix 5 – Sample oral presentation assessment sheet (DOC 56KB)

School academic responsibilities

Schools/departments offering honours studies in an approved science area of specialisation are responsible for providing a formal organisational and administrative structure for the honours program, including such matters as:

• informing students about opportunities for honours programs within their disciplines;
• monitoring the structure and coherence of the honours course offerings;
• monitoring the effectiveness of the supervision provided;
• establishing, publishing and monitoring assessment requirements and procedures;
• ensuring that the expectations and responsibilities of project supervisors and students are clearly set out in a code of practice;
• maintaining records on student work to facilitate comparability from year to year. These records should go beyond the data on scores awarded to include written comments on students’ performance, and statements of criteria used for grading performance.

The head of school/department must ensure that these responsibilities are met, including by specific delegation to either the School Honours Coordinator or other appropriate staff in their school/department.

The following guidelines are presented as an initial rough draft and specific feedback is requested from schools to improve and supplement this information, to assist in providing a consistently high-quality honours program across all areas of science. Suggestions for additional sections and specific school responsibilities and policies are strongly encouraged, including by providing to the authors a copy of any relevant school/department publications and guidelines that are in current use.

6.1 Provision of induction information

In accordance with the university Honours Year Programs Procedures, all schools/departments contributing to the science honours program should conduct formal induction for all commencing honours students. An effective induction program will ensure that students are well informed about overall honours requirements and area of study specific expectations, whether or not they have previously been enrolled as a student at Monash. Induction is considered to be a continuous process which generally starts with contact prior to taking up the offer of a place in the honours program and proceeds through arrival, first days/weeks, and generally up to the third month of enrolment.

Prior to the start of their first semester, schools/departments should provide all enrolled honours students with written information (in the form of a ‘handbook’ or in other appropriate publications) on:

• the aims, nature and benefits of the honours course in each of the areas of specialisation in the school;
• details of staff research interests and, where appropriate, some potential research projects;
• the roles and responsibilities of the School Honours Coordinator, students, supervisors and co-supervisors;
• school policies and expectations about supervisor–student contact,
• any relevant school and university safety-related information and policies, including copies of all relevant university OHSE policies;
• school policies on computer usage, plagiarism, ethics, privacy and intellectual property;
• facilities available to honours students in the school, information to assist the students in using them effectively and any relevant school policies on reasonable usage;
• course requirements and assessment procedures for the honours program;
• any school guidelines and requirement on research project thesis requirements (including a style guide, referencing and word limit);
• information on the criteria used for the assessment of all honours requirements;
• weightings of the various assessment components;
• relevant submission dates; and
• guidelines for activities such as laboratory usage and field work.

Towards the end of each academic year, schools/departments may wish to consult with current students to review whether the information that they provide is sufficient and accurate.

6.2 School policies on supervisory practices

Schools/departments should formulate their own policies and guidelines on good supervisory practices that are relevant to the areas of specialisation that they offer. This might include standard procedures for the publication of outlines for potential honours major projects, and the assessment of the suitability of those proposals within the school/department.

For example, in general the role of a supervisor in a particular school might be to:

• provide academic guidance concerning the nature and practice of research;
• provide an introduction to the relevant literature and opportunities for its critical appraisal;
• assist the student to understand the rationale behind the development of the research project;
• instruct the student in the appropriate experimental techniques;
• assist the student in the planning of experimental protocols and provide appropriate guidance on statistical analyses;
• assist the student in the critical analysis and interpretation of experimental data;
• assist the student to develop oral and written communication skills.

The guidelines might also address whether students should discuss the plan of their thesis with their supervisor and appropriate timelines for submitting a first draft for review by the supervisor and expectations on the timely provision of feedback. They might also address the extent to which supervisors should train and/or assist students prior to any oral presentations.

6.3 Absences of supervisors

In the event that supervisors are absent from the university for an extended period of time during the year, or are not able to provide the above assistance during any part of the year, it is important that they inform the School Honours Coordinator and organise an alternative source of assistance for the student in good time.

6.4 Identification and roles of co-supervisors

Schools should consider whether each honours student should also be assigned a suitable co-supervisor, to provide additional advice and support during the program. Where they are appointed, their specific roles and responsibilities should be identified to both students and staff – for example, co-supervisors might be requested to meet with the supervisor and student to discuss the project at an early stage, and might meet with both at regular intervals during the year.

6.5 Assessment processes and criteria

Schools/departments should develop explicit criteria for the assessment of all coursework requirements and the major research project thesis (in accordance with any approved faculty requirements in 4.3 Honours assessment guidelines for typical assessment tasks) and should provide these to all students and relevant staff. Within two weeks of the start of the first semester of enrolment, students should also be provided with details of assessment requirements, submission dates and policies on late submission of work.

For example, as a rough guide the timelines for major tasks and assessment requirements might follow:

It is expected that the moderation of the standards required for the honours program will take place at different levels and stages. Schools/departments must assure consistent standards of assessment among students in the same year and across a number of years; and within the discipline, as determined for example by benchmarking with other higher education institutions.

6.6 General guidelines for the final research project thesis

Schools/departments should develop written guidelines for the expectations of the final research project thesis to assist students with this very important component of the honours program.

For example, the following is suggested as a starting point:

• that the thesis must be printed on A4 paper and should be no more than XX pages long, excluding the literature review, appendices and bibliography;
• that the supervisor will advise on all aspects of the preparation of the thesis, and will check through the draft at least once if received in a timely manner, but it is not their responsibility to write or re-write all or part of the work;
• that previous honours theses submitted in the school can provide an indication of the required format;
• that conformity to conventions, both scientific and grammatical, is important;
• that the thesis must contain a complete account of the work done;
• that the thesis should follow a recommended structure, including any compulsory sections (such as a declaration of originality).

A list of suitable references on scientific writing might also be provided, and copies of these could be made available in the school/department library.

Once approved within the school, these guidelines should be provided to all students at the commencement of the honours program, as well as all supervisors and examiners.