2010-11
SENIOR-YEAR REQUIREMENTS FOR
GRADUATION:
Biology,
Biology-Environmental Studies, Biology-Geology
Your senior year is always a busy one with
several requirements and dates to keep in mind:
1) Application
for degree candidacy
For May graduation you must file your Degree Candidacy form
with the RegistrarŐs Office no later than Wednesday November 17. You should
receive the form in the mail. (For December graduation, you must file by
the end of the preceding February).
2) Meet all minimum credit and course requirements
3) Senior Research Thesis
a. Research should be completed
or near completion
b. Enroll in Biology 489: Fall of senior year
á Credit for writing thesis (under a Whitman Biology faculty who is your thesis advisor)
c. Enroll in Biology 490 (498 for honors): Spring of senior year
á Credit for
1) thesis completion (under Whitman Biology thesis advisor)
2) research seminar: public oral presentation (seminar) of your research findings to the Department of Biology during Bio 490 (Bio 498) meeting time. The presentations are 15 minutes.
4) Senior Assessment in Biology
a. GRE subject exam in Biology
You must take and
pass the Biology GRE (divided
equally into three sections: cellular and molecular biology, organismal biology, ecology and evolution). There
are three test dates available at Whitman during the 2010-11 academic year:
Fall (2 dates) or Spring (1 date):
á
Oct 9, 2010 (registration deadline Sept. 3, test results
by Nov 19)
á
Nov 13,
2010 (registration deadline
Oct 8, test results by Dec 24?)
á
April
19, 2011 (registration
deadline March 4, test results by May 20**)
Take the GRE in Oct or Nov 2010 – do not delay until April 2011
(if you do not pass, you are required to retake the GRE, so give yourself
time).
You can register online; the cost is
$130. Look at the GRE homepage: www.ets.org/gre
for
aids and
subjects covered on the exam.
á 85
percentile for Biology honors
á 80
percentile for Bio-EnvS, Bio-Geo honors
b. Departmental comprehensive
oral exam
Senior year:
á Fall
(Oct-Nov) for all honors candidates (4 faculty)
To
graduate with honors, you need a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 and a GPA in
your major of at least 3.5 at the time of graduation. If you currently have an overall GPA of 3.1
and a major GPA of 3.3, you may consider
applying for honors in your major.
To
apply for honors candidacy,
you need to submit to the Biology Chair by Oct 8:
1. HonorŐs research proposal (font 12 and double-spaced throughout)
This proposal must
have the following:
o cover page with the proposal title, your name,
the date, and signatures of your research advisor and academic advisor
o 2 written pages (no more!) describing
the research
o 1-2 additional pages listing references cited
in the proposal.
The proposal must
be approved by all members of the Biology faculty. Therefore, you need
to initiate your proposal with your research advisor ahead of time, circulate it to all the Biology
faculty for comments and approval, make any appropriate changes, and then
submit the revised final proposal to the Biology Chair (Dr. Delbert Hutchison)
by the due date.
2. Honors candidacy form
This form is
available at the RegistrarŐs Office or can be printed off the web at (http://www.whitman.edu/registrar/forms/faculty/honors_form.doc).
The form must be
signed by your research advisor.
Requirements
To graduate with honors in the major, you must
meet all of the following at the time of your graduation:
1) GPA: achieve minimum cum
GPA of 3.3 and a minimum major GPA of 3.5
2) GRE: earn minimum score of 85
percentile in the Biology GRE for Biology majors and 80 percentile for combined
majors (or other minimum established by your oral exam committee)
3) Departmental oral exam: pass with
distinction; takes place in Oct-Nov 2010
4) Thesis: write a thesis of
ŇhonorsÓ quality: with a rigorous coverage of the literature and analysis of
data, and an in-depth discussion. The completed
thesis must be read and approved by three Whitman Biology
faculty in addition to your thesis advisor
(these will be assigned to you by the Biology Department Chair). Also, your
thesis is due to the Biology faculty three weeks before the library due date.
Your thesis must be submitted to the library by the deadline on Wednesday May 11,
2011.
5) Seminar: give oral presentation of your thesis research to the Department of Biology (during departmental Biology 490 meeting time in Spring of your senior year). You will be allotted 30 minutes for your presentation.