AY '23-'24 Thesis Process
The deadline to register for a Senior Thesis in AY '23-'24 has now passed.
If you did not register for thesis before the deadline of Monday, April 24 at 10:00 AM, please complete this form immediately. Please also be aware of the following:
- It will take the department two weeks from the date you submit the form linked above to officially assign you a thesis advisor and thesis blocks.
- Please do not reach out to anyone in the department regarding your thesis before those two weeks are up. Inquiring about your thesis situation before then will not speed up the process.
- While there is a chance, it is unlikely the department will be able to honor your advisor preferences.
If you need to change the thesis blocks you have already been assigned - students who want to change blocks should first contact their advisor for permission. Then they should foward the advisor's approval to Nancy Heinecke. Include a statement confirming that Nancy can drop whatever courses the student is registered in during the blocks they want to move to.
Guidelines
The deadline for senior thesis registration has now passed.
When building your course schedule in Banner, please be advised that no points are needed for thesis. After you are assigned an advisor and thesis blocks (the process for which is described below), you will enter GS391 in both thesis blocks you are assigned to.
Students who have declared their major in Economics, Mathematical Economics, and Business, Economics, and Society (BESoc) must complete a 2-block senior thesis project in their senior year.
International Political Economy (IPE) majors have the choice of completing a 2-block senior thesis with either the Economics & Business Department or Political Science. Alternatively, IPE majors may instead complete a 1-block senior tutorial with the Political Science Department. IPE majors completing a senior tutorial do not need to fill out the registration form below.
A few other quick hits about thesis that are non-negotiable:
- You must have declared your major in the department in order to register for senior thesis.
- You must have completed the prerequisites for thesis (based on your major) listed here before your first thesis block.
- The thesis blocks you enter for preregistration must match the thesis blocks you are assigned by the department.
- Your two thesis blocks will take place between blocks 1-6 of AY '23-'24. We strongly recommend (but do not require) taking one block in between your two thesis blocks (i.e., your thesis blocks might be 1 + 3, or 4 + 6).
Registration
The deadline for senior thesis registration has now passed.
Working Lunches
We invite you to attend one of our two thesis working lunches in the next few weeks, at which you can receive in-person advice on planning and registering for your thesis blocks. These working lunches will take place on the following dates:
- Tuesday, March 14, 12:00-1:00 PM | Palmer 128
- Thursday, April 13, 12:15-1:15 PM | Palmer 128
The Department will order pizza for ~30 attendees per session, so arrive early if you want a slice!
Materials
Please refer to the following materials when completing the senior thesis registration form. Please note that while the economics course schedule is complete, the business scheduled is still being developed. The Department will send updates via email once the business schedule is solidified.- Faculty Advisors with Research Interests
- Final Economics & Business AY '23-'24 Course Schedule
- Final Mathematics AY '23-'24 Course Schedule
- Final Political Science AY '23-'24 Course Schedule
Next Steps
Students will be notified of their assigned thesis blocks and thesis advisor by Monday, May 1 (the first day of Block 8). Please be advised that preregistration ends on Friday, May 5, so it is important to finalize your preregistration as soon as you receive your assigned blocks and advisor.
Thesis FAQ
The short answer is no. If a required course is not listed in the draft schedules linked in the above section, then it is still being planned and is forthcoming. While Stellic is useful for tracking major and general education requirements, it will not be as accurate on the course-block prediction side of things. Rather than guessing, please wait to register for thesis until final course schedules have been updated if you a course you need for next year is not currently listed.
While the thesis registration process is designed to avoid overlaps like this as much as possible, there is a small chance that you will be assigned a thesis block that you absolutely cannot follow through with due to reasons mentioned above. If that is the case, immediately reach out to your assigned thesis advisor to see if they can accommodate a different combination of thesis blocks for you.
If there are unique circumstances that will prevent you and your assigned thesis advisor from working effectively together, please reach out to Jessica Hoel (Associate Chair of the Department) directly to talk the situation through. Please note that it is the Department’s strong preference to keep thesis advisors and students together once assigned unless significant extenuating circumstances are demonstrated.
Theses in Economics & Business are evaluated by their thorough examination of a topic or question. That being said, there are no strict page minimums or limits for theses.
To see Economics & Business theses from years past, please follow the steps below:
- Go to the Digital CC site
- Click the arrow under the search bar.
- Select Economics and Business under Academic Departments.
- Hit search.
Please note that Digital CC does not yet have all theses from AY ‘21-‘22 and AY ‘22-‘23. If you’re interested in reading theses that are currently unavailable on Digital CC, please contact the department paraprof.
Whether you find writing your thesis easy or difficult, your advisor will likely recommend that you visit the department paraprofessional. The paraprof can help you with a range of things related to thesis, including:
- Skills related to Econometrics and other 300-level department courses
- Compiling data sets/running regressions
- Writing format and style
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For Future Reference
Please mark your calendar for the first Friday of Block 8 (AY '23-'24), starting at 12:30 PM Mountain Time for the Economics & Business Spring Research Symposium. Thesis students are strongly encouraged to present their thesis for a grade at the Symposium.
Thesis Submission
Please go to digitalcc.coloradocollege.edu, login with your CC information, and click Submit - Thesis to complete a thesis submission form. Reach out to digitalarchives@coloradocollege.edu with any questions.