The Advisor and student together select the Honors Reader, who is usually in your major or a thematically related field. The Honors Reader, although not as deeply involved as your Advisor, plays three important roles. The Honors Reader reviews an early draft/iteration of the project and gives you useful comments on its strengths and on any weaknesses that need to be addressed, and communicates these to your Advisor as well. This can happen as early as the fall semester of the final year, but should take place no later than February of the final semester to assure adequate time for you to take advantage of suggestions and address significant concerns. You work with your Advisor to incorporate these suggestions into future drafts. The Reader also reviews the first draft of the Capstone Written Summary of the project (by March 28), returning it to you with comments. This summary, written for a non-expert audience, is part of the Command of Language requirement for all Honors students.

The third, equally important, role for the Honors Reader comes in April of the senior year, after you and your Advisor have together reviewed many drafts of the project, and your Advisor is satisfied with the entire work (including the Summary), and ready to give final approval to the project and the written components. You then give the project to the Reader, who carefully reviews it on behalf of Honors to assure that it meets an appro-priately high standard in the discipline (worthy of undergraduate Honors), and to assure that no grammatical, typographical, or other technical writing errors remain in the text. You make any necessary corrections to the draft; then both your Advisor and your Honors Reader approve the complete, final text and you submit the entire project to the Honors Program on Capstone Turn-in Day.

Honors may require an additional reader for any Capstone Project -- in the case of an interdisciplinary project, for example. Final approval of the project remains the responsibility of the Director of the Honors Program.