Student Handbook

Appendix II: Senior Project Preparation and Presentation

This information is meant to help you prepare and submit your senior project.

As you decide upon your topic, consult the holdings and reference sources of the library’s collection, including the interlibrary loan system, Connect NY. The reference librarians can direct you to printed and electronic materials in your subject area. The library offers reference workshops to teach students how to use the library’s extensive databases, abstracts, and indexes, as well as how to evaluate, access, and cite Internet sources. Researching your project should begin as soon as possible. If most of your research will involve material not in the Bard collection, you should request a letter of introduction from the Stevenson Library to research at other libraries.

As you prepare your project, you will need to be familiar with the acceptable forms of thesis writing. Helpful research materials and guidelines are also available on Stevenson Library’s seniors page at:

        http://www.bard.edu/library/content/senior.php

        and the website for the Bard Learning Commons:

        http://inside.bard.edu/learningcommons/

        offers helpful writing and bibliographic guides. 

Submitting the Senior Project

On Monday, December 1, 2014, if graduating in December 2014 OR on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, if graduating in Spring 2015 — the day senior projects are due — come to Ludlow Hall, with the following:

• 4 copies of the senior project: three bound copies and one unbound copy. (See below for more information about bindings). The three bound copies are for the faculty on your board. We will check them and then give them back to you for delivery to the members of your board. The library’s copy should be submitted in a 10”x13” manila envelope with your name clearly printed on the outside. The pages should be loose; do not clip them together or bind them in any way.

 • Two extra copies of the title page of your project (see attached example) for our files and for the commencement program.

If you are a member of the Arts Division completing an installation, a film, a composition, or a performance as a senior project, you should bring:

        • Two copies of a title page (see attached example).

        • A synopsis (1-2 pages) of the project, that is, an artist’s statement 
          outlining what you did and what you were hoping to accomplish.

        • A program or invitation, if applicable.

        • A 10”x13” manila envelope with your name clearly printed on the
          outside.

•  When you submit the hard copies of your Senior Project you should bring the confirmation email you receive after you complete the online submission.
• Students in the Division of the Arts are also expected to complete the Submit Research Page online at http://digitalcommons.bard.edu including the 1-2 page project synopsis or artist’s statement. [This is the artist’s statement already required by your Program.] Division of Arts students who are submitting media files representing their projects must also upload these as part of the process. All Division of Arts students must submit at least the required artist’s statement online.

The Form of the Senior Project

Contents:              

• Title page

• Dedication/Acknowledgements

• (Preface, if included)

• Table of contents (list of chapters with their page numbers)

• Introduction

• Body of text

• Footnotes (if these do not appear elsewhere)

• Bibliography

Format:

• Use uniform size paper, 8.5 x 11 inches.

• Leave a margin of approximately 1 inch on the left and 1 inch on the right, top, and bottom of the page.

• Double space the body of the text. Ask your adviser whether you should follow the MLA, APA, or CMS recommendations for your citations and bibliography.

• Illustrative material such as graphs, maps, and photographs can be integrated into the text or placed in appendices at the end.

• Number pages consecutively, with Arabic numerals; the first numbered page should be the first page of the text proper. The title page, dedication, and table of contents should not be numbered. (These preliminary pages or any others may be designated with roman numerals if desired.)

• Numbers should appear in the upper right hand corner of the pages, or in the middle of the top margin, without periods or hyphens.

The final version of your senior project should be carefully proofread for typographical errors, correct grammar, and proper citation. Rely on Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, The MLA Handbook or The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. for all editorial questions.

Binding:

Three of the four copies that you bring to the Dean’s office are for the members of your senior project board. These three should be bound in a black binder with built-in fasteners, or they should be professionally bound. (Call the Dean of Studies at x7045 if you have questions about this.) These copies can be printed on both sides of the page, as your board members allow. The library copy of your project should be submitted, as outlined above, unbound, in a 10”x13” manila envelope with your name on the outside of the envelope. This copy may also be double-sided.  The library staff will microfiche and bind this copy. If you photocopy your project, it is better to arrange for its reproduction off-campus (at Staples or Copy Cat for example), to avoid the certain crush at our facilities.  However, resources are available at Bard's own Central Services (x7463).

 
SAMPLE TITLE PAGE:

Indonesian Vernacular Architecture:

Of Home, the Body, and the Universe

Senior Project submitted to

The Division of Social Studies
(must be a Division [Arts; Languages and Literature; Science,
Mathematics and Computing; Social Studies], not a Department or major)

of Bard College

by

Miya Buxton

Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

May 2015