Undergraduate Thesis/Graduation Project (Creative Work) Management Regulations
The undergraduate thesis, graduation project, or creative work is a crucial component of the undergraduate teaching plan and serves as an important basis for the conferral of the undergraduate diploma and bachelor's degree. To further standardize and strengthen the guidance for undergraduate theses, graduation projects, and creative works at our university, ensure their quality, and enhance the cultivation level of applied talents, these regulations are formulated in accordance with the Higher Education Law of the People's Republic of China, the Academic Degrees Regulations of the People's Republic of China, the Interim Measures for the Implementation of the Academic Degrees Regulations of the People's Republic of China, the Anhui Provincial Department of Education Provisional Regulations on the Management of Undergraduate and College Student Theses (Projects) (Jiao Gao [2003] No. 9), and other relevant regulations, while considering the actual circumstances of our university.
I. Organizational Leadership and Arrangement
The university-wide thesis, graduation project, and creative work efforts are led by the Vice President in charge of academic affairs, with the Academic Affairs Office assuming overall responsibility.
Each school/department shall establish a leading group for thesis/project (creative work) work, responsible for all aspects within its unit:
(1) Formulating work plans for theses/projects (creative works);
(2) Selecting and organizing supervisors;
(3) Reviewing and approving topics;
(4) Conducting progress inspections;
(5) Organizing thesis defenses;
(6) Determining final thesis/project grades;
(7) Summarizing and providing feedback on the thesis/project (creative work) process.
Topic selection and supervisor assignments should generally be completed by the beginning of the seventh semester (or the end of the eighth semester for five-year programs). Once topics are finalized, each school/department shall issue a written Thesis/Graduation Project (Creative Work) Task Book to each student.
The completion period for the thesis/project (creative work) is the eighth semester (tenth semester for five-year programs), generally lasting no less than eight weeks (excluding defense time).
Each school/department is responsible for compiling, archiving, and preserving relevant forms and original copies (or electronic versions) of student theses/projects (creative works), and for writing quality analysis reports and work summaries.
Each school/department shall formulate detailed implementation guidelines for thesis/project (creative work) supervision based on its specific circumstances and professional requirements, and submit them to the Academic Affairs Office for record.
II. Topic Selection Work
Topics should align with the respective professional training objectives and teaching requirements, contribute to consolidating and leveraging the advantages of the discipline, strengthen the cultivation and enhancement of students' practical abilities and applied skills, and reflect students' comparatively systematic grasp of essential fundamental theories, professional knowledge, and thinking methods.
Topics should be derived from social, economic, and practical research contexts, with appropriate difficulty and scope to ensure students can complete them or achieve phased results within the stipulated timeframe through diligent effort.
Topics are proposed by supervisors organized by the teaching and research section, reviewed and approved by the school/department leading group, and then published to students along with the list of supervisors. Students who identify research questions during internships/fieldwork or demonstrate outstanding research capabilities may propose their own topics in consultation with relevant supervisors, subject to approval by the school/department leading group. Topics involving other disciplines may involve supervisors from other schools/departments. Encouragement and support are given for joint supervision by supervisors from two or more schools/departments and for participation by enterprise personnel.
After the professional topic list is finalized, topics are assigned based on the principle of mutual selection between students and supervisors, with schools/departments making adjustments as necessary. Finalized topics and supervisors are reported to the Academic Affairs Office by school/department and program. The Academic Affairs Office will organize expert reviews of the topics.
The thesis/project (creative work) principle is one topic per student. Larger topics may be assigned to two or three students working collaboratively, but this requires filing with the Academic Affairs Office, and each student must independently complete their assigned portion.
The number of topics per program should generally be 120% of the number of students. Topics within the same graduating class must not be duplicated. The repetition rate of topics across different graduating classes should be controlled within 20%.
Once thesis/project (creative work) topics and supervisors are assigned, changes are generally not permitted. Changes necessitated by special circumstances require approval from the school/department leading group and must be filed with the Academic Affairs Office.
III. Supervisors
Qualifications for Supervisors: Individuals with intermediate professional titles or above, or Master's degrees or above, possessing high academic standards and strong teaching capabilities. Teaching assistants and administrative personnel with relevant professional technical titles are encouraged to participate in auxiliary supervision.
Student Load: To ensure supervision quality, the number of students assigned to each supervisor should be appropriate, generally not exceeding 8. Professors with outstanding research/teaching capabilities, doctoral degree holders, and dual-competency teachers may supervise more students, subject to approval by the Academic Affairs Office.
External Supervisors: If necessary due to topic requirements, off-campus personnel or retired faculty may be appointed as supervisors, subject to prior approval by the Academic Affairs Office and completion of relevant appointment procedures. External supervisors should possess relevant disciplinary/professional backgrounds and hold associate senior titles or above, Master's degrees or above, or be experienced professionals within the industry.
Supervisor Responsibilities:
(1) Assist students in determining topics; guide and approve students' writing plans or design proposals;
(2) Recommend relevant literature or experimental methods; guide research and design methodologies;
(3) Supervise, inspect, and guide students' writing/progress;
(4) Write an evaluation of no less than 100 Chinese characters for the thesis/project, determining the preliminary grade.
IV. Guidance and Inspection of Thesis/Project (Creative Work)
Workflow: Topic Selection → Proposal Defense → Mid-term Inspection → Thesis Writing / Project Completion (Creative Work) → Defense → Archiving.
Proposal Defense: After topic confirmation, students must write a proposal report under supervisor guidance.
Mid-term Inspection: Schools/departments shall organize teaching and research sections to conduct mid-term inspections of supervisor guidance and student progress. The Academic Affairs Office will conduct irregular inspections and spot checks.
Final Stage Inspection: Schools/departments inspect preparation work for the thesis/project defense.
V. Requirements for Thesis/Project (Creative Work)
Undergraduate students must independently complete their thesis writing or graduation project/creative work within the stipulated timeframe under faculty guidance, without delay.
Basic Thesis Requirements: Accurate concepts, clear organization, fluent writing, precise calculations, rigorous structure, scientific content. Must comply with academic norms of the relevant discipline/profession. Word Count: Liberal Arts: 6000+ Chinese characters (Foreign Language Majors: 4000+ words); Science & Engineering: 5000+ Chinese characters.
Basic Project/Creative Work Requirements: For graduation projects/creative works not taking thesis form, a written explanation must be provided. Schools/departments adopting the project/creative work format must specify this via official university document or submit an application reviewed by the Academic Affairs Office and approved by the Teaching Committee.
All theses and project/creative work explanations must be printed in the prescribed format.
VI. Defense Work
Each school/department shall establish a Thesis/Project (Creative Work) Defense Committee of 5-7 members, based on its Academic Committee, and form several defense panels. The Defense Committee organizes and leads the panels, appointing internal and external thesis/project reviewers. Supervisors shall not review works they supervised.
Each defense panel consists of 3-5 members, including at least one member with senior professional title. The panel leader must hold a senior title. Supervisors may attend defenses of their own students but shall not assign grades.
All theses/projects (creative works) must undergo defense. First, theses must pass similarity screening by an institution designated by the Provincial Education Department before being eligible for defense. Teaching and research sections organize relevant defense panels. Based on the comprehensive consideration of supervisor comments, reviewer comments, and the student's on-site defense performance, the panel proposes a final recommended grade to the school/department Defense Committee. Panel members must sign the defense evaluation report. Disputes shall be resolved by secret ballot.
Works ultimately graded as Excellent must be publicized for one week.
VII. Grade Assessment
Thesis/Project (Creative Work) grades are assessed on a five-grade scale: Excellent, Good, Medium, Pass, Fail. The proportion graded Excellent shall be controlled within 15% of the total number of students in the graduating class and program (maximum 20%). Specific reasons must be provided for Excellent and Fail grades; brief comments suffice for other grades.
Assessment Procedure: After the student's defense, the defense panel shall thoroughly discuss the supervisor's comments and suggested grade, the reviewer's comments and suggested grade, the level and quality of the work, and the student's defense performance, then determine the final grade according to the grading standards.
Basic Grading Standards:
I. Excellent (90-100 points)
(1) Demonstrated outstanding diligence, seriousness, and discipline throughout the thesis/project period.
(2) Independently completed all related tasks comprehensively and on time, demonstrating strong ability to comprehensively analyze and solve problems.
(3) Correct thesis/proposition, thorough theoretical analysis, appropriate solution approach, correct conclusions, with some innovation and high academic level or practical value.
(4) Accurate use of concepts, precise language expression, rigorous structure, clear organization, strong logic.
(5) Charts/tables in thesis or design/creative work comply strictly with relevant national standards.
(6) Strong independent ability to search and utilize literature; properly collected raw data; accurate and reliable experimental/computational results.
(7) During defense: Concisely and correctly presented main content; clear thinking; correct arguments. Answered questions accurately and profoundly with own insights; demonstrated adaptability and strong language skills.
II. Good (80-89 points)
(1) Demonstrated diligence, seriousness, and discipline throughout the thesis/project period.
(2) Independently completed all related tasks comprehensively and on time, demonstrating certain ability to comprehensively analyze and solve problems.
(3) Correct thesis/proposition, appropriate theoretical analysis, practical solution approach, correct conclusions.
(4) Accurate use of concepts, precise language expression, rigorous structure, clear organization.
(5) Charts/tables or design/creative work demonstrate good compliance with relevant national standards.
(6) Certain independent ability to search and utilize literature; properly collected raw data; accurate experimental/computational results.
(7) During defense: Concisely and correctly presented main content; clear thinking; arguments basically correct. Answered questions accurately, demonstrating adaptability and good language skills.
III. Medium (70-79 points)
(1) Demonstrated diligence and comparative seriousness, adhered to discipline throughout the thesis/project period.
(2) Independently completed all related tasks comprehensively and on time, demonstrating certain ability to comprehensively analyze and solve problems.
(3) Correct thesis/proposition, theoretical analysis free of fundamental errors, relatively practical solution approach, correct conclusions.
(4) Correct use of concepts, fluent sentences, relatively clear organization.
(5) Charts/tables or design/creative work demonstrate basic compliance with relevant national standards.
(6) Able to independently search and utilize literature; properly collected raw data; experimental/computational results basically accurate.
(7) During defense: Concisely presented main content; answered questions basically correctly but lacked in-depth analysis.
IV. Pass (60-69 points)
(1) Generally adhered to discipline throughout the thesis/project period.
(2) Completed the thesis/project related tasks on time.
(3) Correct thesis/proposition, theoretical analysis free of fundamental errors, solution approach has certain reference value, conclusions basically correct.
(4) Basically correct use of concepts, fluent sentences, relatively clear organization.
(5) Charts/tables or design/creative work demonstrate basic compliance with relevant national standards.
(6) Able to search and utilize literature; properly collected raw data; experimental/computational conclusions basically accurate.
(7) During defense: Presented the main content; answered main questions, or answered after prompts from the panel; answers were relatively superficial.
V. Fail (0-59 points)
(1) Plagiarized others' academic work; fabricated data, charts, or experimental results.
(2) Failed to adhere to discipline; demonstrated unenthusiastic attitude during the thesis/project period.
(3) Failed to complete thesis/project related tasks on time, or failed the Provincial Education Department's similarity screening.
(4) Fundamental errors in theoretical analysis, or incorrect conclusions.
(5) Incorrect use of concepts; incomplete sections; untidy writing.
(6) Charts/tables or design/creative work do not correctly comply with relevant national standards; non-standard.
(7) Improperly collected raw data; inaccurate experimental/computational conclusions.
(8) During defense: Failed to correctly present main content; unclear basic concepts; answered incorrectly or failed to answer even after prompts from the panel.
Any work verified by the defense panel or internal/external experts to be plagiarized or copied shall receive a grade of Fail. The author's graduation shall be postponed, and no degree shall be conferred.
After the Excellent grade list is publicized, it shall be reported to the Academic Affairs Office, categorized by school/department and program, for record.
After thesis/project (creative work) completion, the Academic Affairs Office shall organize experts to conduct random checks on the theses/projects and their grades, with a sampling ratio of 3% of the graduating class.
VIII. Supplementary Provisions
The archiving and preservation of materials related to topic selection, proposals, original theses/projects, defenses, and grading shall be the responsibility of each school/department. The Academic Affairs Office is responsible for inspecting and spot-checking the archiving status.
These regulations take effect upon promulgation. The Academic Affairs Office is responsible for interpretation.
These regulations apply to full-time undergraduate students enrolled at Huangshan University from the class of 2011 onwards. The previous Huangshan University Undergraduate Thesis (Project) Management Regulations are simultaneously repealed.
Matters not covered herein shall be decided by the University Teaching Committee.