The student and faculty member will be working on the project for one full year, and therefore it should be a topic that is substantive and can ultimately yield a thesis of a minimum 50 pages or the equivalent in a creative field. Since the working relationship between student and faculty advisor is essential to a successful tutorial, it is important that the student get to know faculty in his or her major department before the semester in which the tutorial is undertaken. Students should plan to study with a full-time member of the faculty. Approval of the Honors Director and Department Chairman is necessary in cases where the student has a particular area of speciality that requires working with an adjunct faculty, The tutorial student must be ready to specialize and to work seriously with a tutor in scheduled meetings of at least one hour per week. It is therefore advisable to choose a full-time faculty member who is freely available for meetings, who has expertise and interest in the student's chosen area, and with whom the student has a cordial, easy rapport.
Most students prefer faculty members who have fired their imaginations in previous class experience.
Often the tutorial is an opportunity to work more closely with an admired teacher. Transfer students or students who have not yet taken many classes in the major may meet faculty through Merit lectures, departmental club activities or introductions from their advisors. A student can also visit as department chairman, discuss his or her area of interest and seek advice on the most appropriate faculty member to supervise research in this area. The tutorial should be scheduled for the spring semester of the junior year. This gives the student an opportunity to continue research or begin the thesis draft during the summer.