Honors Contracts

Honors students take by “Honors Contract” a minimum of nine upper-division semester hours. These 3000-plus level courses should be exclusive of internship and cooperative programs in the major or related area as designed by colleges in cooperation with departments. Honors Contracts must be submitted to the Honors coordinator by mid-term of the semester.

Honors Contracts allow students to go “above and beyond the ordinary” in the upper-division courses in their major. Using Honors Contracts, students can transform any upper-division course into an Honors course.

Policies for Honors Contracts

Students must complete all Honors core curriculum requirements before doing any Honors Contracts.

An Honors student must attach an Honors Contract to an upper-division course (3000-plus) in which he/she is enrolled. The course should be in the student’s major/minor.

The deadline for Honors Contracts is mid-term. No contracts will be accepted for the semester after the mid-term date.

To maintain the quality of Honors Contracts, no faculty member may engage in more than three contracts per semester in all courses taught.

If the student fulfills the contract as specified, the course will be given the H designator or "Honors” will be added to the course description on the transcript. (The one exception occurs if the course is followed by a “U”; then the “H” can't be added. However, the student’s yearly benchmark report card will reflect the fulfillment of the honors contract.) The course will not be designated with an H or termed Honors if the student does not fulfill the terms of the contract. Failure to complete the contract will not affect the student’s grade in the course, only the student’s designation of the course as Honors.

Procedures for Honors Contracts

An Honors Contract must be mutually developed by the faculty member teaching the course and the Honors student. The contract must be filled out and signed by the faculty member, the Honors student and the department chair with exact details of how the contract will allow the student to go above and beyond the regular course requirements. The signed contract is then sent to the Honors Program director.

The Honors Program director must approve the contract. The director has final determination of whether it is a valid Honors project and may consult with the Honors Committee if in doubt. If the contract is not approved, the Honors Program director will consult with the faculty member teaching the course, with the Honors student and with the department chair, advising them how to rewrite the contract.

Two weeks before the end of the semester, the Honors Program director will check with all faculty members engaged in Honors Contracts to determine the likelihood of students’ contract completion.

One week prior to the end of the semester, the Honors Program director will send a Contract Completion Form to all faculty engaged in Honors Contracts. The faculty will complete the form and return it to the director, validating the completion of the contract.

Upon completion of the Honors Contract, if the Honors Contract involves a project, the student should give a copy of the project to the Honors Program director. The director may put the copy in the student’s file or may put it on display in the library or the Honors website for interested parties to view.  

Design guidelines for Honors Contracts

The goal of Honors Contracts is to provide opportunity for a student to expand his/her understanding and knowledge of a given subject beyond the regular course syllabus. This may be accomplished in many ways, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Investigating topics too advanced for regular coursework.
• Investigating an area of the discipline not covered in depth in the regular course.
• Investigating an area of the discipline not covered in depth in the regular course.
• Doing research beyond course assignments.
• Doing critical thinking and extended analysis not required in regular coursework.
• Applying the information/expertise learned in the course in a creative way.
• Doing creative projects beyond regular requirements of the course.
• Participating in an appropriate and relevant faculty-initiated research project.
• Devising and carrying out a clearly delimited original research project.
• Monitoring and analyzing "current events" associated with the course topic.
• Performing a literature survey in a collateral area of the course topic.
• Using advanced medium of presentation beyond that required in a regular course.
• Using computer applications beyond the ordinary.

The Honors Contract may entail a standard research paper, a bibliographic essay, a classroom presentation, or other product as appropriate to the course material.

Information concerning specific majors

For most majors on campus, Honors Contracts may be attached to any upper division courses within the student’s major. However, a few majors specify which courses Honors students must take with Honors Contracts.

For instance, biology majors must take BIOL 5515, BIOL 5525 or BIOL 5535 with Honors Contracts.

Music, chemistry and several other majors require that specific courses be taken with the contract.

Students should see the Honors coordinator for Honors Contract information relating specifically to their majors.