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Designating a Course as Honors 1

 

You should plan to fill your Honors Program requirements with courses that have been specifically designed as “Honors” and which are limited to Honors Program students: we all know the particular pleasure of being in a challenging class with dynamic and articulate peers. However, there may be times when you have good reason to choose an alternative course to fill an Honors requirement. Many departmental Honors in Major programs, for example, ask you to decide which courses you will take for Honors credit. In circumstances like these, you may designate a course as Honors, and have it count towards your Honors requirements.

The “Honors” designation permits both students and faculty to pursue the creativity, uniqueness, independence, and intellectual stimulation of honors in a regular classroom setting. It can facilitate close faculty-student contact, customize your overall academic plan, help you choose an emphasis in a department, or prepare for your thesis in a specific area.

When you designate a course as “Honors,” you are in effect enrolling in a new course, designed for your individual needs, and subject to the same university-wide policies as any other course in which you are enrolled. Like any other course, then, the Honors Designated Course requires advance planning and clear expectations for both faculty and student. In short, it is not normally possible simply to drop the H (honors designation) after the drop deadline.

If you are interested in this option, you should plan for it during the pre-registration period, so that you know whether the faculty member is able to accommodate your request, and what will be expected of you. You will then be able to make an informed decision about whether this is the right option for you. Please note that faculty members are not obligated to designate, and many have good reasons for feeling that their course might not be appropriate.

The Honors Designation Guidelines, the Honors Designation Form (which goes to the Registrar), and the University Honors Contract (for you and your instructor) are all designed to assist you and your professor as you remake a non-honors course into one eligible for honors credit.

Honors Designation Guidelines

  1. You are permitted one Honors Designated Course towards the completion of your Honors General Education requirements.
  2. Your department may allow you to use anywhere from 4-12 credits worth of designated coursework towards the completion of your Honors-in-Major requirements. For Honors in Major courses, you must check with your departmental Honors Liaison to confirm your major's specific policies.
  3. Instructors should be regular tenure-track faculty; non-tenure-track faculty may work on an Honors designation for a course only with the permission of the Honors Program, or, in the case of Honors-in-Major courses, the permission of the department.2
  4. To make use of the Honors Designation option, you must consult with the faculty instructor, and, in the case of Honors-in-Major courses, your departmental liaison. You and your instructor should propose a course of study, identify appropriate outcomes or experiences, and specify criteria for evaluation. For Honors-in-Major designations you and your instructor complete and sign the form, and the signature of the departmental liaison is also required. For honors general education designations you and your instructor complete and sign the form and the signature of the UHP advisor is also required. Link to the Honors Designation Form: Honors Designation Form
  5. The Honors Designation Form should be handed into the Registrar no later than the third Friday of the semester (the end of the Drop/Add period). The Registrar in effect will create a private Honors section of the course; will generate a separate roster and grade sheet for the instructor; and will place an “H” on your transcript.
  6. Before committing to the Honors Designation, you and your instructor must create a written record of what additional Honors work will be required in the class, when it will be due, how it will be assessed, and how it will integrated into a final grade for the course. Some departments have their own forms to facilitate this; if they do not have a standard preferred form, the UHP has provided a sample form, the University Honors Contract (see below). Both you and your instructor must keep a copy of the written record as well.

Remember: once you set up an Honors designated course, you are no longer considered to be in the regular section: yours is a new course, with what is in effect a new syllabus, subject to the same procedures when it comes to dropping and adding as any other course in which you are enrolled.

What Does An Honors Designation Involve?

 

The Honors Designation enriches a regular, non-honors course throughout the span of a semester by establishing a clear distinction in rigor, depth, intensity, cross- or interdisciplinary character, and/or innovative teaching/learning opportunities. The main purpose to keep in mind is that an Honors Designation should enrich a student's learning in a standard course. This may take the form of challenging her with more work; but it should certainly do so with deeper, more qualitatively substantive approaches to course content and assignments. As a general guideline, students may anticipate an investment of 1/4 to 1/3 more time, effort, and difficulty in earning honors credit, which is duly noted on the official transcript. The following suggestions might provide some guidance as students and faculty work towards a more specific “honors contract.”

  1. higher degree of student participation and involvement in the class
  2. higher standards of performance than expected of regular students
  3. more advanced supplemental reading, especially of primary sources
  4. more opportunities for writing, and at a higher standard
  5. more opportunities for student presentations to class or campus audiences
  6. stronger enhancement of skills in critical thinking, analysis and interpretation
  7. greater depth and/or breadth of subject matter, especially requiring synthesis of different perspectives or points of view
  8. more opportunities for research, particularly when student-conceived
  9. use of resources or consultants from beyond the campus itself, such as university libraries or interactions with business or industry personnel
  10. opportunities for publication or public presentation of work
  11. integration of concepts and information from a variety of sources and experiences, particularly in cross- or interdisciplinary contexts, or ones that come out of the student's major field of interest
  12. community-based experiences: field trips, interviews, cultural events
  13. leadership in the classroom: leading study groups, leading class discussion, assisting faculty in preparation and delivery of instructional material
  14. investigating an area of the discipline not covered in depth in the regular course, either through a literature search, an annotated bibliography, or a conventional research paper
  15. applying the information/expertise learned in the course in a creative way
  16. monitoring and analyzing current events associated with the course topic
  17. Other:____________________________________________________

SAMPLE: HONORS DESIGNATION CONTRACT

(The University Honors Program strongly recommends that this contract be completed before the student submits the Honors Designation Form to the Registrar during the Drop/Add period. The University Honors Program also recommends that both student and faculty member keep copies of this contract.)

Student Name (Signature): ______________________________________
Student Name (Print): __________________________________________
Course No./Title: _____________________________Section:____Credits__
Instructor Name (Signature): ___________________________________
Instructor Name (Print):________________________________________
Semester/Year: _________________________________________________
Student Rank: FR SO JR SR (circle one)

What are the honors components of the course? How do they extend or deepen the honors student's learning experience in the non-honors course? Will honors assignments replace regular assignments?


What is the process by which student and faculty member maintain regular review, discussion, and ongoing assessment of the honors portion of the work? Please provide tentative dates and deadlines.


How will the honors work be assessed in relation to the non-Honors portion of the coursework?

(The following suggestions might provide some guidance as students and faculty work towards an “honors contract.” It will be printed on the back of the require Honors designation Form that goes to the Registrar.)

What Does An Honors Designation Involve?

The Honors Designation enriches a regular, non-honors course throughout the span of a semester by establishing a clear distinction in rigor, depth, intensity, cross- or interdisciplinary character, and/or innovative teaching/learning opportunities. The main purpose to keep in mind is that an Honors Designation should enrich a student’s learning in a standard course. This may take the form of challenging her with more work; but it should certainly do so with deeper, more qualitatively substantive approaches to course content and assignments. As a general guideline, students may anticipate an investment of 1/4 to 1/3 more time, effort, and difficulty in earning honors credit, which is duly noted on the official transcript. The following suggestions might provide some guidance as students and faculty work towards an “honors contract.”

  1. higher degree of student participation and involvement in the class
  2. higher standards of performance than expected of regular students
  3. more advanced supplemental reading, especially of primary sources
  4. more opportunities for writing, and at a higher standard
  5. more opportunities for student presentations to class or campus audiences
  6. stronger enhancement of skills in critical thinking, analysis and interpretation
  7. greater depth and/or breadth of subject matter, especially requiring synthesis of different perspectives or points of view
  8. more opportunities for research, particularly when student-conceived
  9. use of resources or consultants from beyond the campus itself, such as university libraries or interactions with business or industry personnel
  10. opportunities for publication or public presentation of work
  11. integration of concepts and information from a variety of sources and experiences, particularly in cross- or interdisciplinary contexts, or ones that come out of the student's major field of interest
  12. community-based experiences: field trips, interviews, cultural events
  13. leadership in the classroom: leading study groups, leading class discussion, assisting faculty in preparation and delivery of instructional material
  14. investigating an area of the discipline not covered in depth in the regular course, either through a literature search, an annotated bibliography, or a conventional research paper
  15. applying the information/expertise learned in the course in a creative way
  16. monitoring and analyzing current events associated with the course topic
  17. Other:____________________________________________________

1 In what follows, we are grateful to our colleagues in the National Council of Honors Colleges, who share generously their ideas, experiences, words, and wisdom. In drafting the language and format of the policy, we are particularly indebted to the following: Dr. Alison Primoza, Honors Program, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA 9211; Dr. John Zubizarreta, Honors Program, Columbia College, Columbia, SC 20293.

2 Honors Designated courses will be taught by a clinical, research or tenure track faculty member who has the rank of Assistant Professor or higher. Graduate students or other instructors as deemed appropriate by their department/division chair or program coordinator may also teach these courses. However, those instructors must be supervised by the administrator responsible for the assessment of the course or program.