Important information Regarding Contracts
Honors contracts are available only to students who entered the University Honors Program in summer 2007 or prior. Contracts will remain available to these students throughout the time that they are in the University Honors Program.
Students entering the University Honors Program in fall 2007 or after are not eligible to meet Honors requirements through contracts.
Honors Contract Information and Form
All contract forms must be submitted online no later than the third Friday of the quarter in which the contract will be completed.
Honors contracts allow students who entered the University Honors Program in summer 2007 or prior to enhance their learning and to earn Honors credit for non-Honors classes. To complete a contract, individual students work with their instructors to complete academic projects above and beyond the regular requirements of the particular class.
Students choose to pursue Honors contracts for two reasons:
- To add flexibility in earning Honors credit
- To enhance their learning and explore a particular topic or subject of interest more deeply
There are a wide variety of projects and activities that students may pursue in order to complete an Honors contract. Contracts have included work such as writing a paper, conducting a research project, preparing and giving a presentation, creating a website, creating an artistic expression of a concept or idea, running a statistical analysis, learning a specific technical skill, and much more.
Steps to completing an Honors contract:
- Discuss the project with your instructor during the first week of class. Be prepared when you initiate the discussion. Have an idea of what topic/subject you would like to study more in depth and/or what you may want to do as a contract project.
When you talk with your instructor, keep in mind that while many faculty have previous experience in working with students on Honors contracts, many do not have such experience. You may need to explain to your instructor what an Honors contract is. Feel free to refer your instructor to this website or to an Honors staff member if she/he has questions that you are unable to answer.
- Once you and your instructor have agreed on a project, you will need to compile the following information: Description of project: Give a brief overview of your project. You should also describe the details of your project. Be specific.
- Learning Objectives: What skills or knowledge will you gain as a result of completing this contract? How will your learning be extended beyond the basic requirements of the class? Describe how your learning objectives relate to the course content. Again, please be specific.
- Methods & Evaluation: What will your final product be? How will you convey what you have learned? Is there a paper, presentation or other type of final product? How will the instructor evaluate your performance on the project? What criteria will be used?
- Complete the online Honors contract form, submitting all of the above information.
Deadline
All contract forms must be submitted online no later than the third Friday of the quarter in which the contract will be completed.
Logistics
Once your form has been submitted online, an automated email will be sent to both you and your instructor to confirm the contract. Both your instructor and the University Honors Program will receive a copy of everything that you submit online.
At the end of the quarter, an Honors staff member will automatically contact your instructor via email to verify completion of your project. Honors credit will be awarded once your professor has responded to that email to verify that you have completed the work.
Revising a contract
If your instructor requests revisions to your original contract, please submit changes via email to your instructor and to your honors advisor. Please do not use the online form to submit your revised contract.
Cancelling a contract
You may cancel an existing contract by emailing your instructor and your honors advisor.