About Honors Courses

University Honors Program Courses...

• Are small and generally limited to 20 students or less to allow for more personal attention and interaction with professors.
• Do not rely on lectures and textbooks alone, but rather emphasize critical thinking and engagement in the learning process.
• Provide students a chance to work with other academically gifted students from a variety of backgrounds.
• Provide cultural enrichment.
• Provide academic enrichment rather than acceleration.
• Afford students the opportunity to conduct independent research under the guidance of experienced faculty mentors.
• Offer students the opportunity to Study Abroad.
• Are not necessarily more difficult than others, but rather more stimulating and interactive.

Independent Study

Beginning the sophomore year, students have the opportunity to undertake an independent studies project under the one-to-one guidance of a knowledgeable faculty mentor. This project provides students with invaluable experience in: researching a topic of his/her choice, creative and critical thinking, and problem-solving. This experience helps prepare students for future graduate school and professional challenges. Students interested in pre-law/pre-medical careers and graduate school are strongly urged to consider the benefits of an undergraduate Honors education.

In addition, students may enroll in independent study courses while studying abroad, which are designed to promote experiential learning in order to promote interdisciplinary learning, contextual insight, cultural appreciation, and critical thinking skills. Students in these courses are to arrange a topic and appropriate academic work with a faculty member of Director of the Guerra Honors Program. The syllabus for HONR 3388 and 4388 is located below.

HONR 3388 and 4388 Syllabus

Honors Course Listing

Fall 2007 Schedule (PDF)

Fall 2008 Schedule (WORD)

Spring 2009 Schedule (WORD)

Fall 2009 Schedule (WORD)

Spring 2010 Schedule (WORD)

Summer I & II 2010 Schedule (PDF)

Fall 2010 Schedule (PDF)

Spring 2011 Schedule (PDF)

Summer I & II, Fall 2011 (PDF)

Spring 2012 Schedule (PDF)

Honors Contracts

An honors contract is a mechanism for adding an honors dimension to a course or section which is not already an honors course. The contract is an agreement between the individual student and the professor in the class for which honors credit is required. This agreement identifies a project that the student will complete under the faculty member's supervision. Numerous possibilities exist for these courses, but Honors by Contract courses should not be burdensome to the faculty. However, Honors by Contract courses should address two or more of the strategies listed below that enhance and deepen the regular course objectives. Note that these requirements are above and beyond the regular requirement for the course.

• Special or extra research paper or project
• Interdisciplinary or multodisciplinary research
• Formal classroom presentation
• Journal writing
• Teach a segment of the course to the rest of the students
• Special or extra project (group or individual)
• Service learning component  

Although the honors contract does not affect the student's grade in the course, in order to receive honors credit for the course the student must earn a grade of "A" or "B" in the course in addition to completing the contract project in a satisfactory manner. Up tp 9 hours of honors credit may be used to fulfill the requirements for the General Honors Award (up to 12 hours, if necessary, with permission of the Guerra Honors Program Director). Contracts must be filed with the Guerra Honors Program by the end of the third week of the semester. Students have the first three weeks of each semester to contract for honors credit. Honors by Contract is an option available only to the Guerra Honors Program Students. 

The Deadline for Spring 2012 Honors Contract Agreements is February 3rd, 2012. The Deadline for Student Evaluation Forms is May 4th, 2012.

Honors by Contract Form