Honors Student/Faculty Course Contract Options

The University Honors Program (UHP) is committed to student engagement in learning; and we offer the opportunity for students to collaborate with faculty to develop directed study coursesand course adjustment options. Our Honors Contract enablesUHP students to undertake a faculty supervised courseand to have those course credits,with a minimum grade of “B” or better,applied as HON credits. Up to three Honors Contract course credits may be applied toward membership requirements, scholarship renewal, priority registration and the UHP Honors Core Award, and up to six Honors Contract credits may be applied toward the UHP Honors Certificate.

Students must seek out a faculty member who is willing to assist themin the development of the Honors Contract. Generally, it is a good idea to choose a faculty mentor with whom you have previously worked and whose field of scholarship is appropriate to the proposed course. Once you have defined a directed study project, a special topic for study/research, or a regular course that you wish to adjust; your faculty mentor can advise you in defining the scope of your honors course and appropriate number of course credits. Then,complete the Honors Contract and submit it to your faculty mentor and the UHP Director for signature approval. After receiving written approval from the Director, the department overseeing the course will open the appropriate course section with HON in the course description.

The Honors Contract course must be taken for a traditional letter grade. Students may enroll for a maximum of 3-4 credits per semester. An Honors Contract will not generally be approved when a regular academic course is available on the same topic, nor for internships, practica, technical training courses, studio courses, or developmental courses. Guidelines from the National Collegiate Honors Council for honors course design are available at: .

Honors Contracts fall within the following three categories:

  • Honors Directed Study: A directed study (DS) course provides the opportunity for students to explore topics in greater depth as well as topics that fall outside the scope of regular academic courses. For example, undergraduate research andother types of scholarly or creative activities may be pursued through a directed study course. Generally, a research projectincludes a review of the pertinent literature, independent research, a formal write-up of results, and possibly a formal presentation. Service leaning can also be conducted as a directed study course. Service learning is an unpaid, focused, service activity, constituting a minimum of 48 hours per credit hour earned and must be discussed in detail with the UHP Director. Students benefit their local community and learn by engaging in asubstantial and meaningful activity usually through a non-profit or public institution. Examples includethe Moscow Mentor Program,Habitat for Humanity, food banks, homeless shelters etc. A faculty member must be willing to open a DS Honors section and then assist the student in course planning and grading the additional work.
  • Honor’sCourse Adjustment Option: With faculty collaboration and approval, students, can convert a regularly scheduled 3- or 4- credit course into an Honors course through specified extra assignments such as additional reading, writing, fieldwork, research, or community service. For example, a standard course could be supplemented with current research articles,with readings on the history of the discipline; a research project, a significant presentation etc. A faculty member must be willing to open an honors section for the class and then assist the student in course planning and grading the additional work.
  • Study Abroad Experience: With the UHP Director’s approval,
  • studentswho participate in a one-semester study abroad experience may receive an HonorsCore Award by completing 16 rather than the required 19 UI Honors credits or the Honors Certificate by completing 24 credits rather than the required 27 Honors credits.
  • studentswho participate in a two-semester study abroad experience mayreceive anHonors Certificate by completing 21 rather than the required 27 Honors credits.

For the study abroad contract, students complete the top 4 lines of the Honors Contract, provide a brief description (200-300 words) of the study abroad experience, gain the signature of the UHP Director, and then complete a 2-page reflection paper upon return.

Student Responsibilities: Discuss course options with the UHP director. Then, ask an appropriate professor if he or she would be willing to work with you on a course worthy of honors credit. Once you agree upon the work involved, complete the Honors Contract with a description of the work and then submit the signed Contract to the UHP Director. The deadline for filing this agreement is no later than the end of the 4thday of class each semester. Complete the agreed uponlearning experiences over the semester; and then submit all assignments to your mentor by 5:00 p.m. on Friday of “dead week.” By 5:00 p.m. on Friday of “exam week,” submit electronically a brief 1-2 page reflection paper on your learning experience and a copy of the agreed upon work to the UHP Director for placement in your UHP file and for consideration of postingon the Honors web page as an example of scholarly work in Honors.

Faculty Responsibilities: We appreciate your extra efforts that enable an Honors student to take advantage of the Honors Contract option.Please work with the student to establish appropriate learning outcomes,assignments, due dates, and criteria for evaluating the learning outcomes. Sign the Honors Contract showing your agreement to assist the student. After the Honors Contract has been approved by the UHP Director, you will receive an email confirmation and basic information toopenthe course through your department. The course will be listed as HON: DS 499: (title of the course) or as an HON section of a regular class. Faculty should not support this contract unless they are willing to plan, direct and evaluate the student’s work and efforts.

As available, the faculty mentor could schedule regular meetings during the semester (possibly weekly or biweekly) todiscuss course progress. If more than one student is completing an Honorscourse under the supervision of the same faculty mentor, then the faculty mentor may wish to schedule regular group meetings with those students to share information, exchange ideas, and discuss their progress. When the Honors Contract has been completed, the faculty mentor must submit a letter grade by the Registrar’s deadline. If the agreed upon work has not been completed by the end of the semester, the faculty mentor must submit an appropriate letter grade or an “incomplete” to be followed by a final grade when the work is complete. If you have questions, or if the student fails to complete the agreed upon work, please contactthe Honors Program at 885-6147 or .

Processand timetable for completing an Honors Contract:

1)Meet first with UHP Director and then with faculty member to discuss coursecontent and scope of work

by the end of the preceding semester

2)Complete Honors Course Contractwith description of work and then gain formal approval withthe signature of faculty member by 5:00 p.m. on the 3rdday of the semester and with the signature of the UHP Director by 5:00 p.m. on the 4thday of the semester

3)Complete agreed uponlearning experiences over the course of the semester

4)Meet with and submit final assignments to faculty mentor by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday of “dead week.” Instructor must submit course grade by Registrar’s deadline.

5)Electronically submit final assignments and an additional 1-2 pagereflection paper to UHP Director by 5:00 p.m. on Friday of “exam week.”

Components of the scope of work (200-300 words):

  1. Course or Project Title
  1. Describe what will you study, learn, and be able to do after the completion of this course. Don’t bite off more than you can chew! Generally the scope of the proposed project should be commensurate with normal expectations for an academic course with a corresponding number of credits.
  1. Describe in detail the specific learning experiences and activities that will help you achieve your learning goals. Don’t indicate that you will do “extensive fieldwork” or “extensive reading.” Explain the specific type of fieldwork or the specific books and articles you intend to read, and, more importantly, how this work will enable you to accomplish your specific learning objectives. Don’t merely list an activity, such as “research” or “community service.” Again, give details. What kind of research? If laboratory experiments, how many? If library research, how much? Or, how many hours of service learning? Of what type? Don’t simply offer that you will write a paper. What is the paper topic? Its length? How does the thought and writing that will go into the paper provide opportunities for original observations, discoveries, and insights?

Examples of learning experiences:

  • Conduct research in a laboratory or at a field site
  • Review or research the primary literature
  • Write a research paper or a critical essay
  • Develop a video or film
  • Write a short story, poems or . . .
  • Create art or sculpture
  • Integrate research with practice
  • Write a technical paper or a paper targeted at lay audiences
  • Conduct interviews with primary sources
  • Write a research proposal
  • Develop or contribute to a web site
  • Perform via dance, music, or drama
  • Create an exhibit of work
  • Develop and publish software
  • Make an oral presentation or poster presentation at a regional or national professional meeting or on the UI campus (UI Research Expo, Engineering Expo, or COS Student Research Expo)
  • Apply engineering concepts to solving a problem
  • Conduct policy analysis
  • Participate in a significant service learning activity that benefits the community
  1. Develop a calendar that clearly states when different learning activities and experiencesare to be completedover the course of the semester
  1. Describe the methods and criteria that will be used for evaluation. If there are written assignments, specify their nature and how they will be evaluated.

An Artificial “Example”

Description of Scope of Work for a Directed Study Research Project in the Department of Biology

Kinetics of Cellulose Decomposition with Cellulobacter T12

Woody biomass (45% cellulose) holds tremendouspotential for the conversion of cellulose to glucose. Glucose can then be fermented to alcohol or thermally or chemically converted to basic chemicalfeed stocksand polymer precursors. Dr. Wilson (professor in Biological Sciences) recently isolated Cellulobactor T12 that produces extremely high concentrations of a very active cellulase enzyme. The goals of this exploratory research project will be to study the kinetics of cellulose decomposition to glucose with Cellulobactor T12 through a series of lab experiments. The effects of temperature, pH, and nutrients on glucose production will be examined via graphical analysis. Through this project, I will learn how to research the primary literature, plan a research project, conduct experiments, analyze data, and write a manuscript.

For my 3-cr undergrad research course, I intend to spend 10-12 hours per week working on the project as described in the work plan below. Dr. Wilson has agreed to supervise this research; and I will meet with him and/or his research team at 1:00 every Tuesday afternoon to go over my progress. My grade will be based on the quality of my literature review, laboratory work (data collection, graphical analysis, and lab notebook),data analysis, and final manuscript. If the quality of my research and manuscript is high enough, I would like to present my research as a poster presentation at the College of Science Research Expo next fall and possibly as an oral presentation at the UI Research Expo the following spring.

ScheduleTarget Completion Date

Review pertinent literatureJan. 15-31

Learn experimental techniques and procedures from post-docJan. 15-Feb.5

Write introduction and compile bibliography for manuscriptFeb.1-10

Conduct experiments and graph resultsFeb. 6- April 20

Temperature experimentsFeb. 6-15

pH experimentsFeb. 15-30

Nutrient experiments (if time allows)March 15-April 20

Analyze data and write manuscriptApril 10-April 30

Submit manuscript and all assignments to faculty mentorFriday of “dead week”

Submit reflection paper and all assignments to UHP DirectorFriday of “exam week”

Prepare and present poster at COS Research ExpoNext fall (optional, and ungraded)

Honors Course Contract

STUDENT INFORMATION

Student name: / Student ID number:
Phone: / Email:
I wish to enroll in the following Honors course option.
Directed Study Course adjustmentoption
Study Abroad(these “off the record credits” only count toward the Honors Core Award/Certificate)
Department sponsoring the course: HON Course Title:
Course Credits: Course Number: Course Section Number:
I have read the UHP Contract guidelines; and I agree to comply with this Honors Contract.
Student signature: Date:

FACULTY MENTOR INFORMATION

Faculty mentor name:
Faculty department:
Faculty rank or job title:
Faculty status: Tenured Tenure-track Non-tenure-track
Campus phone: / Email:
I agree to help plan, supervise, and evaluate this Honors Course Contract.
Faculty signature: / Date:
A department chair’s approval and signature is only required for non-tenure-track faculty to insure appropriate qualifications to supervise the proposed course.
Department chair signature: / Date:

UNIVERSITYHONORS PROGRAM INFORMATION

UHP student eligibility verified: Yes No UHP staff initials:
This Honors Course Contract is approved.
UHP Director signature: / Date:

Attach a detailed and succinct200-300word description of the proposed course work or the study abroad experiencethat you will complete through your Honors Contract. Be sure that the description of your course work includes project title, learning objectives, specific assignments and activities, due dates, and evaluation methods (see example).

For more information or assistance, contact the University Honors Program at 885-6147 or UI Commons 315.