Benefits of Honors Contracts
Contracts allow students the autonomy to make decisions about their education.
You get to work with your professor to design a project that:
- Helps you dig deeper into an academic interest that you're already passionate about
- Forms connections between the material you're learning in class and other areas you want to know more about
- Allows you to participate in more involved research or assist your professor with some of their ongoing research
- Explores areas of interest that you might not get to learn about otherwise
- Establishes connections with faculty that you might want to work with again in the future (and/or utilize for advice and letters of recommendation)
Honors Contract Courses
What kind of course should you propose an Honors Contract in?
- Courses in your major or specific area of study - You get the chance to really expand your horizons! You might even start a project for an Honors Contract and then expand it or build upon it later in your academic career.
- Courses that are required for your degree, but aren't particularly exciting for you - You can bring in your knowledge from other areas of interest to explore the course material. It is a fantastic way to be creative in your approach!
- For example: you might pitch drawing anatomical illustrations in your biology course or research the connections between calculus and post-WWII poetry. You'll get to continue learning more about your discipline in courses that might seem unrelated at first!
- Courses taught by an instructor or professor you find inspiring or who you might want to work with in the future - If you find an instructor or professor who is already doing research you're interested in, you might want to pitch helping them. You'd get to learn from an expert about an ongoing project, find out more about how labs and/or academica really work behind the scenes, and gain experience that could help your resume/CV stand out when applying to future jobs or graduate school!
Course Restrictions
- A course that already has an Honors equivalent cannot be contracted. Example: you cannot contract ENGL 102 because there is the Honors version, ENGL 115.
- Contracted courses must be at least 3 credit hours.
- Online courses/remote and Summer semester courses can be contracted with the approval of the professor.
- Professors are not required to allow contracts in courses. Therefore, students are asked to try their best to complete contracts that professors accept.
Contract Requirements
We like to offer a lot of flexibility in the kind of work you can do for an Honors Contract. We want you to be able to do something that will spark your passion and progress your academic goals!
Your contract should add about 10% more work to the coursework initially required.
Additionally, your project must work to meet at least three of the Honors Program Student Learning Outcomes. You'll be asked to identify and explain how you plan to meet your chosen SLOs in your proposal.
Read about our Student Learning Outcomes
When you complete the Contract, you'll also be required to turn in a reflection about what kind of insight you gained and if/how you met the SLOs to the Honors Program as well.
Please note that the content of your reflection will not affect your grade. You can be honest!
Contract Project
Honors Contracts are your chance to dive deeper into a topic, connect coursework to your passions, and shape your education in ways that matter to you. Projects are flexible and creative—you’ll work with your professor to design something meaningful. Some possibilities include:
- Ask a question and research to find an answer
- Expand on topics and projects from classes to take them further
- Journal or present about a trip or experience you've had
- Build/Fix/Create something you might not otherwise have taken the time to do
- Prepare for your future career through interviews, research, and/or first hand experience and report on it
Honors Contracts are all about making your education your own. You choose the project, and we’ll support you in bringing it to life.
Contract Proposal Resources
Review the Requirements for Honors Contract Proposals »
Read our Step-by-Step Guide to Submitting Proposals »
Browse Examples of Contracts by Course »
