Honors Course by Contracts allow students to pursue individualized work within the framework of a non-honors class and engage in study beyond the course requirements. The student will receive an Honors (H) designation from the registrar but the course itself remains non-honors.
Developed between the faculty member and student, contracts empower the student to take a leading role in their education and provide opportunities for faculty mentorship. Contracts are unique to each course, should never feel burdensome, and be qualitatively different from that assigned to other students in the course. For instance, contract work may accentuate increased depth or complexity on a particular topic and may require additional reading or research. Activities should involve critical thinking, creativity, rigorous scholarship, and independent study.
Examples might include:
• a traditional research paper or elevated class paper
• a case study or series of case studies
• a specialized lab experiment
• an art project, musical, or literary composition
• an original software or hardware creation
• an empirical research study or fieldwork
• an extensive gathering and analysis of quantitative or qualitative data
