Honors Program: Supervising Honors Contract

Honors Credit by Contract

The "Proposal for Honors Credit by Contract" form is available on the Honors webpage.  In addition, information on completing a contract is available on the Honors Contract Guidelines page.

An Honors contract is an institutional agreement whereby students can earn Honors credit through enrichment of standard, non-honors courses (3-credit minimum). Within a contract arrangement, faculty members work together with individual students to identify the specific requirements of the contract. Payment for directing a contract to completion is $50 per student. A faculty member may supervise six contracts per semester.

Typically, an Honors contract proposal is submitted and approved by the sixth week of the semester, though it may be initiated any time during the semester. In addition, a contract my be prepared retroactively (e.g., after the course is completed) when an instructor determines that a student's course work is outstanding, far exceeding the course requirements and the work produced by other students. The professor (not the student) must initiate a retroactive Honors credit request, and a proposal for Honors credit by contract must be submitted to the Honors Program Coordinator.

The contract option does not apply to pre-100 level courses or to College Success Strategies.

The following is from the Honors webpage--

Honors Contracts

A student can enroll in a standard RACC course and arrange with the instructor to complete different or additional work. The individual arrangement with the instructor is written as a contract. Forms needed for the contract can be obtained in the Honors Program Office (B-513) or downloaded here.

Honors contracts are subject to the willingness of individual instructors to participate and to the approval of both the appropriate Division Dean and the Honors Committee.

Procedure for Supervising an Honors Contract

  1. If you are willing to offer the contract option for students who want to explore the course beyond the usual parameters, consider including this option in your syllabus.
  2. Some faculty work with students to develop a very specific proposal.  Other faculty develop a skeleton or template within which students create their own focus.
  3. Meet with the student to discuss the contract proposal.
  4. Direct the student to draft the proposal and submit it to you for review.  Following the guidelines, help the student edit to submit a document that meets your requirements and that is suitable for the student's permanent file with the college.
  5. Direct the student to complete the online dynamic form.  You and the student should sign and date the form.
  6. Submit the signed form and the proposal to your Division Assistant Dean.
  7. After the proposal has been signed by the Dean, it should be submitted to the Honors Program Coordinator.
  8. The Coordinator will review, sign and process the Proposal.
  9. When the student has finished the work described in this contract to your satisfaction, you should do the following to ensure that the "Honors" designation is placed after the course title on the student's transcript:
    • Sign the bottom of the Honors contract form, indicating your approval of the request for Honors credit.
    • Submit the signed form, together with a summary report of the project completed or the culmination project/essay to Dr. Pamela Blakely in the Honors Program Office (B-513) either as a paper document or electronic file.

If the student completes the standard coursework but not the contract work, there should be no penalty to the student.

The normal expectation is that the student will complete their Honors contract work by the beginning of the semester following the semester in which the course was taken (excluding Winter and Summer terms).

If you have any questions about this contract process, do not hesitate to call Dr. Pamela Blakely.
610-372-4721 ext. 5452 or email pblakely@racc.edu