Procedure and FAQs
Honors Contract Process and Forms
- What is an Honors Contract?
- Honors Contracts are written agreements between the professor and the student enrolled in a non-honors section. The Honors contract provides students with honors credit within the course section. This honors credit will be designated on the student's official college transcript.
- What are the benefits of signing an Honors Contract?
- Honors credits count towards qualifying for special priority admissions consideration agreements for students who wish to transfer to a number of universities, including UC Irvine, UCLA and more. Contact the Honors Program Counselor for the most current status of these agreements.
- Honors students receive invitations to free events, including orientations and research conferences.
- Honors students work closely with mentor-professors.
- Honors students are invited to apply for special scholarships.
- What are Honors Contract Objectives?
- The goal of this contract is to stimulate and enrich the teaching/learning experience for both faculty and students by incorporating a number of the following Honors attributes/objectives. These attributes/objectives include, but are not limited to:
- Higher degree of involvement and participation
- Higher standard of performance than expected of regular students
- Advanced supplemental reading, especially of primary sources
- More opportunities for writing, and at a higher standard
- More opportunities for student presentations to class or campus audiences
- Stronger enhancement of skills in critical thinking, analysis and interpretation
- Greater depth and/or breadth or subject matter, especially requiring synthesis of different perspectives or points of view
- More opportunities for research, particularly when student conceived
- Use of resources from beyond the campus itself, such as university libraries or interactions with business or industry personnel
- Integration of concepts and information from a variety of sources particularly in cross, interdisciplinary, multi-cultural or social justice contexts
- Opportunities for publication
- Community based experiences: field trips, interviews, cultural events, etc.
- Leadership in the classroom: Leading study groups, facilitating class discussions, etc.
- Conference attendance
- How do I begin this process?
- Students and/or instructors may initiate the honors dialogue to discuss and select at least 3 Honors attributes/objectives. The instructor can invite students to apply for an Honors Contract via "follow up" in their online roster. After the instructor invites students to apply for the Contract, students should see "apply to Honors" in their To Do List. Students will be able to check off the objectives and sign the contract within their student portal.
- Are Honors Contracts available in all courses and all sessions?
- Honors Contracts are available in any transfer level course (100 level and up) in any modality (in person, hybrid, fully online, etc.) in courses that are at least 8 weeks long. Honors Contracts are accepted during fall and spring semester terms only (not summer or intersession).
- What is the deadline and next steps?
- Contact the Honors Program Coordinator for current deadlines. and assistance.
- Do instructors need to write a new syllabus?
- Instructors should email a new syllabus (simply list honors objectives and assignments on a regular syllabus) by week two of an 8 week session and by week 10 of a 16 week session.
The Faculty Honors Course Proposal Process
- The Course Proposal Process
- Twice during each academic year, the District Honors Program sends out a call for new honors course proposals. Seminal ideas for new courses from our faculty (sometimes sparked by students) are submitted in a prescribed Honors proposal format for review and consideration. Budgeting, publicity, student recruitment, support of cultural events, and course evaluations all flow from the generation of that original idea for a classroom experience. Honors courses are duly designated with an H and in the course's Class Details on the online class schedule.
- How do I offer an Honors Course?
- The San Diego Community College District Honors Program has been highly successful, offering nearly 400 courses by well over 100 faculty in more than 40 departments spanning the last twenty years.
- The first step in offering an honors course is to develop an honors syllabus. A typical honors course has any of the following characteristics:
- high degree of student participation and involvement
- high standards of performance
- more independent reading and research
- enhancement of critical thinking
- greater flexibility in format and teaching methodologies
- increased use of primary sources
- selected field trips, guest speakers, opportunities to attend related cultural and social events
- greater depth or breadth of subject matter
- more opportunities for writing
- Using your honors syllabus, you can then complete the Honors Course Proposal form. The proposal must be approved by your department chair and dean before it is submitted to the Honors Coordinator. The final step in the approval process is the evaluation of your proposal by the District Honors Program. At this point, an interview or more information may be requested. This entire process takes place one year before the course will be taught. To propose an honors course, contact the Honors Coordinator for forms, sample proposals, and assistance in completing your proposal.
Earn Monetary Compensation or FLEX Credit for Honors Contracts
The collective bargaining agreement currently states faculty who offer Honors contracts shall be compensated as follows: 3.75 hours of classroom pay for each completing student, limited to 7.5 hours of classroom pay per course section.
Faculty can choose to receive flex credit rather than monetary compensation. Receive 10 hours of flex credit for each honors contract student (maximum 20 hours per semester). No independent contracts need to be submitted. At the end of the semester, you will receive a survey asking for your preference: monetary compensation or flex.