An Honors Contract is an opportunity for a student to earn Honors credits in a non-Honors course by completing an additional 20 hours of work in an upper-level course. The student is responsible for completing the work independently, while a full-time faculty member guides them in the process and evaluates the contract completion.

Honors Contracts Benefits:

• Flexibility: They allow you to tailor your education to your personal interests and goals.
• Accessibility: They provide opportunities for honors-level work when there are limitations on the number of honors courses offered.
• Mentorship: They foster close mentoring relationships with faculty.
• Engagement: They empower students and foster motivation, enhancing your overall honors experience.

The Honors Program provides comprehensive guidelines and support for setting up contracts.

Contracts Should Include:

• A clear articulation of how the contract meets the “broader, deeper, more complex” criteria of the National Collegiate Honors Council. 
• A description of a substantial paper or project (or equivalent work). 
• A plan for sharing the knowledge gained with an audience. 
• A clear timeline for completion. 

The Process

1. Crafting of an individualized project with the course instructor.
   1. Submission of the contract to the Honors Program for approval. 
   2. Completion of the agreed-upon assignments and activities.
   3. Submission of the completed work and the Honors Contract completion form confirming the instructor’s satisfaction with the work

More about the process

Student Expectations

As a student contracting a class you are required to Maintain regular communication with your instructor, communicate early with your instructor and the Honors office to explore possibilities, take the initiative to set up the contract, complete the additional project work as specified in the contract, and meet deadlines.

You are encouraged to communicate early with your instructor and the Honors Program to explore possibilities, ensure a clear understanding of the process, and create a contract that contains a good schedule and timeline, well-defined outcomes, and clear intermediate goals, so that you know what to do and when to do it. 

Completion

An Honors Contract is satisfied when the professor notifies the Honors Program that you have completed the assigned task satisfactorily. You must also receive a B or higher in the course to earn Honors credit.

Eligibility

Any student in the Honors Program with junior standing (are completing 60+ credits this term) who has completed or is concurrently enrolled in courses worth 6 honors credits, may engage in contracts.
All full-time faculty may engage in contracts. They are limited to three contracts per term.

No more than one-third (1/3) of a student’s honors-credits may be contract-credits and only engage in one contract per semester.

Questions?

Check out the links below for frequently asked questions. If you have further questions contact Karl Aspelund at aspelund@uri.edu.

Process Guide and FAQs

DUE DATES

Full Contract Proposal
You must submit your full contract proposal to the Honors Program’s contract coordinator by the end of business on the last business day of the third week of classes in the Fall or Spring semesters. (Most usually: the third Friday after the first day of classes in fall or spring.

Project Completion
Honors contract completion deadlines and benchmarks are decided among the student and participating faculty member. All work MUST be completed no later than the end of the exam period.

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contracts Example: Iowa State contracts Example: U Memphis