Faculty Resources

An honors option is a faculty-mentored project that extends the content of a course in a substantive way (whether in depth or in breadth). It typically spans the semester, and it always concludes with a presentation in a public setting. In the best cases, these projects lead to positive and productive professional relationships. The intent of Honors Options is to add substantive exploration of a topic or idea to the standard course that brings it to the level of an Honors course. 

Though not required, faculty are strongly encouraged to include a written artifact among the deliverables, both because writing tends to solidify learning and because such deliverables help students develop a robust portfolio of work. A written report does not replace the public presentation. 

Overview of the Honors Option Process

1. A student who is interested in completing an honors option in your course will approach you to discuss ideas. Feel free to take the initiative if there's an idea that excites you. 
    
2. The student will start the application form and produce a written proposal. Students have access to examples of successful proposals but they may need your guidance. Your help is greatly beneficial in shaping the vision of your student’s project. Please discuss with them the outcomes and deliverables, as well as the plan for the required public presentation.
    
3. You will receive an automated email once the student submits the Honors option application that it will ask you to review and confirm the information submitted by the student. You'll reply to that email with your responses to the prompts and we will finalize the submission. If approved you will receive an email confirming that the project is moving forward. 
    
4. During the semester you will serve as a mentor, coaching the student toward a successful outcome.
    
5. At the end of the semester you will tell the Honors Program whether the deliverables were delivered, whether a presentation was given, and whether the student's work is of the substance and quality that you expect.

We find that students have a better experience and learn more when they have fun spreading their wings, and honors options are a great way to do it! We appreciate your help providing enrichment and challenge.

With a small class of bright and diligent students who take pride in their work and have a creative flair, teaching an honors class is a joy. Our goal is to meet these high-performing students with a plan for enriched learning. The practical meaning of the word "enriched" varies from one discipline to the next, and from one course level to the next, but it never means simply more work, or just harder work. The goal of an honors course is robust learning, actively fostered by close mentoring and high-impact activities that help learners to grow. Here are some broad ideas, intended as an illustrative rather than an exhaustive list:

• Enrichment can refer to depth and rigor but just as often means extending the breadth of a course, particularly when such an extension leads students beyond disciplinary silos and effectively situates a subject in the larger landscape of human experience and endeavor.
   
  • Are there important projects, intriguing topics, or fun asides that you have always wanted to include, but you cannot realistically fit into the schedule of a standard course? 
     
  • Might a team-taught approach facilitate learning (e.g., particularly in the context of an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary course)?
     
  • Is there a history of the subject that provides learners with a robust understanding of the current state of affairs?
     
• Because learning is a human endeavor, modifications to the mode of content delivery can have significant impact on learners' experience and learning outcomes. 
   
  • Are there ways of learning that are not practical or pedagogically realistic in larger classes, but which might be well suited to a small class of bright, diligent learners? Perhaps consider building a course around the constructivist pedagogy of core knowledge creation through experience (e.g. rather than lecture), or a set of encounters with practitioners who provide insight and relay wisdom.
     
• Enrichment often involves approaching topics with greater sophistication, and attending to subtlety. Sometimes this involves reading of greater depth than is expected in standard course work, and a careful treatment of nuanced ideas. Enriched courses tend to have assignments that not only exercise skill but also inculcate habits of mind; they stress theory, analysis, and the synthesis of principles, and often ask students to apply their learning to the world beyond RIT.
   
  • Would it be pedagogically useful for learners delve into primary sources instead of text books? 

Honors courses can be specific to a discipline or college, but most honors courses are designed to be broadly accessible to diligent, intellectually agile, curious novices who want to know more about a topic, themselves, and the world they inhabit. If students leave your course feeling that they have accomplished something substantial, that they were supported in their effort, and that they enjoyed the experience, that's a win.

You are encouraged to contact the Director of the Honors Program, or your college representative to the Honors Curriculum Committee (HCC) to talk about your ideas and how to make them a reality.

After thinking carefully about the nature of the course, complete an RIT Course Outline Form, including Appendix C. Here are some things to consider:

• What makes this an Honors course (enriched learning, interdisciplinary content, etc.)?
• What is the enrollment cap (typically 20 students)?
• How does this course fit into a typical student’s program worksheet?
• Courses that appeal to only a few students will be difficult to fill.

After the course is approved at the departmental and college level, the course outline should be forwarded to the college's representative on the HCC, who will advocate for it. 

Although not necessary, it is often beneficial to honors courses to be designated as a general education or as writing intensive.

• The general education designation requires approval by the General Education Committee, which can work in parallel with HCC.
• The writing intensive designation requires approval by the Institute Writing Committee, which can work in parallel with HCC.

Offering an Honors course is a coordinated effort among the professor, the professor’s home department (and college), and the Honors Program. Approval from all three is required in order for the course to run.

• Remuneration for teaching a course is paid by the instructor's home college, and the Honors Program provides a stipend to college.
   
• Some courses run every semester, some once per year, and some every other year.
   
• Students need to know about courses at least one semester in advance, for planning purposes.  

Improving Enrollment

• Word of mouth is a great way to generate interest. Talk to people. Come to the Friday Pizza Frenzy. Come talk to the Honors Council. Make flyers.
   
• Alert your college’s Honors Advocate to the course. The Honors Advocate coordinates the college’s Honors-released activities and has a working relationship with the Honors students in your college.
   
• Encourage appropriately prepared and academically successful non-Honors students to take the class.

The Honors Program will contribute up to $250 per 3-credit Honors class for pre-approved course-related materials or activities (on a reimbursement basis, receipts required). These enrichment grants are appropriate for expenses that directly benefit students such as local excursions that connect students to course content in experiential ways, printing posters for presentations, meals with guest speakers, etc.

Overview of Process

1. Faculty teaching a 3-credit Honors class can submit a Pre-approval form (link below) to the Honors Program for course enrichment expenses. The request will be reviewed and faculty will be notified of the request status.
    
2. After the expenditure has been approved and the funds have been spent, the instructor must submit for reimbursement through Oracle.
    
3. Scan itemized receipts need to be sent to the Honors Program and the appropriate account number to use for the I-expense request will be provided. Contact the Honors office for more information.

Apply for Pre-Approval >

If you have been asked to provide a recommendation for an RIT student applying for entry into the Honors Program through our fall Internal Admission process, you will receive an email from the student once they submit their application. In the email, you will receive a link to a form in which you will provide ratings and comments regarding the student's academic ability and fitness for the program. 

If you are providing a recommendation for a College of Science student who is applying for the Emerson Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships please visit this webpage for more information: Emerson Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact the Honors Program office - honors@rit.edu.