Honors Options

An honors option is something that you do to go above and beyond the usual expectations in a standard course. It is typically a faculty-mentored, term-length project that extends the chosen course in a substantive way, whether in depth or in breadth. It is approved in advance by the course professor and the Honors Program office.

The deliverables of your option will depend on the level and kind of course you’re in. Your project might result in a research paper, a computer simulation or cipher, design blueprints for a new kind of scalpel, a chair made by using a sophisticated technique that the professor considered too complicated to teach in the standard class, et cetera. An honors option can take many forms.

All honors options include a public presentation of your work, such a poster presentation, professional talk, performance, or demonstration. Many students choose to do this presentation at the annual Honors Research and Creativity Symposium in the Fall semester. This year's symposium is being held December 6, 2025, from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm in the SHED 3300 room. 

Below is a brief overview of Honors Program requirements for all honors options. (Refer to the RIT Honors Program Handbook for the complete and up to date requirements.) The academic deliverables vary from one option to the next, depending on the content and level of the course.

• First and foremost, honors options must be approved by the Honors Office in advance, within the first two weeks of the semester.
  • You should contact the professor sooner rather than later to arrange a meeting where you can discuss ideas and details.
  • You must submit an application (via web form) to the Honors Program detailing the course, the proposed extension, and the deliverables. (More information is below.)
  • Your faculty member should be involved in the design of your option. The professor will have to formally approve the application at the beginning and sign off on the quality of the deliverables at the end. (The Honors office handles those things for you.)
• You must give a public presentation of their work
• You must earn a grade of at least a B- in the course
• Your honors option must be completed in the same semester that you propose it.
• Occasionally, a student will complete two honors options; this is unusual, but not unheard of. Special approval is required for more than two honors options in a single semester.

The examples shown below are brief, but a broader list with more detailed examples is here.

Once you have read the Honors Option Guidelines, taken a look at Honors Options Examples, and decided on which course you would like to option. You will need to contact the faculty mentor for your honors option to discuss what the option will entail. You will work together with this faculty member to come up with a proposed enrichment, as well as how the results will be presented upon their conclusion. 

When you're ready, you must submit your proposal to the Honors Program Office for approval by filling out the Honors Option Application. Options applications are due in the first two weeks of the semester. 

Once your Honors Option has been completed and presented, you can report its completion via the Honors Option Reporting Form. Upon submission of this form, the Honors Program Office will verify the completion and accuracy of details provided in the submission. Once the submission is approved, the Honors Option and respective Honors Points will be added to your student record.

If you are unsure of whether or not a course may be a good choice for an Honors Option, have a look at students have done in prior years! While you can do an Honors Option on any qualifying courses, some courses are known to work well with Honors Options. Below is a list of RIT Courses that have previously been successfully used for Honors Options, along with the professor that each option was done with. This information can also be viewed in PDF format here.

*100 level courses can only be optioned by first-year students