Skip to main content

Honors Program students may earn an honors designation for any CT State course in which the professor teaching the class is willing to participate. To earn the honors designation, you will enroll in a non-honors section of a course and create a contract with the professor for additional work. Upon satisfactory completion of the agreed-upon work, you will earn an honors designation for that course on your transcript. You must complete the proposal form with the professor and the Honors Program coordinator by the third week (21 days after the first day of class) of the semester.

Student Responsibility

To earn the honors designation, you must:

  • complete the stated objectives for the course
  • earn a grade of B or higher
  • propose and negotiate an appropriate project with the professor and obtain approval from your honors program coordinator
  • complete the project as approved

    Professor Responsibility

    The professor is responsible for:

    • helping the student to identify an appropriate project
    • overseeing the project
    • reporting to the honors program coordinator of its outcome (satisfactory completion or not)

        What Qualifies as Honors by Contract Work That Can Earn Honors Designation?

        The project involves extra work in a class (above and beyond the work required in the course syllabus) that is proposed by the student and negotiated with the professor, and supervised by the professor. This additional work should involve approximately 15-20 hours of work beyond the work required in the course syllabus. Many types of academic work can qualify such as: 

        • Extra paper(s)
        • Presentations to the class
        • Mini research projects
        • Challenging problem sets
        • Background research for a lab
        • Off-campus research or service
        • Other types of academic exploration and products that you might imagine

          Best In-Class Projects for Honors Credit

          The best projects include the following attributes: 

          • Work that happens throughout the whole academic term
          • Involves multiple meetings between the student and the professor (e.g., for project discussions, feedback, etc)
          • Create some kind of “academic artifact” (e.g., a paper, presentation, problem sets – something others can see and learn from)
          • Relevant to the learning objectives of the course
          • Takes advantage of many learning opportunities throughout the project

          How Do I Get Started?

          • Identify a course in which you would like to complete an in-class project for honors credit
          • Read the course syllabus, course requirements, learning objectives, assignments and information above on the expectations for the project 
          • Draft your ideas for a project
          • Schedule meetings with the professor for the course to:
            • explain the in-class project for the honors credit option
            • share your understanding of what is required for the project (and provide a copy of the proposal form) 
            • propose the extra work you have in mind for this professor’s class
            • find out if the professor is willing to supervise your project, discuss and come to a decision with the professor about an appropriate project 
          • Complete the proposal form and give it to your Honors Program coordinator
          Download Proposal Form

          Sample In-Class Project for Honors Credit 

          COM 1301: Public Speaking 

          The student met with the professor to identify speeches to attend and then attended four off-campus speeches (e.g., guest speaker at Yale University which the professor and student attended together, a TED talk, etc). After each speech, the student and professor met to discuss its strengths and weaknesses. The student then wrote “speech critiques” about each of the speeches and prepared and delivered a 15 minute class presentation teaching the class next steps to developing one’s public speaking skills (including strategies and steps that went beyond what was learned as part of the course). The information for the presentation came from the student’s critiques of the speeches as well as the student’s further research into the topic. 

          *Note: If a student completes the course but not the project for honors credit, the student’s grade in the course will be unaffected by the failure to complete the project for honors credit. The student’s transcript will simply not have the “honors” designation for that course.