Honors Program Faculty Information

Faculty can participate in the Honors experience at CMU in a number of ways, including the following:

• Teach an Honors course.
• Advise a Capstone Project.
• Sponsor an Honors Contract.
• Invite Honors students to assist you with your scholarship/research.
• Accompany an Honors student to a professional conference.
• Serve on the Honors Council.
• Participate as a reviewer in the Centralis Scholarship selection process.
• Attend an Honors Program event.
  
• Propose Honors courses that integrate study away and study abroad options.

For more ways to be involved, contact our office at honors@cmich.edu

Honors Program Course Proposal Form

Capstone advising

• The Honors Capstone Project is the culminating Honors experience. There is an expectation that the quality is such that the end result be publishable in a professional journal or worthy of presentation at a professional conference. 
  

• Advising an Honors Capstone Project is usually a two semester commitment: one semester the student should plan the proposal with the guidance of their faculty advisor, and another semester working with their faculty advisor to bring the project to completion.
  

• Once the proposal has been approved by the Honors Program, the student then enrolls in HON 499. 
  

• Once the project is completed, faculty advisors will fill out the Honors Capstone Project Advisor Grading and Assessment Form to submit a letter grade to the Director of the Honors Program who will submit the letter grade to the Registrar's office. Upon successful completion of the Honors Capstone Project, funds will be transferred to the faculty advisor's departmental professional development fund.

Honors contracts

While most Honors students complete their Honors requirements at CMU by taking special H-designated Honors courses (i.e. BIO 101H), there are times when students seek to complete their Honors requirements in a non-Honors course. This is called an Honors Contract. Here are some facts to know about Honors Contracts:

• Contracts can only be arranged for courses at the 300-level or above.

• The deadline is always the end of the second week of the semester.
  

• The student is responsible for 1) meeting with the faculty member to fill out the Honors Contract form, 2) obtaining the faculty member's signature, and 3) submitting it to honors@cmich.edu.

• The Honors faculty member monitors the additional work the student has agreed to complete.
  

• As long as the student has 1) earned a B- or higher in the class and 2) has completed the additional work described in the contract, the faculty member will submit an "H" along with the student's letter grade to the Registrar's office at the end of the semester. (ex: the professor would submit a B-H instead of a B-).

• The additional Honors work should demonstrate initiative beyond syllabus expectations, produce a tangible outcome beyond that completed by non-Honors students, and incorporate a process of extended inquiry and/or independent research.

• Contractual activities might include but are not limited to: supplementary readings, analyses or projects; attendance at appropriate related educational activities; independent research or self-instruction; and/or classroom or professional presentations or performances. The Honors Program recommends that contracts include a minimum of 5 pages of writing in addition to course requirements.
  

Honors contract