:: How the Honors Curriculum Works
:: Enrolling in Honors Sections
:: Honors Contracts
:: Receiving Honors Credit
:: Courses Automatically Granted Honors Credit
How the Honors Curriculum Works
Lower-division Courses: Honors discussion sections are offered for many lower division courses. In most cases, the sections are offered in lieu of the regular course discussion section and do not carry extra units. Some courses do offer an additional 1-unit honors section, which is taken in addition to a regular course discussion section. An example is Sociology 1 (4 units) and Sociology 1H (1 unit). The list of honors courses offered each quarter designates whether courses offer an extra unit.
Upper-division Courses: In most cases, students enter into honors contracts to supplement the regular coursework of an upper-division class with enrichment reading, research, or writing done in direct consultation with the instructor of the course. However, some upper-division courses offer honors sections, so be sure to look for those courses on the quarterly list. Additionally, Honors Forum courses, interdisciplinary seminars that foster new connections between disciplines like biological sciences and ethics, music and art history, or political science and anthropology, are usually offered on a quarterly basis. You may also enroll in senior honors seminars sponsored by the department honors programs, subject to departmental requirements, or independent studies courses (199s).
Enrolling in Honors Sections
Consult the quarterly honors course list to determine which courses offer honors sections. In many cases, you may just enroll in any section of the course and then attend the first day of class for further information about attending the honors section. Enrollment in some honors sections requires a specific enrollment code. If you receive a message that the section is full for one of these courses, register for another section of the course and switch to the honors section once classes begin.
Honors Contracts
The primary method of earning honors credit in upper-division courses is through an honors contract, which is an individual arrangement that you develop with a professor to complete an upgraded curriculum in order to receive honors credit. The honors contract is intended to enrich the quality of education rather than simply increasing the workload. An important aspect of honors contracts is the opportunity to meet weekly with your professor. At the end of the quarter, your professor will be asked to confirm whether you successfully completed the terms of the contract. If so, and as long as you earn a B or higher in the course, course honors will be added to the transcript after grades are recorded; however, no additional units will be awarded. Students cannot receive course honors if they select the P/NP grading option.
To develop an honors contract:
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You should approach your professor either before the quarter begins or during the first few days of instruction to discuss the possibility of establishing an honors contract.
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If the professor agrees, then an honors curriculum must be formulated and submitted online using the Honors Contract Proposal Online Data Sheet by the end of the second week of the quarter. PLEASE NOTE: the Fall 2009 submission deadline has passed.
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At the end of the quarter, your professor will be contacted for verification of completion of the contract by email. Professors must return confirmation to the College of Letters and Science at the same time that final grade reports are submitted to the Registrar.
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If you need to cancel your Honors Contract at any time during the quarter, please fill out the Honors Contract Cancellation form (PDF) and submit it to the College office, 1117 Cheadle Hall.
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Questions about how to formulate an honors contract or about appropriate content of honors contracts should be directed to honorsmail@ltsc.ucsb.edu.
Receiving Honors Credit
As long as you take an honors course for a letter grade and earn a grade of B or higher, the words course honors will be noted on your transcript for the course.
Also note that while independent studies courses (198/199), graduate courses, and departmental senior honors programs are automatically granted honors credit (see next section) and apply toward the completion of the honors program, course honors is not awarded for these courses.
If you have a question regarding a course honors designation on your transcript, please contact Regina Fletcher at (805) 893-3109 or rfletcher@LTSC.ucsb.edu.
top ^Courses Automatically Granted Honors Credit
Students will receive unit credit toward the annual six-unit requirement and toward the completion of the College Honors Program by taking the courses listed on the list of Courses Automatically Granted Honors Credit within the College of Letters and Science, provided the grade earned in the course is a letter grade of B or higher. Course honors will not be designated on the transcript for most upper-division coursework on this list.
Download of Courses Automatically Granted Honors Credit within the College of Letters and Science:
