Honors Contracted Courses | University Honors Program | SIU

Honors students contract non-honors courses to earn credit towards their Honors degree and explore a little deeper into the subject.  An Honors Contract is not meant to take the class to an upper-level (undergraduate or graduate level from the level the class is designed for) for the student, but to explore laterally those dimensions that may (or not) have been covered in class.  The Honors Contract enhances the student experience of the class, offering the opportunity to know faculty who may in the long run become mentors.

Contracted courses are initiated by the student. Some possible examples of Honors contracts include, but are not limited to:

• A paper on a more challenging topic than those required of other students
• More sophisticated experiments or problems
• Extra problem sets or experiments in an area not heavily explored in class
• Extended readings on an author or historical figure not thoroughly covered in the class
• Viewing/experiencing cultural artifacts related to the subject matter and writing response papers
• Leading a class discussion on a topic thoroughly studied and prepared by the student
• Translating a short work
• Meetings with the instructor to discuss additional readings
• A creative or civic engagement related to the course materials

Previous topics have included:

• Research on the origins of beer and its role in the agricultural revolution in a largely lecture and lab based class in the Fermentation Institute.
• Presenting two videos to initiate a discussion on domestic abuse in a class on victim advocacy.
• Short paper on popular misconceptions of crime based on interviews and select readings in a Psychology class.

The student will approach you with the Contract Form. After you have both agreed to it, please forward to the Director of the UHP for approval. The deadline is Friday of the fourth week of classes; during the summer term, the deadline is the Friday of the first week of classes. 

You would enter the student's grade on Salukinet in the regular course itself.   There is no separate grade to be entered for the Honors contract.  The Honors office will record the grade for our purposes. However, if you find that the student did not meet the expectations of the contract, please let us know at honors@siu.edu. 

(Download the honors contract form)