Honors Contracts

Honors contracts are oppportunities to tailor courses to your specific interests and career goals, while also earning honors credit. Typically completed in one's major or minor, honors contracts are a chance to do something different from the rest of the class while receiving individual mentorship from your professor. Students who have exceptional experiences will have their honors contract considered for the Outstanding Contract Award. Complete details about how to start and complete an honors contract can be found on the Honors College D2L page.

General information about the honors contract:

• Initiated in 300-or-higher level courses (except with permission from the director) during the first four weeks of the semester
  
• Can either count toward the course grade or not depending on the agreement between the student and instructor
• Should be an assignment, project, or activity that is consistent with approximately 5-10% of the total course points. A rule of thumb is that honors contracts are something "bigger than a quiz, but smaller than a major exam."
• Faculty are NOT required to approve honors contracts in a given course. Be respectful of the time that the faculty member is spending on your behalf. Remember that you are representing the entire honors program with your work.
  

Listed below are examples of past honors contracts from several majors. They are listed to give you a sense of the variety of activities that can be included in contracts. Use your own creativity and your faculty mentor's guidance to create contracts that are tailored to your currrent interests and long-term goals!

Student's major: English Education
Course: ENGL 310 - Poetry Writing
Contract: Creating poetry-related exercises for an AP Literature class that the student was teaching at a local high school.

Student's Major: Theatre
Course: THEA 430 - Theatre Design IV
Contract: Researched a set designer and a costume designer and then replicated a work from each.

Student's Major: Nursing
Course: NURS 360 - Pharmacology
Contract: Researched the herbal therapy "white thistle" and wrote a paper describing the mechanisms of action and pharmacodynamic.

Student's Major: Psychology
Course: PSYC 317 - Child Psychology
Contract: Designed an unconventional therapy program for children with physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges.

Student's Major: Criminal Justice
Course: CRJU 410 - Juvenile Justice
Contract: Observed juvenile court in Pulaski County and wrote paper responding to targeted questions about the proceedings.

Student's major: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Course: COSD 315 - Language Science and Technology
Contract: Designed, implemented, and evaluated an alternative communication system. Simulated use of the system that required a 15 minute conversation during which student could NOT nod/shake head, gesture, use eye gaze, or speak/vocalize.

Student's Major: Biology
Course: BIOL 460 - Advanced Seminar in Biology
Contract: Constructed an on-line dichotomous key - designed for the general public - to identify the flowering trees, shrubs, and plants of Wildflower Park in Radford.

Student's Major: Chemistry
Course: CHEM 301 - Organic Chemistry
Contract: Determined potential ethanol content (for biofuel source) by fermenting and analyzing various foods and juices.

Student's Major: Computer Science
Course: ITEC 324 - Principles of Computer Science III
Contract: Researched different types of data structures and developed a mini search engine.