Contracts

An Honors Contract is an agreement between a student, his or her professor, and the Honors Program wherein the student completes an independent project in a non-Honors class. The completion of a contract earns the student one Additional Honors Unit, similar to the credit received in an Honors section of a course.

Honors contracts provide an opportunity for a student to explore related topics or go deeper in an examination of course material. Ideally, they add a new dimension to the class and do not simply extend regular course assignments.

Students unable to find a suitable Honors class should consider completing an Honors Contract in one of their non-Honors classes. Most of the time, freshmen will be able to find a suitable Honors course (identified with an "H" in the section number) so that they do not need to complete an Honors contract during their first year. Juniors and Seniors are more likely to use the contract to meet their Honors Program requirements as there are fewer Honors sections of upper-level classes.

With the approval of the course instructor, almost any academic class can be contracted for Honors credit. Students are encouraged to consider two factors when deciding on an Honors Contract: (1) Interest in the subject matter, since they will be doing extra research and writing, and (2) an ability to do well in the overall class, since a grade minimum is required to earn Honors credit.

In all cases, the course professor is free to decline allowing a contract in his or her class. Students should thus be prepared to complete an Honors Contract in another class or pursue credit through alternate means (film or book club, etc.) in these cases.

Generally, students may not complete Honors contracts in the following courses:

• GTX 2301 and GTX 2302
• Any Honors (HON) class
• LF 11xx courses
• Zero and one-hour classes and labs

Note that departments generally do not allow students to complete a contract in a class where there is already an established Honors section, even if that Honors section is offered in another semester.

Art or music students may complete Honors contracts in these classes, provided, as always, that the professor is willing to allow such an arrangement. Elective group piano or guitar classes for non-music majors may not be contracted.

The particular requirements will vary based on the nature of the class and the interests of the student and professor. The work completed for a foreign language course would be quite different than that completed for a studio art class or a chemistry class.

Students seeking an Honors Contract might undertake a more rigorous research project, give a special presentation to the class, tutor or lead a discussion with other students, participate in a workshop with the professor, expand a required term paper to include new material or perspectives, write book or article reviews, complete additional translation work, create and display exceptional works of art or give a performance, etc. Whatever the work, it should be mutually agreeable to both the student and the professor.

Good Honors Contracts should require the student to work two to three hours a week, on average, and stipulate that the student will meet with his or her supervising instructor at least three times before the end of the semester. Contracts should state explicitly the work that the student will undertake for Honors recognition.

• This would be a poor description: "Sidney will write a research paper."

• A better description: "Sidney will write a 6-8 page research paper on the historical philosophy of one of the authors read in class. The writing assignment will use at least two primary sources and two secondary sources. Sidney will utilize Turabian formatting in the final paper. Sidney will meet with Dr. Smith before each major test to review progress on the paper."

Contracts are supplemental to the course, so they should not impact the regular course grade. However, the Honors Program requires that certain grades must be achieved in order to earn Honors credit. A grade of B or better must be earned in the regular course.

If the Honors Program student earns a course grade of B- or below, he or she will not receive Honors credit even if all the supplemental work is completed. The student will still get university credit for the course.

Honors Contracts, unless defined specifically in the contract terms, have no bearing on the regular course grade. Failure to either complete the contract or to earn the minimum grade for Honors credit will result in no Honors credit for the course.

There is no limit on the number of contracts a student may complete in a semester, but students are advised to take two, and generally no more than three, Honors Units a semester. If a student is behind and needs to catch up with his or her Honors Units, he or she should meet with an Honors Program advisor to determine the best way forward.

A BIC Group Contract is a similar to a regular contract in that it is used to transform a non-Honors class into an Honors class through the completion of supplemental student work. Generally, BIC Group Contracts are arranged for World Cultures and Social World classes. A Group Contract standardizes the supplemental work for all Honors Program students in the BIC class so individual contracts do not need to be arranged. Students interested in completing a BIC Group Contract should speak with the BIC Course Coordinator during the first week of class. Note: In order to earn Honors credit via a BIC Group Contract, the student must earn a grade of B or better in the BIC course.

No, the two forms serve very different functions, though there are some similarities in procedure. An Honors Contract is a way of earning Honors credit in a non-Honors class. An Independent Reading Contract outlines the work that will be done for credit in a particular sequence of classes, Independent Readings and Research, HON 3100 and 3101, the first step towards writing a thesis.

The two forms are similar in that both must be arranged at the start of a semester, both outline work to be done by the student, and both are completed before the semester ends. They differ in the credit that is earned (see paragraph above) and in the form itself. An Honors Contract is a yellow form, while the Independent Readings and Research Contract is green.

Honors Program students should approach their professor during the first two weeks of the semester to discuss the possibility of establishing an Honors Contract. Professors have the liberty to allow or reject any contract.

If the professor is willing to establish an Honors Contract, the student and professor should come to a mutual agreement as to the nature of the supplemental work. Some professors have a standard requirement that they uses for contracts, but the student may propose some alternative assignment. Realize, however, that the professor is not under any obligation to go along with a student's proposal, nor is the student required to accept the terms of a contract offered by a professor.

Contracts are now handled online. Information about contracts can be found at www.baylor.edu/honorsprogram/contracts, while the contract form itself can be found at www.baylor.edu/honorsprogram/contractform. Note that the contract form may not be available before the start of the semester or after the end of the third week of the term.

Contract forms need to be completed before the end of the third week of class. After logging into the contract form web site, students need to ensure that all of the prefilled information is correct. You should select the class you want to contract from the dropdown menu and provide the rest of the requested information. Note that you MUST first meet with your professor and get his or her approval for the Honors contract before filling out the information. Attempting to submit a contract without first discussing the matter with the professor may result in a loss of contract privileges or expulsion from the Honors Program.

Once the student submits the contract, an email is sent to the professor where he or she can accept, reject, or amend the contract. A student will receive an email once the professor acts on the submitted contract. If the student does not receive this email, it is the student’s responsibility to follow up with the professor in regard to this required approval. (A polite query after class is probably a good way to start.)

No. All contracts must be arranged during the first three weeks of the semester.

Generally, a student cannot complete a contract while studying abroad. Instead, students should consider participating in the Study Abroad Forum upon their return to Waco as a means of earning one Additional Honors Unit. Exceptions must be preapproved by an Honors Program Director or Coordinator.

All students should complete contract requirements (except for the course grade) at least one week before the start of final exams. Earlier deadlines can be arranged within the contract.

At the end of the semester, the Honors Program will contact the professor on the contract to verify that the contracted work has been completed by the student. After the end of the term, the Honors Program will verify the class grade to ensure that the minimum requirement (currently a "B") has been earned. This may take a while, often going into the next semester.

Once a student has completed the requirements for a contract, his or her transcript will be updated to indicate that the course completed was in an Honors section. For example, the student's transcript will be changed from "ITA 1401: Elementary Italian: to "ITA 1401: HNR Elementary Italian." Changes to the transcript are manually recorded in the Registrar's Office. Given the number of contracts earned each semester, it may take up to 6 work weeks for the Honors designation to appear on a student's transcript.

It may take more than a month after the end of the semester for the Honors designation for the class to appear on the transcript.

Yes, but only after (1) meeting with your professor and discussing the circumstances leading you to this decision, and (2) contacting the Honors Program office in regard to the canceled contract. Remember, your professor has also made a commitment in arranging the contract with you, and a canceled contract may mean that a professor has undertaken work on his or her own behalf that is now no longer necessary. The Honors Program office needs to know about the cancellation in order to update your Honors file. Note that canceling a contract may put you behind with your Honors Program requirements.