An Honors Contract provides a mechanism for Honors students to earn Honors credit for courses that are not typically offered through the Honors College. The student works with the faculty member to do an independent assignment in addition to the course, such as independent reading in a designated area, a literature review, a set of short response papers on a designated topic, or an application to an award or internship related to the course material.
An Honors Contract allows the opportunity for students to pursue deeper study of a course topic while facilitating professional and intellectual relationships with the faculty member. Many students find that the work they do to complete the Honors contract helps them with the next steps in pursuing research, service learning, or professional development opportunities. Please note: the faculty member has full discretion whether or not to agree to a contract, as well as to determine what constitutes Honors work for that contract.
Students may submit Honors Contracts to the Honors College in order to earn Honors Credit for Non-Honors courses in any given semester.
1 SCH of course-related activity equates to 25 additional hours over the semester. Whether a student can earn Honors credit for a specific course is at the discretion of the individual faculty member teaching the course. Once an honors Contracts is processed, students and their faculty will be emailed to confirm that the Honors Contract has been approved. Please note the following guidelines:
Once a student initiates the contract process when it is time to confirm the student's work on the contract at the end of the term, you can log in to the Honors Contract Portal. Note that you will still also enter the final letter grade in ASAP separately.
Faculty members who have questions about the program can contact the Office of the Honors College a (210) 458-4106 or via e-mail at honors@utsa.edu.
Students initiate the contract process by submitting a request to faculty in the contract portal. Before submitting a request, students should contact faculty to organize and agree upon the work the student will do during the contract period. Remember that the last day for all contract approvals to be completed is the deadline to add a class. This deadline typically occurs one week before Census Day during Fall/Spring semesters and occurs on the second day of class during the summer. Click here for the Honors Contract Portal
The Honors College offers students the opportunity to participate in a number of different programs to further expand knowledge, especially in the realms of professional development, leadership development, and public service. Special programs are fully integrated into the Honors College curriculum, making credit transfer simple and ensuring that students are working toward Honors requirements.