Honors Contract Statement of Policy

1. Students who enter The Honors College as freshmen may fulfill six (6) lower-division and six (6) upper-division Honors credits through contracts. Students who enter The Honors College as juniors may fulfill six Honors credits through contracts (with the exception of Engineers – see below).


2. Students in the following disciplines may fulfill a total of six Honors credits through a contract, if they enter The Honors College as freshmen; if they enter as a junior they may fulfill a total of three Honors credits through contract: Aerospace Engineering, Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Geological Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mining Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Optical Engineering, and Systems Engineering.


3. Contracted courses may not be taken Pass/Fail.


4. Instructors are required to determine whether the student has completed the terms of the contract by the same date grades are regularly due for the course. “Incompletes” are not permissible for Honors Contracts, unless the student is receiving an “Incomplete” for the course and has obtained prior permission from The Honors College. No grade is given for the contract.


5. The work assigned as a result of the Contract should not determine the student's final grade. That is, the fact that the student is working for Honors credit does not guarantee a high grade. Final grades should reflect the quality and content of all of the student's work in the course.


6. Only faculty members may sponsor a Contract. Students turning in Contracts signed, or largely supervised, by a teaching assistant or other non-faculty member (without prior written permission from The Honors College) may be denied Honors credit for the course.


7. Contracts are designed primarily for upper-division courses; however, lower-division course contracts will be considered in areas where enrollments are not sufficient to support Honors sections. Contracts are not allowed in Tier One general education courses (INDV, NATS, TRAD) unless the instructor of the course has filed a "Standard Contract" form with The Honors College. Instructors may contact Associate Dean Laura Berry at 621-4205, or berry@email.arizona.edu to complete or discuss the form.


8. Contracts may not be used for courses that are regularly offered as Honors courses or with Honors sections (ex: Freshman Composition, Calculus). Winter and Summer Session courses, as well as language skills courses (101-202), are not normally available for the Honors Contract.


9. Students in their first semester at the UA, whether as transfer or first-year students, may not contract a course for Honors credit without special permission from The Honors College, obtained in an advising meeting.