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Honors Coursework in the Major

There are two mechanisms for students to earn Honors elective credit (they need 9 credit hours) in the major: Honors Contracts and HON Attribute Courses.

Are you working on your department's 9-credit-hour plan? Visit this page for information, FAQs, and instructions for submitting your plan.

What are HON-attribute courses?

Honors degree requirements at the University of Utah are fulfilled through a partnership between the Honors College and degree programs. The Honors College provides a core curriculum of four courses focused on critical thinking, interdisciplinarity, discourse across diverse positions and domains and provides learning communities for personal and professional growth. We also provide unique opportunities through interdisciplinary electives, Praxis labs, and Integrated Minors. Degree programs offer HON-attribute courses to provide special opportunities to build expertise in the major and prepare students for successful thesis completion. Ideally, these fulfill major requirements as well as serve as electives for the Honors degree. The Honors College collaborates with departments to increase the number of HON-attribute courses available for each degree in order to (1) increase availability of courses that both fulfill Honors degree and major degree requirements; and (2) ensure that available HON-designation courses build experience and expertise within degree programs and prepare students for successful thesis completion.

What are the requirements of all HON-attribute courses?

  • Must have several of the following characteristics (per the Honors Policy Board March 2024):
    • Increased discussion-based interactions between the student(s) and faculty member(s)
    • Direct research experiences or discussions on research methodologies and frameworks
    • Increased elements of writing and communication with feedback.
    • Active, hands-on, and experiential learning emphases
    • Emphasis on interdisciplinary connections
    • Explicit contributions to developing a thesis or capstone project
    • Activities that extend beyond the traditional classroom setting
  • Should be limited to a maximum enrollment of 30, providing for increased engagement with faculty. (An HON-attribute class may meet with a class with higher enrollments).
  • Must be taught by faculty-status instructors (i.e., not graduate students or post-doctoral fellows).
  • Must have Honors in the course title to identify them as courses fulfilling Honors degree requirements.
  • Must include a catalog course description that clearly indicates that the course has the HON attribute.
  • Can be offered at any level (1000-5000).
  • Can be in-person or online.
  • Should contribute to major requirements in order to allow students to earn Honors elective credit and satisfy major requirements simultaneously.

  • Many HON-attribute courses are HON versions of non-HON courses. “Meets with” HON-attribute courses can be scheduled with or independently of their non-HON counterparts. (These courses are not "cross-listed" because they are not fully interchangeable)

    Information for designers of “meets with” HON courses

    • The HON version of the course must have its own course number. In the case of an HON version of an existing course, the recommended convention is to add a 1 to the course number (e.g., 3091 for an existing 3090 course).
    • You may want to use the copy from course option (see image).
    • Indicate "similar/meets-with" in the appropriate field.
    • The HON version must fulfill the same gen-ed/bachelors designations, major requirements, and/or associated learning outcomes as the non-HON course.
    • The HON version of the course must be clearly differentiated from the non-HON course.
    • Prepare a syllabus: The syllabus must show clear evidence of the HON-attribute course characteristics that are indicated in the memo through syllabus features such as learning outcomes, assignments, activities, semester schedule, grading scheme, etc. To facilitate review, these syllabus features must be highlighted in yellow.
    • See these examples (UofU Box access required).
    • Prepare an HON memo: Please use the Meets With HON Memo Template. The memo identifies the course’s HON-attribute characteristics; and includes a brief paragraph explicitly links the HON-attribute characteristics to the yellow-highlighted course features evidenced in the syllabus. The HON memo should be accessible to reviewers outside of the discipline.

    Instructions for submission of “meets with” HON courses in CourseDog

      • In addition to the requirements of all HON-attribute courses listed above, ensure that:
        • The course name and number are consistent across the syllabus, HON memo, and CourseDog.
        • Syllabus features that evidence the HON-attribute course characteristics indicated in the HON memo are highlighted in yellow.
      • Respond YES to Will this course be seeking an Honors attribute?
      • In CourseDog, these courses are referred to as "meets with" or "similar" courses; they are not "cross-listed" because they are not fully interchangeable.
      • Upload the syllabus and HON memo.

  • Some HON-attribute courses are standalone courses with no non-HON counterpart.

    Information for course designers of standalone HON courses

    • The standalone HON-attribute course must be clearly differentiated from non-HON courses in the major, as explained in the HON memo and evidenced in the syllabus.
    • A standalone HON course cannot be required of all majors. It can be one of a set of courses required for the major).
    • Prepare a syllabus: The syllabus must show clear evidence of the HON-attribute course characteristics that are indicated in the memo through syllabus features such as learning outcomes, assignments, activities, etc. To facilitate review, these syllabus features must be highlighted in yellow.
    • See these examples (UofU Box access required).
    • Prepare an HON memo: Please use the Standalone HON Memo Template. The memo identifies the course’s HON-attribute characteristics; and includes a brief paragraph explicitly links the HON-attribute characteristics to the yellow-highlighted course features evidenced in the syllabus. The memo for a standalone HON course further includes a brief paragraph explaining how the class provides an Honors experience in comparison to other non-HON options available to students in the major. The HON memo should be accessible to reviewers outside of the discipline.

    Instructions for submission of standalone HON courses in CourseDog

    • In addition to the requirements of all HON-attribute courses listed above, ensure that:
      • The course name and number are consistent across the syllabus, HON memo, and CourseDog.
      • Syllabus features that evidence the HON-attribute course characteristics indicated in the HON memo are highlighted in yellow.
    • Respond YES to Will this course be seeking an Honors attribute?
    • Upload the syllabus and HON memo.

  • In some units, large numbers of 5000-level courses meet with 6000-level courses. Historically, many of these units have counted these as Honors elective courses through an informal process. At this time, 5000-level courses that meet with graduate courses must have the HON attribute in order to count as Honors electives. 

    If you have a small number of these courses, please submit them using the instructions for standalone HON courses above. 

    However, if all of the following criteria are met: 

    (1) you have five or more such courses; AND 

    (2) Maximum combined (5000/6000) class size of 30; AND  

    (3) the courses all have the same rationale for HON, including at least one Honors course characteristic in each of these groups: 

    Group 1: Increased discussion-based interactions between the student(s) and faculty member(s) AND/OR Increased elements of writing and communication with feedback 

    Group 2: Direct research experiences or discussions on research methodologies and frameworks AND/OR Explicit contributions to developing a thesis or capstone project 

    Group 3: Active, hands-on, and experiential learning emphases AND/OR Activities that extend beyond the traditional classroom setting AND/OR Emphasis on interdisciplinary connections 

    ...the unit can submit a single memo using [this template] that reflects the program-level use of 5000-meets-with-6000 courses to serve Honors students via the HON attribute. Each course seeking the HON attribute still needs to be individually proposed in CourseDog. 

Deadlines

When to submit your new HON-attribute courses in CourseDog:

New HON course meets with existing course that has GE designations. The new HON course must have the same GEs as the meets with counterpart. Submit four weeks earlier than you would normally submit a new (non-GE) course to allow for HON attribute review.
New HON course meets with existing course that does not have GE designations. Submit four weeks earlier than you would normally submit a new (non-GE) course to allow for HON attribute review.
New HON course does not meet with an existing course and does not have GE designations. Submit four weeks earlier than you would normally submit a new (non-GE) course to allow for HON attribute review.
New HON course does not meet with an existing course and has GE designations. Submit by the deadline required for new GE course proposals. HON attribute review will be conducted in parallel with GE review.
New HON course and meets-with a non-HON counterpart that is also new; neither has GE designations. Submit four weeks earlier than you would normally submit a new (non-GE) course to allow for HON attribute review.
New HON course and meets-with a non-HON counterpart that is also new; both have GE designations. Submit by the deadline required for new GE course proposals. HON attribute review will be conducted in parallel with GE review.

TL;DR - depending on details (see table), you will either be aiming for the GE designation deadline OR allowing four weeks additional time for an HON review.

Future reviews of HON-attribute courses

HON attributions will be re-reviewed periodically by the Honors Policy Board.

FAQs

Can students who are not in the Honors College enroll in HON-attribute courses?

While Honors students should have some priority based on their need for HON electives, if you have sufficient seats, you could (and should) open these courses for non-Honors students.

Can an online course carry the HON attribute?

Yes. An HON course should have a very substantial live and interactive component, even if it is online.

Must an HON attribute course have a non-HON counterpart?

No. In some cases, an HON-attribute course may be deemed less relevant for all majors, so offered only to Honors students and, if seats are available, to students interested in an HON course experience.

 

Major requirements and gen-ed/bachelors designations attached to these courses continue to be reviewed and managed by their respective appropriate bodies (e.g., Department and College curriculum committees, GECC) according to the timelines relevant to those bodies, and are not overseen by the Honors Policy Board. Once established, HON-attribute courses are included in review processes for major and gen-ed/bachelors designations, by the same committees, and on the same timeline as any other courses.