Ad-Hoc Honors

What is it?

Ad-Hoc Honors is an option available to members of the Interdisciplinary, College, and Departmental Honors Programs. Through Ad-Hoc, a student can work with an instructor in a non-Honors course to obtain Honors credit. It is assumed that any Honors student who exercises this option is interested in pursuing the subject to a greater depth and with more intensity than she or he could within the framework of the regular class and is prepared to undertake the extra work and expend the extra energy.

This work should reflect qualities of scholarly effort beyond the ordinary. In short, both student and instructor are committing themselves to extra efforts and to a more demanding and more in-depth pursuit of the subject, rather than merely additional work. Unless both are prepared to make this commitment, the Ad-Hoc option should not be undertaken.

This more demanding and in-depth pursuit must include at least three meetings between the supervisor and students. It must be a partnership between the faculty and student and both must commit to extended effort and be available, aware, and engaged in the project. The instructor must also agree to supervise the additional work.

(To receive Honors credit for a non-Honors study abroad course, please see our International Ad-Hoc page)

• No more than 15 credits of a student's Honors Core requirements may be satisfied via Ad-Hoc (either on-campus or via study abroad)
• Typically, Ad-Hoc only applies to upper-division courses, though some 1 and 200 level courses may be appropriate given the size and scope of the course.
• Introductory language courses and large survey courses are not considered appropriate candidates for Ad-Hoc credit.
• Courses which are offered as Honors versions are not eligible for Ad-Hoc (ie, SIS 200 or BIOL 180).
• Ad-Hoc Honors cannot be approved retroactively (after the 2nd week of the quarter in which a student is taking the course)
• Ad hoc Honors taken to fulfill an Honors Core requirement may overlap with coursework within a student's major but cannot also be used to satisfy a departmental honors requirement.

Requirements

Students planning to count an Ad-Hoc Honors course as part of their Honors core curriculum must:

1. Email or meet with an Honors adviser when registering the quarter before, to confirm that the course is an appropriate candidate for Honors Ad-Hoc credit and to note what requirement the course will satisfy.
2. Meet with your instructor and discuss the concept of Ad-Hoc Honors as described on the form, and to be sure they can commit to supervising your project.
3. Summarize the agreement of how you will satisfy Honors credit on the Ad-Hoc form.
4. Visit an Honors adviser to verify that your agreement is within the spirit of the Ad-Hoc Honors option and to get their signature. If you intend to have the course satisfy an Honors Core requirement, you must visit an Honors adviser in the Honors Office (211 Mary Gates Hall). If the course will satisfy a departmental requirement, please see your departmental adviser. You MUST have an adviser signature before you begin an Ad-Hoc project and NO LATER THAN THE FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK of the quarter.
5. Hold on to the form and review it with your instructor at the end of the quarter. Your instructor's signature ensures that you have completed the Ad-Hoc Honors requirements.
6. Return the completed form to the Honors Office no later than the end of the second week of the following quarter.

Download a printable copy of the Ad-Hoc Honors credit form »