Honors contracts extend an opportunity for individualized and intensive instruction in close communication between student and instructor.
Interested in an Honors Contract? Check out the Honors Curriculum!
General Contract Information
- Any student can pursue an honors contract – a student does not have to be a member of the Honors Program.
- Students may use contracts toward completion requirements for Certified Honors, UCLA TAP, or UCI Honors Transfer.
- Please note, not all courses offer honors contracts, and not all instructors teach honors contracts. Some honors courses are typically offered only as an onsite class, only online, or only on one campus.
- Please note, if instructors combine multiple sections in Canvas, they are not able to offer an Honors Contract in that course.
- These instructors and courses are currently eligible for honors contracts.
- Once an honors contract is approved, the student’s enrollment will transfer into the “H” version of the course. As with all classes, students have the option to withdraw from the Honors class, but enrollment cannot be reversed back to the non-honors class. In this case, the student will receive a W on their transcript.
- Only a limited number of contracts are available each semester. Honors contract requests that are both timely and complete will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.
A Complete Honors Contract Request Contains
- Class roster with section number, student name and Surf ID highlighted
- Honors syllabus or honors addendum with syllabus
- Honors Contract form completed by student
Complete requests must be emailed to honorscontracts@miracosta.edu.
Honors Contract Request Due Dates 2023-24/2024-25 School Year
Fall 2024
- August 30, 2024: 8-Week (first session) courses
- September 13, 2024: Regular start courses
- September 20, 2024: 12 & 15-Week courses
- October 25, 2024: 8-Week (late start) courses
Summer 2024
- June 20, 2024: All courses
Spring 2024
- February 2, 2024: 8-Week (first session) courses
- February 15, 2024: Regular start courses
- February 23, 2024: 12 & 15-Week courses
- April 5, 2024: 8-Week (late start) courses
To Request a Contract
Students
- If you are interested in an honors contract, consult your instructor. Not all instructors teach honors contracts, and only a few contracts may be available in each class.
- Communicate closely with your instructor so you understand the expectations of the honors contract.
- Sign the Honors Contract form that indicates your wish to be transferred into the honors version of the class, and give it to your instructor. The instructor is responsible for submitting your Contract request, students cannot submit them.
- Once your contract is approved, confirm that your H class appears on your SURF account.
Instructors
Instructors have the responsibility to submit honors contract requests for their students.
- Prepare an honors syllabus, or an honors addendum to your regular syllabus. Consult the Honors Faculty Canvas page for honors syllabus requirements. Faculty, if you do not currently have access to the Honors Faculty Canvas page, please email us at honorscontracts@miracosta.edu.
- Print your class roster. Be sure it is scaled out so that the section number, student name and student ID are visible.
- Highlight the name(s) of student(s) for whom you wish to offer a contract.
- Have your student(s) sign the Honors Contract form.
- Email the class roster and the syllabus and the Honors Contract form to honorscontracts@miracosta.edu by the published due date. Do not send contract requests through campus mail.
- You are responsible for submitting the contract request. Students cannot submit them for themselves.
- You will receive an auto-reply indicating your contract request was received. If you do not receive an auto-reply, then your request was not received. The auto-reply does not confirm your request is complete, only that it was received.
- Only timely and complete contract requests will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, associate faculty are collectively limited to 100 contracts total per semester.
- Maximum teaching load for associate faculty is 10 LHE. Each contract = .227 LHE.
- Fulltime faculty are limited to five contracts total per semester, and total load cannot exceed 23 LHE. Each contract = .227 LHE.
- Fulltime faculty on reduced workload are not eligible to teach honors contracts.
- You will be notified once your contract request has been approved by your dean.
- You will then have two rosters: your regular class roster and a new H roster for the students with contracts.
