Information for Faculty

Coastal faculty members work with Honors students in a variety of situations, including Teaching, Advising, and Scholarship. This information will assist faculty members in developing and making the most of that Honors experience.

Teaching:

Faculty members will likely first encounter Honors students when they enroll for an Honors section of a regular class. This is is called Honors by Special Arrangement. The Honors student takes the regular class, but arranges with the faculty member for alternate, Honors-level work. Whether or not to allow an Honors student to take a class for Honors credit is a decision left up to the faculty member.

The National Collegiate Honors Council provides broad objectives for Honors courses. Most Honors courses will include some combination or variations of these five objectives:

1. To help students develop effective written communication skills (including the ability to make effective use of the information and ideas they learn);
2. To help students develop effective oral communication skills (while recognizing that not all students are comfortable talking a lot in class);
3. To help students develop their ability to analyze and synthesize a broad range of material;
4. To help students understand how scholars think about problems, formulate hypotheses, research those problems, and draw conclusions about them; and to help students understand how creative artists approach the creative process and produce an original work;
5. To help students become more independent and critical thinkers, demonstrating the ability to use knowledge and logic when discussing an issue or an idea, while considering the consequences of their ideas, for themselves, for others, and for society.

Examples of how to adjust the course content for an Honors student can be found on the Honors by Special Arrangement page. Faculty members should request a new honors section (or request that a student be added to a full honors section) through the Faculty Honors Section Request Form.

Advising:

Major advisors are key to an Honors student successfully completing both the major and Honors curriculum. Familiarity with the Honors requirements will assist both the advisor and the student in planning the path towards Honors Graduation. Information about the Honors Curriculum and advising students can be found on the Honors Requirements page.

Scholarship and Mentoring:

Honors students are encouraged to get involved with undergraduate scholarship and all must complete an Honors Thesis (or equivalent project) under the mentorship of a faculty member.

• Honors students can apply for funds to support the cost of scholarship or conference travel through the HTC Scholars Program.
• The Honors Thesis should be the culminating work of a student's undergraduate curriculum, and the faculty mentor is a vital part of that experience. Information about Honors Thesis requirements and how a faculty member can approve and submit a thesis can be found at the Honors Thesis page.