Honors Contract

A student is admitted to SCC's Honors Program for one of the following reasons:

• performed to a recognized standard on our college placement tests
• graduated in the top 15% of his/her High School class
• achieved a 3.25+ GPA with 12 college credits
   

All Honors students qualify for scholarships. Many Honors students are receiving scholarships of almost $1,000 per semester. In order to keep their scholarships students must fulfill certain requirements. One of the requirements is to undertake an Honors class.

Any class may be recognized as an Honors Class if the instructor agrees to facilitate the student in completing an Honors Contract which provides the details of an Honors Project. This semester, the deadline for Honors Contracts to be submitted to the Honors Coordinator is Friday, February 6. The following pages explain the requirements of the Honors Contract and the Honors Project.

English Faculty and Students please note:

Students intending to complete an Honors Contract in an English class must first get the approval of the English Department Chair, Dr. Ramona Goth. Students should call (480) 423-6419 to arrange an appointment.

Culinary Arts Faculty and Students please note:

Culinary Arts students intending to complete an Honors Contract in any class must first get the approval of the Culinary Arts Division Chair, Ms. Karen Chalmers. Students should call (480) 423-6241 to arrange an appointment.

The Honors Project, which the student will discuss with his or her chosen instructor, must consist of three components: research, a written document, and a presentation.

Scope of the Honors Project:

1. Project ideas should be initiated by the student. The instructor may assist the student in focusing or narrowing the project topic; however, it is not the instructor's responsibility to assign or develop a project idea.
2. Completion of the project should illustrate the student's higher level thinking skills which may include critical thinking, thinking outside the box, lateral thinking, application of knowledge, creative thinking, etc.
3. Honors projects should engage in ideas that are "significant."
4. Honors Projects should incorporate elements of the current Honors Forum Topic, which for this year is The Democratization of Information: Power, Peril, and Promise. In addition, Honors students are encouraged to attend the Honors Forum Speaker Series.
5. Students are encouraged to incorporate service learning into the Honors Project.
6. Honors projects are encouraged to illustrate connections to events outside of class: for example, to a student's life experience.
7. The project should involve up to 20 total hours of work for a three-credit class, not including consultation time with the instructor.
8. Once the Honors Project is underway the student should meet with the instructor at least two times to present progress reports.