Guidelines for the Preparation of Permanent Honors Options (PHO)

Definition

The PHO is an agreement between HUHC and the department about a standard template for enrichment of a course for honors credit. The PHO is generally created for classes that have multiple sections and/or are very regularly offered. Once it is in force the PHO guidelines are specified by individual faculty in accord with the particulars of their situation.

The PHO Advantage

Once approved, students may sign up for a PHO simply by asking a particular professor if s/he is willing to monitor the PHO. If the professor agrees, s/he uses our online form to activate the PHO in that class with that student. Faculty may activate PHO’s for up to 5 students in any one class. Since the PHO operates under a previously agreed to template there is no need for a proposal or approval. Once the PHO is activated, the student and faculty receive a confirming email and the process is complete.

What does it mean to “enrich a course?”

• The enrichments vary to reflect the discipline, the professor and the particular course. Ideally, the enrichments lead to a deeper, more sophisticated and meaningful engagement with the material of the regular course: the focus is qualitative, not quantitative and the enrichments should not pose an undue burden that prevents the student from accomplishing the base requirements of the course.
• Typically, enrichments might consist of additional articles from secondary literature along with short written commentaries, or longer written assignments, or additional problem sets, or tracking issues in the media, etc. Some faculty prefer that students work in a more focused way on a single topic or project that is related to some particular aspect of the material covered in the course. This is acceptable too, so long as there are explicit plans for regular student/faculty meetings and steps to ensure that the honors work is undertaken throughout the semester rather than in a rush at the end.
• A major goal of honors options is to increase opportunities for faculty/student contact. Therefore, honors options always involve additional contact (during or outside of regular office hours) to discuss and review the enrichment assignments which go beyond topics covered in regular class sessions. Typically, faculty and students arrange a series of meetings (e.g. bi-weekly) throughout the semester, although the precise type and timing of such contact will vary according to the subject matter and the instructor’s estimation of what would be most effective.

Grading Policy

• The grading policy should be discussed in the department in terms of the HUHC grading guidelines which outline several strategies that have been used by faculty who offer honors options. Even though the individual instructor ultimately decides, since the PHO is departmental agreement the department might wish to discuss having departmental-wide guidelines for the way honors work grades are integrated into the overall assessment of student performance. Whatever the policy, it is important that departments remind all faculty that it be discussed with the student and stated on the PHO syllabus.

Putting Together a Successful Proposal

• The department typically meets to discuss a general template for enriching a standard or typical syllabus for the course under discussion. This template should be designed to allow individual instructors to make specific choices for particular assignments, for particular students during particular semesters. Such flexibility prevents the model from becoming repetitious and mechanical, and allows professors latitude to accommodate their own interests and those of the students while at the same time establishing general guidelines so that the PHO itself is a relatively consistent experience for students and faculty. If a recently approved INHO already exists for the course in question, that may serve as a good basis for a departmental discussion of the PHO proposal. The HUHC Dean and Associate Dean are available during this stage to for consultation if the department feels it would be helpful.
• After finalizing the PHO proposal, the department chair should use the online submission form to submit the proposal. It calls for contact and course information, a brief overall description of the enrichments and their rationale relative to the course as it is normally offered, and a typical syllabus with regular weekly assignments/topics outlined. All documents can be either pasted or uploaded as attachments.
• Ideally, the honors option syllabus would be a copy of the original syllabus with the enrichment plan entered directly into the syllabus calendar in boldface at periodic intervals to indicate the schedule of enrichments in relation to regular coursework. Alternatively, the chair may upload a typical syllabus and a separate schedule of honors enrichment assignments.

Review and Approval Process

• The HUHC Council reviews PHO proposals to make certain that the enrichments are neither too much work or too little, and that the assignments are clear, and distributed throughout the semester at regular intervals. All honors options should involve regular and ongoing professor/student interaction, assignments and review of work.
• The HUHC Council considers the review process to be a collaborative effort undertaken in partnership with the department. The goal each semester is to approve all proposals. When the HUHC Council requests clarification regarding a proposal it typically involves questions regarding the amount of work (either too much or too little) or the feeling that greater specificity would benefit the student and make it more likely that s/he will successfully complete the assignments. The HUHC office is happy to work with faculty toward the goal of ensuring that students can pursue honors options in any course that excites their passion.
• The department chair will receive a formal letter of approval of the INHO proposal.

Compensation and Notations

• Faculty will receive compensation for each student who undertakes in honors option in his/her course (up to 5) according to a formula negotiated in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• Students receive a notation of honors credit earned for the specific course appears on their transcript.

Help along the way

Department representatives with any questions about the PHO are encouraged to contact the Honors College Associate Dean Neil Donahue for assistance. Call 516- 463-4842, or send an Email.