Teaching for the University Honors Program

Teaching Compensation 

Academic Senate

Academic Senate faculty members (both Research and Professor of Teaching appointments) may teach with UHP either onload (within their departmental teaching load) or on overload (in addition to their departmental teaching load).  Both require approval of the faculty member's Department Chair and the Honors Program Director.

Academic Federation

Academic Federation faculty members (all types of lecturer appointments) may teach a course with UHP for Academic Enrichment Funds that is in addition to their base teaching load with their department.  This requires approval of the faculty member's Department Chair and the Honors Program Director.

Proposing to Teach a UHP course

The goal of an honors course is to provide students with special, small courses that provide greater access to faculty and a closer encounter with the course material.  These courses cannot be graded on a standard curve, and we encourage the instructors to experiment with a variety of forms of assessment.  Honors students are highly motivated and dedicated students, and it would be counterproductive for them to be competing directly against each other for just one or two A’s in each class.

• UHP courses are capped at 25 students
• Courses are available only to UHP students
• UHP staff works with departmental staff to create and schedule the course

To teach a course, faculty are required to submit an Honors Course Proposal, receive UHP Director approval, and department chair approval.  Honors course proposals can be submitted here.  If you have questions about this process, email UHP Director Kate Andrup Stephensen.  Once you have submitted a proposal, you can track its status here. 

Instructional Options 

The University Honors Program offers its students two types of course offerings, General Education Courses and Research Exposure Courses.  The goal of the General Education courses is to provide students with an innovative curricular experience with greater depth on the subject than in the larger, general enrollment version of the course.  The goal of the Research Exposure courses is to provide students with the opportunity to explore research within the faculty member's discipline, preparing them for the research requirements in the final two years in the program.  Student credit hours for replacement courses and the honors course remain with the instructor and department, and department chair approval is required.   

General Education 

• Teaching a General Education Course (3 to 5units)
  • Can be taught Onload ($13,500 buyout to the department) or for $8,000 in Academic Enrichment Funds   
  • Courses can be pulled from any listing in the General Catalogue.  Courses that satisfy GE and common major requirements are encouraged.  The content of the UHP course should remain generally within the declared course title, but we encourage the instructors to innovate and alter the curriculum to go into greater depth on the subject.
  • Honors Program courses should require a greater amount of in-class engagement including dialogue, small group activities, and presentations.  Instructors are encouraged to rework their syllabus to reflect that modification in instruction and assessment.     
• Teaching an Honors Discussion Section (1 unit)
  • Can only be taught for $2,500 in Academic Enrichment Funds
  • Instructor teaches a discussion/lab section in their general enrollment course in which enrollment is reserved for Honors Program students   

Research Exposure 

• Teaching a Special Topics Interdisciplinary Course (3 units)
  • Can be taught Onload ($13,500 buyout to the department) or for $8,000 in Academic Enrichment Funds
  • Topics should be related to current research within the instructor's academic discipline.  Instructors are encouraged to collaborate with other faculty, post-doctoral, staff researchers, and/or graduate students in their discipline to co-host the course.  Interdisciplinary collaboration is also encouraged.
  • The primary goals of this course should be to:
    • exposure to research in an academic discipline
    • develop critical thinking skills
    • practice engaging in discussion
    • cultivate intellectual humility
• Teaching a Research Seminar (1 or 2unit)
  • Can only be taught for $2,500 for 1 unit and $3,000 for 2units in Academic Enrichment Funds
  • Topics should be related to current research within the instructor's academic discipline.  Instructors are encouraged to collaborate with other faculty, post-doctoral, staff researchers, and/or graduate students in their discipline to co-host the course.  Interdisciplinary collaboration is also encouraged.
  • The primary goals of this course should be to:
    • exposure to research in an academic discipline
    • develop critical thinking skills
    • practice engaging in discussion
    • cultivate intellectual humility
  • Similar model to First-Year Seminars (FYS) 

Benefits of teaching a UHP course

• Ability to design an innovative and interactive curriculum. See the UHP course listing for examples.
• Small, interactive courses facilitate dialog and discussion. In the past, many instructors have taken advantage of the small class size to employ teaching techniques that they would not otherwise have been able to try.
• High achieving and high potential students

In the event a UHP course does not reach the 25-seat capacity with First- and Second-Year UHP students, the following options exist to fill those seats:

• Send the course to Third- and Fourth-Year Students
• Confirm preference with the professor teaching the course, then:
• Promote with students in their major/minor
• Promote with Graduate students
• Promote via the Undergraduate Research Center listserv

The Program Coordinator will manage outreach to faculty after Pass 2 appointments are complete for the quarter of the course(s) in question.