Honors Contract

Anyone Can Propose an Honors Contract 

Any Cañada College student can propose an Honors Contract without having to apply and join the Honors Transfer Program. Turn any course into an Honors course!

Earn Honors Units in Any Transferable Course

Honors Contracts allow students to earn Honors credit while enrolled in a non-honors transferable course.  Essentially you turn a non-Honors course into an Honors course!  The Honors Contract proposal (developed collaboratively by the professor and student) outlines what you will do to earn Honors credit.  Most students pursue independent research related to course material.  To be valid, the proposal must be submitted by the deadline and approved by the Honors Coordinator. 

A maximum of two Honors Contracts can be used toward the 15 required Honors units for HTP completion. 

Contracts in 695 Independent Study may NOT be used for UCLA TAP certification; however, they do count toward Honors Transfer Program graduation and completion. 

Support for Your Honors Contract

Students pursuing an Honors Contract should plan on taking IDST 150 Honors Research Seminar (Interdisciplinary Studies). This 1-unit course is UC/CSU transferable and counts toward the 15 Honors units needed to complete the Honors Transfer Program. Learn more by watching the IDST 150 Video Overview and downloading IDST 150 Course flyer!

Honors Contract Step 1: Honors Contract Proposal 

Honors Contract Proposal (Step 1)  

• The official proposal deadline is at the start of the 8th week of the semester, but try to submit as early as you can. 
  • Work with your professor to develop a one-paragraph proposal and submit in the box above.
  • We encourage you to include intermediary deadlines in your proposal submission. Ideally, start working with your professor during the first 2 weeks of the semester. You may even want to engage with the professor prior to the start of the semester to ensure they are willing to mentor you.

Guidelines for your proposal

• Your proposal should include a well-developed paragraph explaining your topic of research, which includes a research question, a description of your methodology, and possibly a preliminary list of sources to be used in your paper.
• Additionally, we strongly encourage you to include intermediary deadlines within your proposal. This will help keep you on track and connected to your professor. You can use the samples linked here as models, but you and your professor can identify checkpoints that make sense for your project.

Honors Contract Step 2: Honors Contract Completion Form

Honors Contract Completion (Step 2)

Students' Required Actions for Honors Credit:

• After completing your honors research, make sure your faculty mentor has seen the final version of your project and approves of the work. Then submit your Honors Contract Completion Form above.
• In the form, you will be asked to include the email of your faculty mentor. Make sure you enter the email correctly as the faculty mentor will then be notified by email to officially approve your honors work.
• Be sure to stay in touch with the faculty member to let them know the email is forthcoming. This is necessary for you to get honors credit.