The Honors College is committed to enriching the work of faculty and helping them to continue to grow as educators. We offer various forms of involvement and support for faculty.

Funding for Course Activities

Limited funding is available for special course activities. Faculty and staff may request funds by contact Dr. Zeb Baker (zeb.baker@MiamiOH.edu) for more information.

Serve on our Advisory Committees

• The Honors College Advisory Committee (HCAC) is a University Senate committee which approves all Honors-related curricular policies and co-curricular programs and courses.
• The National Fellowships Committee is a University-wide committee which oversees the on-campus support of Miami students competing for national fellowships and scholarships.
  • Please note: the Honors College is committed to assisting all Miami University students and alumni identify, plan for, and win national fellowships. For more information, please visit the National Fellowships and Awards website. Overviews of the fellowships and their descriptions can be found there.

Mentor an Honors Student's Honors with Distinction Project

During their final undergraduate years, Honors students can pursue Honors with Distinction, which can be earned through the proposal, development, and completion of a large-scale project (e.g., Honors thesis, senior recital) or an intensive pre-professional experience (e.g., student teaching, internship).

Honors with Distinction is optional for Honors students who joined the University Honors Program in Fall of 2020 or earlier. All students must have a faculty mentor for their Honors with Distinction projects to help ensure the quality and rigor of the project. Faculty can mentor students through the process of proposing, completing, and submitting their Honors with Distinction projects. 

If a student joined the Honors College in Fall 2021 or later, they are required to complete the Honors Senior Project, which is similar to Honors with Distinction. More details about the Honors Senior Project can be found here.

Recommended steps for Honors with Distinction

• Step 1: Preparing to complete an Honors with Distinction Project
  • Student develops project idea and recruits faculty mentor
  • Student meets with Honors advisor to discuss project idea, proposal process, and (if necessary) suggested improvements
  • Student completes and submits the Honors with Distinction Project Proposal and Submission Form
  • A copy of proposal is sent to faculty mentor, who approves or denies the proposal
  • (If applicable, students may apply for Honors Grant Funding to help support their Honors with Distinction project)
• Step 2: Completing the project
  • Once faculty mentor approves the proposal, student begins the project
  • Student, working with the faculty mentor, completes their project
  • Students are encouraged to develop a presentation of their project (e.g., Undergraduate Research Forum, digital portfolio website)
• Step 3: Submitting the project
  • If the student plans to finish the Honors with Distinction project prior to the semester they plan to graduate or within the first 6 weeks of the semester the student plans to graduate, the student will submit the completed project in the Honors with Distinction Project Proposal and Submission Form, including an uploaded copy of the final outcome or product of the project (e.g., thesis, recording of a performance, etc.) and a reflective narrative about what the student learned from the project
  • A copy of this submission is sent to the faculty mentor, who approves or denies that the project was completed. The faculty mentor does not provide conditional approval of a draft, only final approval of the completed project.
    
    
    
  • If the student plans to complete the Honors with Distinction project the semester they graduate, the student will submit a recent draft of the project to the faculty mentor midway through the semester (in March for May graduates and in October for December graduates) for the faculty mentor to conditionally approve the project. The faculty mentor’s conditional approval indicates that the student is on track to finish the project by the end of the semester and the work completed thus far is satisfactory. This conditional approval is for the commencement program notation timeline.
  • Once the project is complete, the student submits the project through the Honors with Distinction Project Proposal and Submission Form, including an uploaded copy of the final outcome or product of the project (e.g., thesis, recording of a performance, etc.) and a reflective narrative about what the student learned from the project
  • A copy of this submission is sent to faculty mentor, who approves or denies that the project was completed. This approval must be submitted no later than the day after grades are due for that term.
    
    

    Graduation term & project completion date:	When students should propose their project:	Student should send their mentors a draft for conditional approval:	Conditional approval granted by mentor for commencement notation:	Completed project submitted to Honors College:	Final approval from mentors:
    May/August 2023	Spring 2022-Fall 2022	By March 1, 2023	By March 31, 2023	By May 5, 2023	By May 17 2023
    December 2023/January 2024	Fall 2022-Spring 2023	By October 1, 2023	By October 31, 2023	By December 8, 2023	By December 20, 2023
    May/August 2024	Spring 2023-Fall 2023	By March 1, 2024	By March 31, 2024	By May 10, 2024	By May 22, 2024
    December 2024/January 2025	Fall 2023-Spring 2024	By October 1, 2024	By October 31, 2024	By December 6, 2023	By December 18, 2023
    May/August 2025	Spring 2024-Fall 2024	By March 1, 2025	By March 31, 2025	By May 9, 2025	By May 21, 2025

Mentor an Honors Student's Course Extension   

An Honors Course Extension gives Honors students who are passionate about the topic of study in a regularly-offered course an opportunity to engage in more rigorous inquiry and exploration into the course content. Course Extensions allow the students to take initiative in the learning process by approaching the course’s instructor and working with them to develop additional coursework that seeks greater depth or breadth than the normal course requirements. As a mutual agreement between the instructor and the student, the extension must result in a tangible end product that would not otherwise result from satisfying that course’s typical requirements.

A Course Extension should involve evidence that the student has explored the course subject matter in greater depth than is required by the regularly-offered course. The additional project should require at least 15 hours of concentrated effort beyond what is expected of non-Honors students in this course. Course Extensions should result in a tangible end product such as an intensive and substantive paper, presentation, creative product, or another traditional or non-traditional artifact that demonstrates student learning. Projects that explore the course topic in an interdisciplinary or non-traditional manner are encouraged.

Role of the Course Instructor

The course instructor is critical to the success of the Course Extension. A student who wishes to earn a Course Extension for your course will contact you prior to, or early in, the semester to ask if you are willing to oversee a Course Extension for the class in which the student is enrolled. No faculty member is obliged to participate in a Course Extension. In rare cases, the Honors College will decline a student’s proposal to complete a Course Extension; in those cases, Honors College staff will contact you regarding the decision and the reason.

Most credit-bearing courses qualify for Course Extensions. Exceptions are UNV 101 courses and laboratory sections. A student may not complete a Course Extension for a course in which an Honors section is offered during that semester. Students must take a course for a grade in order to earn a Course Extension. (This requirement is waived during the Fall 2020 semester, consistent with the university's temporary change in restrictions on courses taken credit/no credit.)

Honors Course Extension Process

• It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete the Course Extension process. The course instructor will be asked to verify their support of the project, as well as the student’s completion of the Course Extension agreement.
• If an instructor agrees to supervise a Course Extension, the next step is to assist the student in finding and developing a suitable project or projects. Honors College staff encourage students to approach instructors with ideas for their proposed Course Extension. Instructors may provide any level of guidance in project development, and are not expected to accept a student’s plans or suggestions. Instructors have latitude to dictate the entire Course Extension, if they wish. Regardless of the instructor’s level of guidance, it is the student’s responsibility to write and submit the proposal for the Course Extension.
• The deadline for student submissions of the Course Extension proposal is October 15th during the fall semester and March 15th during the spring semester. Students pursuing course extensions during a summer or winter term, or in a sprint course, should consult their Honors advisor about appropriate deadlines.
• When a student submits a Course Extension proposal, an email is automatically sent to the course instructor containing a link to the Course Extension approval form. The student’s Course Extension cannot be approved by Honors College staff until the course instructor approves the proposal. The Honors College staff will review each proposal and let students know if the proposal is approved and/or additional work is needed. The student remains enrolled in the regularly-offered Miami course and is expected to participate in all course meetings, activities, and assignments, unless otherwise outlined in the Course Extension proposal.
• In rare cases, Honors College staff will decline a Course Extension proposal; in those cases, we will contact you regarding the decision and reason.
• The student is responsible for conferring with the course instructor regularly throughout the semester. As the instructor, you have the right to reject the student’s Course Extension project(s) if a student does not maintain the expected level of communication.
• Projects are due to the Honors College no later than 5pm on the final Friday of regular instruction of the term. Projects may be submitted to the course instructor and the Honors College at the same time. As with the proposal, the student’s final work is subject to approval of the course instructor, and no Honors Course Extension credit will be granted until the instructor verifies satisfactory completion of the Course Extension project(s). The instructor assigns the student’s grade for the course.

Course Extension Evaluation 

• The course instructor sets the standards for the student’s work, and should make those standards clear to the student at the time of the Course Extension proposal. If you, as the course instructor, deem the student’s work unsatisfactory, the Honors College will not override that decision and will not grant credit for the Course Extension.
• Course Extension credit will be denied to students if:
  • The student earns a grade lower than a B in the course, or the student takes the class credit/no credit. 
  • Students do not meet submission deadlines.
  • A student takes a grade of “Incomplete” in the course. Students must complete the course within the regular time frame of that academic term.
  • Students with extenuating circumstances are strongly encouraged to contact their Honors advisor to discuss their options.
• The Course Extension should be evaluated separately from regular coursework and should not be incorporated into the student’s final grade for the regularly-offered Miami course.
• All rules about academic integrity remain in effect for Course Extension work.
• The student is responsible for all submissions and deadlines. The instructor is expected to approve or deny student proposals and submissions in a timely manner.

Additional Details

• Honors Course Extensions do not generate any additional credit hours for students, nor do they affect a student’s grade point average.
• Course Extensions cannot be granted retroactively.
• Course Extensions will not be granted if a student takes an “Incomplete” in the credit-bearing course, if the student takes the class for credit/no credit (except in the terms where the university has granted pandemic-related exceptions to its credit/no credit policy), or if a student earns a grade lower than a B in the credit-bearing course, as determined by the course instructor.