Honors Experiences enrich your undergraduate education by encouraging you to extend your learning inside and outside the traditional classroom setting.
As an Honors student, you can earn Honors Experiences by doing everything from research and internships to studying abroad and taking advanced courses. Our students have said that earning Honors Experience credit is often the extra push that encourages them to try even more new things.
If you start the Honors College in your first year, you are required to complete 15-17 Honors Experiences credits to graduate as an Honors student, in addition to your Honors Seminar (3-4 credits) and Honors Colloquium (1-2 credits).
If you are a transfer student or UB student who entered the Honors College after your first year, you will be required to complete 16 Honors Experiences credits to graduate as an Honors student. Your Honors Experiences will include:
Your personal Honors College advisor will help you choose Honors Experiences that fit into your schedule and align with your goals.
You do not need to be registered for a course to receive Honors Experience credits. For example, many internships are not academic credit-bearing, but can still earn Honors Experience credit through a system of petitioning and completing a digital badge through the Experiential Learning Network office.
Students collaborate with faculty mentors on an ongoing faculty research or creative activity project or conduct independent research under the guidance of a faculty member. This experience provides students with an inquiry-based learning opportunity and engages them as active learners in a research or creative activity setting. Either the student’s own project or the faculty member’s project to which the student is contributing should utilize the methods for creating new knowledge that are recognized in the field and should result in a unique contribution to the field of knowledge.
Note: Honors scholars already enrolled in departmental research credit (e.g., PSY 498, CHE 290) do not need to follow the process detailed below in order to receive Honors experience credit as the credits will automatically count as Honors Experience credits.
If your department is not able to offer you research credit or if you are completing an at another school, you can still receive Honors credit by submitting an Honors Petition. Requests for Honor Experience credit via the petition process should be submitted by the following deadlines:
Petitions received after the aforementioned deadlines will be reviewed in the following cycle. Decisions will be relayed to you via email within four weeks of the posted deadlines.
In order to complete the petition process, you will be asked to submit a reflection paper to the Honors College and for your supervisor’s contact information. Your supervisor will not receive your reflection paper. Petitions will not be accepted and added to your Honors record without supervisor approval.
Students have the option of individualized student work under the guidance of a faculty member. Independent study courses are intended to pursue topics that are not currently offered through regular coursework at UB. Independent study may be the focal point in the design of an individual program or it may merely add desired depth or breadth to a student’s formal degree program. To enroll in independent study, students must identify a member of the faculty or appropriate professional staff member willing to sponsor their work and gain approval of the appropriate department.
Departmental Course Number – 499.
Note: Honors scholars already enrolled in departmental internship/co-op credit (e.g., MAE 496, ES 429, theatre practicums) do not need to follow the process detailed below in order to receive Honors Experience credit as the credits will automatically count as Honors Experience credits.
If your department is not able to offer you internship credit, you can still receive Honors credit by submitting an Honors Petition. Requests for Honor Experience credit via the petition process should be submitted by the following deadlines:
Petitions received after the aforementioned deadlines will be reviewed in the following cycle. Decisions will be relayed to you via email within four weeks of the posted deadlines.
In order to complete the petition process, you will be asked to submit a project outcome reflecting on your experience, and for your supervisor’s contact information. Your supervisor will not receive your project outcome. Petitions will not be accepted and added to your Honors record without supervisor approval.
Note: If you are doing a summer internship and earning 496 credits for the internship, then you will need to pay summer tuition for those credits.
To see a full list of acceptable courses for Honors credit, look in the University Honors College section of your Academic Requirements Report in the HUB Student Center under “Honors Experiences.” Please contact your Honors advisor if you have questions about acceptable Honors Experience coursework.
About the Honors Contract
The Honors Contract permits students to turn a regular 200 level (or above) university course into an Honors course by contracting with the instructor to complete additional work that is outside and or above the scope of course assignments. Students should expect to spend approximately 30 hours of work or service hours (including reflection) during the semester or summer session to complete their contract. Honors Scholars can use any 200-level course or higher for an Honors Contract.
The contract involves an agreement among the honors student, a UB faculty member, and the University Honors College. All the terms stated in the contract proposal must be successfully completed by the agreed upon due date in order for the student to receive honors credit.
The contract work or project should add an academic dimension by introducing new material or by allowing the student to go into greater depth than normally required in some aspect of the course. Contracts may be service-learning focused through student engagement in a service project and reflection related to the course content. It must be made clear on the Honors Contract how your proposal exceeds regular course requirements. Since a faculty member must supervise the contract, students should select faculty who have the time to oversee their projects to completion.
How to Complete an Honors Contract
1. Select your course: Determine a 200 level or higher course that you would like to explore further. This course can be in or outside of your major.
2. Brainstorm contract ideas: After carefully reviewing your syllabus, begin to think about an area that you would like to explore further. Consider potential ways that you can expand your learning. Some examples include:
3. Ask your professor: Approach your course instructor within the first week of the semester and explain the purpose of an Honors Contract and ask if they would be willing to work with you. Use this page for assistance in explaining what an Honors Contract is, and the expectations involved in completing an Honors Contract with your professor.
4. Submit your Honors Contract proposal: Students should submit the Honors Contract Form for Students by the end of the second week of classes of the semester or first week of a summer session.
Be sure to include all of the following information:
Failure to include the above details may result in a delay of your Honors Contract proposal being approved. The Honors College will review all Honors Contract proposals and students will be notified when their Honors Contract proposal has been approved.
5. Complete the components of your Honors Contract: Complete all agreed upon components of your Honors Contract, including any scheduled check in meetings with faculty. Submit your project by the deadline agreed upon between you and your instructor. If at any point you choose not to complete your Honors Contract, please alert your instructor.
6. Faculty complete Honors Contract evaluation: To receive honors credit for the course, Honors students must satisfactorily complete the terms of the contract during the semester that credit is earned. Students receiving an “I” in a course that they have contracted will not receive honors credit upon completion. An evaluation form is sent to the course instructor near the end of the semester and must be completed by the instructor before Honors Contract credit can be awarded. We highly recommend following up with your instructor after you have submitted all work related to your contract to ensure that they complete the evaluation form. Students will be notified when they have been awarded Honors Experience credits after the close of grades for the term.
If you have any questions about contract coursework, please contact the Honors College.
If your experience doesn’t fit into one of these categories, you can petition to include the experience towards their Honors credits.
> Learn more about the Honors Experience Petition.
For research or internship projects, if you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the experience, you can petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits” (we keep track of them in Honors, but they do not go on your transcript) by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the research, you can also petition to have the research experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the internship, you can also petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
For research or internship projects, if you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the experience, you can petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits” (we keep track of them in Honors, but they do not go on your transcript) by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the research, you can also petition to have the research experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the internship, you can also petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
The credit that you earn for TAing CSE 115 is CSE 495, and any 495 course automatically counts as Honors experience credit on your Academic Advising Report.
If you are only earning one credit of CSE 495 on your transcript, you can petition the experience for additional credits as long as the experience is at least 90 hours of work. In the petition process every 45 hours or TAing/internship/research is equal to one in house "credit" (we keep track of them here in Honors but they do not go on your transcript). So, if you spend more than 45 hours TAing (which you likely would), you can petition for the additional hours by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.