Curriculum Details
In addition to holding a 3.5+ GPA at the time of graduation, UHP students will be required to complete requirements in four distinct categories: a one-credit Honors First-Year Seminar course, four honors Courses, three Co-curricular Experiences, and an honors Project. Each requirement category is described in detail below.
Rules:
- Courses by contract, experiences, and projects are proposed, approved, and monitored for completion through the Honors Administration Link, more commonly known as HAL.
- Approval should be obtained prior to starting the course or activity.
- You may not “double dip” by counting a course or activity in more than one category.
- If an activity such as an internship or capstone project is formally required by your major, that activity may only satisfy a UHP requirement if an additional enrichment and/or intellectual product is agreed upon and verified.
Requirements (by Category):
UHP students must complete the requirements specified in each of these four categories (in addition to earning a 3.5+ cumulative GPA). Click the purple arrow to read the details.
Honors First-Year Seminar
Courses
Four (4) for-credit academic courses (12 credits minimum)
At least four UHP-eligible courses must be completed for credit for a minimum total of twelve credit hours. UHP students will have the flexibility to choose from a menu of three eligible options:
- UHP-designated courses (e.g., Honors Chemistry, Honors Introduction to the Humanities) that carry course credit. Available courses are listed here.
- Contract courses (i.e., a regular for-credit course where the student and instructor agree upon additional scholarly expectations and outcomes).
- Course credits taken for undergraduate research. We will bring these research credits into HAL automatically (but let the office know if they are not showing up)
- Instructions for how to initiate and record contracts in HAL are available on the Honors Courses page.
Co-curricular Experiences
Co-curricular experiences must be recorded and approved in HAL. Here are instructions for doing that: How to Enter a Co-Curricular Experience into HAL.
The co-curricular requirement is intended to accommodate multiple forms of experiential learning, co-curricular enrichment, and/or additional UHP-eligible coursework. The menu of eligible co-curricular options listed below provides detailed guidelines for what constitutes a qualifying experience.
General Guidelines
- Experiences should be propose through the Experiential Contract option in HAL prior to undertaking the experience.
- One kind of experience may be repeated. For example, a student might satisfy the "Experience" requirement through three seasons of debate team participation, three undergraduate research experiences, etc.
- An experience that is formally required by your declared major may only be counted as one of the three co-curricular experiences if an additional enrichment and/or intellectual product is approved.
- If extracurricular leadership or service experiences are associated with a for-credit academic experience, students can explore the possibility of contracting that course for Honors credit.
- This list will develop over time and can never be truly comprehensive. Students can propose (by contract) other experiences that are well thought out, meaningfully challenging, and contributory to their intellectual and academic development, pending approval by the appropriate College coordinator and the UHP staff. In such instances, the student should articulate a clear connection to his/her academic curriculum.
Undergraduate Research
Instructional/Tutoring Experiences
- Teaching Assistants (for any for-credit class). This includes Learning Assistants for CAT Communities, LEAD 212 Class Leaders and CAPD Peer Educators.
- Paraprofessionals for the Academic & Career Information Center
- Writing Center Peer Tutors
- University Experience Instructor
- Tutors employed by an official university unit. To list a few examples: Educational Supportive Services, Scholars Assisting Scholars, Chemistry Help Room, and K-State Athletics
- Work as private tutor. In this instance, the work must be verifiable and substantial, both in terms of hours worked and sustained engagement with the subject matter. We recommend approximately 100 hours total. If the number of hours per week is small, you may contract a longer term of participation in order to establish a meaningful experience.
International Experiences
- Clearly connect to your academic major.
- Are responsibly verified by a campus mentor/supervisor.
- Have a duration of three weeks or longer.
Internships
- We expect UHP students to represent the best tradition of K-State students by performing all legitimate work with enthusiastic reliability, no matter how small or mundane. At the same time, an internship that fills a requirement for the University Honors Program should also entail substantial, relevant and documentable responsibilities that contribute to skill development and knowledge.
- When contracting the experience, students should be able to articulate the relevance of the planned internship to their academic studies and to their aspirations.
- Internships should entail a minimum of approximately 100 hours of activity regardless of the timeframe (summer or semester).
- We do not intend to distinguish between paid, volunteer or for-credit internship opportunities in this context so long as the substance of the internship appears valid.
- To reiterate, approval for internships should be obtained, via HAL, prior to the start of the activity. As part of this process, the student must be able to identify an individual in the K-State community who can fulfill the “faculty supervisor” role by verifying satisfactory completion of the internship.
Note that a full-time internship experience of ten weeks or longer may serve as the basis for the UHP Scholarly Project (with prior approval) but an internship may not satisfy one of the three “Experience” requirements if it is used as the basis for the UHP Scholarly Project.
Competition Teams
- Team participation must require meaningful preparation and/or practice prior to the competition, at least equivalent to the time expended for a demanding one-credit hour course.
- Team sponsors/coaches must ultimately verify that full and meaningful participation was offered throughout the season (through HAL).
- Participation must include at least one tournament or multi-institution event. We note that, in some kinds of competitions, “full participation” may require more than one event.
Eligible Teams
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Additional Courses
- Eligible courses must be approved for UHP credit, either through formal designation as an Honors course or through an approved Honors course contract.
- Any single course may only satisfy one of the three “Experience” requirements, irrespective of the number of credit hours attached to it.
- A course with a high number of credit hours can be applied, instead, under the “Courses” requirement if the student wishes to maximize its impact within the UHP curriculum.
Project
Students can select one of four tracks to complete their UHP Project as a capstone activity. Each track emphasizes integrative, independent learning and skill development.
- Research track | A traditional “honors thesis” where students complete research under the supervision of faculty members
- International track | Project based upon study or service abroad for a minimum duration of ten weeks.
- Professional track | Project based upon a full-time internship or co-op experience for a minimum duration of ten weeks. Two distinct internships with a single employer may also be used as the basis for a project, provided they total at least ten weeks (with UHP approval granted before the second internship).
- Creative track | Project based upon the creation of original creative work, principally for students in the fine and performing arts for whom artistic production is an essential scholarly activity.
All four tracks will require a significant intellectual product that is supervised and approved by a K-State mentor with appropriate expertise. This project can take many forms, given the diversity of academic disciplines that exist in our university. Common themes for the project are: independent study, close supervision of a faculty member, and final documentation (written thesis, video or audio record of performance) of the project.
Project approval must be obtained prior to beginning the proposed project via HAL.
Students have the option for earning academic credit for the Honors Project. Consult with the UHP if you think that will be beneficial for your degree requirements.
Students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to share their completed projects with the academic community. This normally involves a poster or presentation and can be done at a number of venues; undergraduate research forums, class presentations, or a UHP spring gathering are all good options.
Have questions about the Honors requirements? Our Frequently Asked Questions are a good place to start.
Special note: students who matriculated (started taking K-State classes) and entered the UHP prior to January 2016 may continue to follow the previous curriculum. Those requirements are preserved for reference at UHP Requirements Prior to January 2016.
Honors Project Details
The Honors Project serves as the culminating experience for the University Honors Program and is an opportunity to both develop and showcase your growing skills as a scholar. As you plan to complete the honors project, refer to the guidelines and instructions below, and please don't hesitate to contact the UHP if you have additional questions.
Step-by-step instructions for project approval
Progress & Performance
Membership in the UHP confers certain benefits, and students must both make satisfactory progress toward completion of the UHP curriculum and uphold a high standard of academic performance in order to maintain membership in the UHP. The benchmarks for satisfactory progress and performance are fully detailed in the following link:
UHP Progress and Performance Policy
Transfer Credit Policy
We encourage high-achieving transfer students to apply for the University Honors Program. To qualify for the program, transfer applicants must have a 3.5 GPA from their transfer institution.
Students may transfer honors courses from another accredited college or university to fulfill some of the Honors Program requirements. At a minimum the following must be completed at K-State:
- At least two courses or co-curricular experiences
- The honors project
The UHP 189: Honors First-Year Seminar requirement may be satisfied through the transfer of an equivalent course from another institution. Transfer students who have not taken an equivalent course may petition to substitute our Research Topic and Proposal Development course instead (cross-listed as either DHE399 or GENAG396).