The Honors Program invites proposals for new or revised interdisciplinary courses for the Honors Core. The Honors Core epitomizes Honors education with smaller class sizes, active learning, and increased academic rigor. Honors Core courses are interdisciplinary in nature, meaning they combine different perspectives and diverse problem-solving expertise to study important and challenging themes and issues. Teaching a Core course is fun and challenging!
Beginning in Fall 2018, new Honors requirements allow students to take an Honors Core course at any time in their undergraduate career instead of just their first two years. This competition welcomes proposals for Honors Core courses intended for juniors or seniors.
Proposal deadline: Sunday, March 18, 2018.
About the Honors Core
Honors Core courses cover the range of general education areas and can originate from any university college, department, or program. All of these courses support the seven objectives of the Honors Core:
- Expose Honors students to the connection of knowledge across the disciplines
- Create an intellectually exciting curriculum that reflects the expertise and vision of the UConn faculty
- Foster discussion and debate among Honors students beyond the confines of the classroom by creating a critical mass of Honors students exposed to a common curriculum
- Encourage the development of critical thinking
- Nurture students’ intellectual curiosity and drive towards excellence
- Provide a meaningful framework within which high-achieving students can pursue future studies and better apply their education to the complex problems of the 21st century
- Support a community of scholars who value inquiry and discovery
An Honors Core course may be taught by a single faculty member or by an interdisciplinary team. Although there will be variation across departments, it is assumed that course sections will be at least 19 and at most 60 students. The class size should facilitate engaged and active discussion among the students and the instructor.
Goals of the 2018 Competition
The UConn Honors Program enrolls approximately 520 first-year students at Storrs and more than 2000 total students across all years on all campuses. Over time, several existing Honors Core courses have ceased being offered or been reduced in frequency, so the primary goal of this competition is to increase current capacity in these courses.
For the incoming class of Fall 2018, a new Honors graduation award will require an Honors Core course that may be taken at any time over students’ undergraduate careers. The secondary goal of the competition is expanding Honors Core opportunities for students at regional campuses and for students in their junior and senior years. Online courses will be considered as one way of meeting the needs of students at regional campuses.
Special consideration will be given to proposals for courses that already fulfill General Education content area requirements or are likely to be approved as such.
Types of Proposals
For this competition, two types of proposals will be accepted:
- Proposals for the development of new courses specifically designed for the Honors Core.
- Proposals to modify an existing UConn course to meet the objectives of the Honors Core.
Awards
Awards will vary from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $7,500.
- $5,000 will support course development during the period from May 23, 2018 to June 7, 2018. This may be applied to salary (inclusive of fringe) or placed in a departmental account. The amount that may be applied to salary is subject to the University’s 12/12ths rule.
- Up to an additional $2,500 may be requested for other development expenses and/or materials. A budget form is required to justify proposed expenses.
All development awards will be compensated with FY18 funds. Expenses should comply with all University policies.
In addition to the course development award, the Honors Program provides sponsoring departments with funds to support the offering of Honors Core courses each time a course is taught. These funds are separate from the competition and are based on a course replacement model. In general, a 3-credit Honors Core course is subsidized at the rate of a 10-hour Level 2 graduate assistant. Departments have full discretion on the use of these funds.
Also separate from this competition, instructors are eligible for up to $500 for course enrichment each time a course is taught. These funds are expected to support in-class activities or materials or professional activities that will benefit the course.
Who May Apply
Regular tenured, tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty from any discipline at any University of Connecticut campus may apply. An application may be submitted by one or more individuals, but it must have the written support of one or more sponsoring program or department that expects to offer the course every academic year for at least five years (or every other academic year for a total of five course offerings). This commitment should not be contingent upon any Honors Program funding beyond that detailed above under “Awards.”
Approvals
All proposals require department head or program director approval upon submission to this competition.
Any new or substantially revised courses must be approved by the respective departmental and school/college curricula and courses committees, the General Education Oversight Committee (if applicable), Senate Curricula and Courses Committee, and University Senate before being offered. A course also must be approved by the Honors Board of Associate Directors before being offered as part of the Honors Core. Receipt of a grant to develop or modify a course does not indicate nor guarantee approval of the course proposal at any of the above levels.
Timeline
Proposals are due by Sunday, March 18, and grant recipients will be notified by April 1. Each proposed project should include a timeline for course development and delivery. While some projects (particularly course revisions) could be completed for Spring or Summer 2019 delivery, the majority would be expected for AY 2019-2020. Final reports will be due based upon the proposed project timeline.
Proposal Format and Submission
Each entry should include a five-page proposal, budget form, proposed timeline, and statement of support from the appropriate department head(s) or program director(s). Please refer to the detailed instructions for the format of the proposal. Send electronic copies of the proposal and supporting documents to honors@uconn.edu with the subject line “Honors Core Course Competition.”
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated on how the planned content, pedagogy, learning outcomes, and assessment methods will (a) meet the objectives of the Honors Core; (b) ensure academic rigor, engaged learning, and intellectual challenge; and (c) advance the goals and priorities of this competition.
Note: What makes a course inter- or cross-disciplinary?
The Honors Core is designed to engage students in at least one course that extends beyond any single discipline. Those disciplinary boundaries should also be visible to students, allowing them to learn how knowledge is defined and created within and between fields. There are several ways in which to accomplish this, including:
- An interdisciplinary scholar explores aspects of one discipline using the tools of another.
Example: A sociologist with interdisciplinary expertise studies the institutions of law. - A disciplinary specialist engages in a theme from several perspectives, with contributions from guest speakers.
Example: A French literature specialist studies Francophone immigration with contributions from a historian, a geographer, and a sociologist. - Two faculty members in the same department approach a theme from different disciplinary backgrounds.
Example: A psychologist and an economist, both in HDFS, study family welfare policy. - Two faculty members in different departments collaborate to study a theme from their different disciplinary perspectives.
Example: A geographer and a plant scientist study climate change.
Evaluation Committee
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee consisting of faculty members on the Honors Board of Associate Directors and current Honors Core Course faculty instructors.
Contact
For further information, please contact Jaclyn Chancey, Honors Program Assistant Director for Curriculum, Assessment, and Planning, at jaclyn.chancey@uconn.edu or (860) 486-1429.