An Honors conversion allows an Honors student to enter into an agreement with an instructor to add an Honors component to a non-Honors course. With support from the instructor, a group of Honors students may work on the same project and each will need to submit their own conversion request to earn Honors credit.
- Whether to supervise an Honors conversion is always at the discretion of the instructor.
- Any instructor of record is eligible to supervise an Honors conversion. We ask that graduate assistants be mentored by a faculty member. Some departments have policies preventing graduate assistants and/or adjunct faculty members from supervising conversions.
- Courses may not be converted to Honors if there is an Honors section or equivalent being offered at the same campus, unless the Honors course/section is full.
- The conversion process is also used to award Honors credit for Honors-level independent study or research.
- A conversion plan requires the approval of the student's Honors advisor as well as the course instructor.
Conversion Projects
Honors conversion projects enrich the course experience by prompting the student to work at deeper levels of methods or theory, address more sophisticated questions in the field, and/or grapple with more advanced or demanding material.
- Conversion projects may be individual or within small groups.
- Projects may have a single large deliverable or several smaller ones. In either case, students should have regularly scheduled meetings with the instructor supervising the conversion.
- An Honors conversion should add no more than 20-25 additional hours to the standard workload for the course.
- Conversion projects should receive feedback, but they are not computed into the student's course grade.
- The student must earn a B- or better in the course (based on the existing syllabus and grading standards) to earn Honors credit.
- If the student earns a B- or better, the instructor approves or denies Honors credit based on the satisfactory completion of the conversion project.
Examples of Honors Conversion Projects
- Researching and writing an extra scholarly paper
- Preparing and delivering a presentation of relevant material to the class
- Attending symposia or lecture series and writing critical reviews of the ideas presented
- Participating in additional service activities or field experiences and analyzing one's experiences
- Completing additional problems or laboratory experiments at a higher level of difficulty than the standard class material
- Participation in regular seminars that complement a class
Independent Study or Research
In the case of independent study or independent research, the conversion process is used to (1) document why the student should receive Honors credit for the work and (2) administratively add that credit after the semester is complete. However, there is no separate “conversion project.”
Conversion Projects for Study Abroad
Students may also add Honors conversion projects to courses they take while studying abroad. The project may be supervised by the on-site (abroad) instructor or by the Honors advisor in the department that will be approving the course for UConn credit. In either case, the Honors advisor in the course department will be treated as the “instructor” in the conversion process and must approve the conversion plan before it proceeds to the student’s Honors advisor.
The Conversion Process for Faculty and Advisors
At the beginning of the semester, the student should discuss the possibility of an Honors conversion with their instructor. Together, they agree upon the project plan before the student creates the online request.
Conversion requests should be submitted and approved by the instructor and Honors advisor by the end of the third week of classes (Fall/Spring). Intersession or Summer requests must be fully submitted by the end of the first week of the class.
Instructor Review
- Instructors will receive an email with a direct link called Begin Review to view the request in Kuali Build.
Lost the email? Log into Kuali Build to view your Action List for a full list of requests. - After clicking Begin Review, you will log into Kuali Build with your NetID. Then you can review the student’s Conversion Plan to ensure that it fully describes the plan you agreed upon.
- Approve: Select the blue Approve button if you have agreed to work with the student. (comment is not required)
- Deny: Click the vertical ellipsis and select Deny if you have not agreed to work with the student or the conversion is not allowed. (comment required but not visible to student)
- Send Back: Click the vertical ellipsis to send this form back to the student to request updating. (comment required and visible to student)
- After a choice has been entered, student’s records will disappear from your view.
Advisor Review
- After the request is approved by the instructor the Honors advisor (chosen by the student), will receive an email with a direct link called Begin Review to the request.
Lost the email? Log into Kuali Build to view your Action List for a full list of requests. Once approved or denied, records will disappear from your view.- Approve: Select the blue Approve button if you agree with the student’s plan to earn Honors credit. (comment not required)
- Deny: Select the vertical ellipsis and Deny, if you do not agree with the student’s plan or the student needs to make changes and submit a new request. (comment required but not visible to student)
Instructor Final Approval
- At the end of the semester, after the student has confirmed completion of the work, you will be asked for final approval of the student’s work. You will receive an email with a direct link to the conversion or you may log into Kuali Build to view your Action List for a full list of records needing your review. Once approved or denied, records will disappear from your view.
- In the Instructor Final Approval section, select one of the following options:
-
- Approve for Honors Credit – student completed the work and will earn a B- or above in the course. Click Approve in the upper right (comment not required).
- Deny – student did not complete all of the work satisfactorily or will receive less than a B- in the course. Click vertical ellipsis and select Deny. (comment required)
- Incomplete – Student has been given more time to complete the work, use Save at the top and provide a comment below.
Completed conversions will disappear from your Action List in Kuali Build. If you would like a list of past conversions, please contact honors@uconn.edu.