An Honors conversion allows an Honors student (or a small group of Honors students) to enter into an agreement with an instructor to add an Honors component to a non-Honors course.
- 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.
- Non-honors 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 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
At the beginning of the semester, the student should discuss the possibility of an Honors conversion with you. Together, you agree upon the project plan before the student creates the online request.
Conversion requests must be fully submitted 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. “Fully submitted” means that both the instructor and the student’s Honors advisor have agreed to the conversion plan.
- As the instructor, you will receive an email with a direct link to the request.
Lost the email? Email honors@uconn.edu to be re-sent a link, or sign in to the Conversion Dashboard to see all of your requests. - Sign in to the Conversion Dashboard with your UConn NetID and password. If you see charts or a message referencing charts, click on the Responses tab (top left).
- First time only: On the Responses tab, click the Customize button; scroll to the bottom of the window; select “View form in a new dialog” under Application viewing options; and then click OK.
- Review the student’s conversion request to ensure that it fully describes the plan you agreed upon.
- If you agree to the plan: The request, along with any comments you add, will be routed on to the student’s Honors advisor.
- If you disagree: Return the request to the student with comments. They will have the opportunity to re-submit.
- The Honors advisor also has the choice to agree to the plan or return it to the student. If the advisor returns the request, you will be asked to agree to the modified plan.
At the end of the semester, you will be asked for final approval of the Honors conversion.
- You will receive an email with a direct link to the conversion. You may also sign in to the Conversion Dashboard to see all of your open conversions.
- In the Instructor Final Approval section, select one of the following options:
- Approve for Honors credit if the student earned a B- or above in the course and satisfactorily completed the agreed upon conversion. Honors credit will appear on the student’s transcript 2-4 weeks after grades are posted.
- Deny Honors credit if the student did not earn a B- or above or did not satisfactorily complete some or all of the conversion. This will not appear on the student’s transcript.
- Incomplete indicates that you are allowing the student more time to complete the conversion project. Please include a brief explanation. This does not require that the student receive an incomplete in the class.
- Withdrawn indicates that the student decided not to complete the conversion project. This will not appear on the student’s transcript.
Completed conversions will disappear from your Conversion Dashboard. If you ever need a list of past conversions, please contact honors@uconn.edu.