Welcome, UCSB Faculty.
The College of Letters & Science Honors Program warmly invites faculty to explore the resources provided below. Faculty members are encouraged to engage through Honors Seminars, Honors Sections, and Honors Contracts. Explore each opportunity below. The links include essential forms and information for those currently working with or interested in working with students in the Honors Program.
For any questions regarding the program, please contact Kate von der Lieth at kvonderlieth@ltsc.ucsb.edu.
Teach an Honors Seminar.
We are now accepting Honors Seminar proposals for 2025 academic year. Visit the link below for more information.
To receive the highest priority consideration, please submit your proposal by the date listed below. Proposals received after this date will be considered if funding allows. Faculty teaching Honors Seminars will receive $3,000 in research funding. An additional $300 will be provided to the faculty member’s department for supplies and expenses associated with the seminar.
Deadlines for Honors Seminar proposals:
Spring 2025: Friday, January 17th
Fall 2025: TBD
Winter 2025: Closed
All current faculty who are members of the Academic Senate in the College of Letters & Science are invited to submit a proposal for an Honors Seminar. Each seminar is two units with a corresponding workload and must be taught on a letter-graded basis. Honors Seminars are open only to lower-division students enrolled in the Honors Program. Total enrollment in each seminar should be approximately twenty students.
An Honors Seminar should provide an introduction to a specific research problem or set of interrelated problems. It should aim to stimulate students’ interest and prepare them for advanced study in the relevant discipline.
All Honors Seminars will be listed as INT 84AA-ZZ (lower division). Each seminar will meet for a total of twenty hours per quarter.
Additional guidelines for Honors Seminars:
- Only current Letters & Science Honors Program students may take Honors Seminars (INT 84AA-ZZ).
- INT 84AA-ZZ is restricted to lower-division students during enrollment. Exceptions to this level of restriction are at the discretion of the instructor.
- To earn Honors Experience credit for the seminar, students must complete the seminar with a letter grade of B or better.
Funding for Honors Seminars is provided for both faculty compensation and course support. Participating faculty receive a $3,000 research stipend (not salary), and their department receives $300 per seminar for supplies and expenses.
The research stipend may be used for any research-related activity. For example, it has been used for books, equipment, a laptop computer, and to fund a research assistant and professionally-related travel.
The $300 course support funds can be used to pay for expenses associated with the course including copies, handouts, videos for class, transportation on a field trip, museum admission, etc.
To submit a course proposal, please visit the online application and complete all fields. If your seminar is approved, the College of Letters & Science will take care of all room scheduling, book orders, media requirements and publicity.
Lead an Honors Section.
Enrich learning | Enhance discussions
Letters & Science Honors Program students can enroll in special Honors sections that accompany large lecture courses. These sections may either enhance the required discussion or involve additional faculty-led weekly meetings. Both approaches are acceptable to provide honors students a more intensive experience with the course material.
- Honors Sections should
- be taught by the faculty member in charge of the course, usually an Academic Senate member;
- preferably meet at least one hour per week;
- ideally be limited to 20 students; however, with increased student interest in the Honors Program, we leave the final decision about the size of the section up to the instructor.
- Priority for enrollment should be given to students in the Honors Program. Students not in the Honors Program may be admitted at the discretion of the instructor.
- To help assess the academic promise or proven success of students not in the Honors Program, students can be asked to provide an unofficial transcript, available on demand through GOLD.
- Assignments should preferably include additional work above the normal class requirements.
- Instructors should notify their department's undergraduate advisor of their intent to offer an Honors section; Honors Program staff will contact department advisors to create a list of Honors sections being offered.
Instructors of Honors sections are eligible to request an honors stipend of $300 maximum per Honors section. The stipend can be used to pay for expenses associated with the Honors section--for instance, copies, pizza, a video for class, transportation on a field trip, museum admission, etc.
Instructors must notify their department's undergraduate advisor about offering an upcoming Honors section to receive a stipend offer from Honors Program staff at the beginning of the quarter. Within the first few weeks of the quarter, instructors interested in a stipend must submit an Honors Stipend Request Form describing how the stipend will be used.
Faculty oversight of Honors sections is essential. Course Honors will be noted on transcripts for students who earn a grade of B or higher, typically within two weeks after grades are posted. No additional units are awarded, except in cases where honors work is part of an ancillary honors course listed in the UCSB General Catalog.
Faculty FAQs for Honors Sections & Seminars
Only Academic Senate members are eligible to teach Honors Seminars. Please see the guidelines for proposal information above.
The stipend of $300 maximum per Honors section or seminar can be used to pay for expenses associated with the course. Some examples include copies, pizza, a video for class, transportation on a field trip, museum admission, etc.
If you have any questions, please contact: kvonderlieth@ltsc.ucsb.edu
Please contact Kate Von der Lieth at kvonderlieth@ltsc.ucsb.edu.
Develop an Honors Contract with a student.
We invite faculty to engage in meaningful mentorship by offering Honors Contracts to Honors students. These contracts are agreements that allow faculty to collaborate with students on an enriched curriculum, enabling them to earn Honors credit in upper-division Letters & Science courses.
Questions that faculty commonly ask about Honors Contracts:
Students enjoy the opportunity to delve into a subject and acquire a more complete knowledge of a specific topic. Just as important to students is the opportunity to collaborate and communicate with their professors.
Most students choose a professor because they are interested in the subject matter that the course covers, because they would like to work more closely with a specific professor, or both.
Many students enter into Honors Contracts to find mentors among the faculty. Weekly meetings with your Honors Contract students will allow you to mentor students as you review their progress and evaluate their work.
Since the work required to complete an Honors Contract merely supplements the work assigned in a course, students should not be expected to take on the work of an entire additional course. Students may do extra readings to be discussed in weekly meetings with their professor. Others might agree to write an additional short paper or two, to write a slightly longer term paper than other students in the class, or to spend an additional 10-15 hours in the laboratory during the quarter.
Whereas a student receives academic credit for an Independent Studies course, Honors Contracts transform the regular units received in the course into honors-designated units. No additional units are earned for work done through an Honors Contract. If the student earns a B or higher in the course, however, the honors-designated units will be acknowledged on the student’s record and will be counted toward the requirements for the completion of the College Honors Program. Students who complete the program receive the College of Letters & Science Honors Program Academic Excellence Award at commencement in recognition of their distinguished academic achievement.
Honors Contracts give you personal contact with some of the college’s most motivated students. Some faculty members find that because students seek out faculty with scholarly interests similar to their own, Honors Contract assignments often provide important new data for faculty research. Students enter into Honors Contracts to enrich their experience in a course, allowing them to delve more deeply into course materials and to benefit from the mentoring faculty members can provide.
A student may approach you either before the quarter begins or during the first few days of instruction to discuss the possibility of establishing an Honors Contract. If you agree, you and the student will work out the details of the agreement, and the student will submit an Honors Contract proposal to the College by the end of the second week of instruction.
At the end of the quarter, you will receive an email asking whether the student has satisfactorily completed the Honors Contract assignment. It is important that you reply to the email by the date final grade reports are submitted to the Office of the Registrar.
If you have more questions or would like to see samples of Honors Contracts, please contact the Honors Program at honorsmail@ltsc.ucsb.edu.
Please contact the honors program directly at honorsmail@ltsc.ucsb.edu to request an example.