University at Buffalo (UB)
Honors Experiences
Honors Experiences enrich your undergraduate education by encouraging you to extend your learning inside and outside the traditional classroom setting.
Embrace the Opportunities
As an Honors student, you can earn Honors Experiences by doing everything from research and internships to studying abroad and taking advanced courses. Our students have said that earning Honors Experience credit is often the extra push that encourages them to try even more new things.
How Many Honors Experience Credits Do I Need to Graduate?
21 Credits to Graduate (including Seminar and Colloquium)
If you start the Honors College in your first year, you are required to complete 15-17 Honors Experiences credits to graduate as an Honors student, in addition to your Honors Seminar (3-4 credits) and Honors Colloquium (1-2 credits).
- Honors Seminar credits.
- Engineering and Architecture students will take their school’s UB Seminar (3 credits) and then complete a special, 1 credit Honors Seminar (HON214) their first semester, for a total of 4 Honors Experience credits.
- All other students will take the Honors Seminar for 3 credits.
- Honors Colloquium.
- Students earn 1 credit for Honors Colloquium, with an option to earn a digital badge for an additional 1 Honors Experience credit.
- Honors scholars must complete a minimum of four credits by the end of their first year and 13 credits total by the end of their junior year to maintain good standing in the Honors College.
- Other than the Honors Seminar and Honors Colloquium, first-year students can choose any combination of coursework or non-coursework experiences throughout their time at UB.
16 Credits to Graduate (Including Colloquium)
If you are a transfer student or UB student who entered the Honors College after your first year, you will be required to complete 16 Honors Experiences credits to graduate as an Honors student. Your Honors Experiences will include:
- 1 credit hour of HON 250: Advanced Honors Colloquium to be completed the 1st year in the program.
- 15 additional credits of Honors Experiences; at least 3 credits must come from non-coursework categories.
13 Credits to Graduate (Including Colloquium)
If you are a UB Singapore student, you will be required to complete 13 Honors Experiences credits to graduate as an Honors student. Your Honors Experiences will include:
- 1 credit hour of HON 255 SIM-UB Honors Colloquium.
- 12 additional credits of Honors Experiences from the following categories:
- Internship or Practicum.
- Independent Study.
- Study Abroad.
- Undergraduate Research.
- Honors Experience Petition.
- Contract Honors Coursework.
We’re Here to Help You
Your personal Honors College advisor will help you choose Honors Experiences that fit into your schedule and align with your goals.
Benchmarks for Counting Honors Experiences Credits
- Courses in your major may be used to meet the Honors Experience requirements.
- In some cases (but not all), Honors Experience credits also apply to your degree, major, or overall graduation requirements; please check with your Honors College advisor for more information.
- Students must complete Honors Experiences in at least two of the categories listed.
- A maximum of six credits (equivalent to 270 hours) will be granted in any one petitioned Honors Experience.
- To remain in good standing in the Honors College, Honors scholars must complete at least 13 Honors Experience credits by the end of their junior year.
Receive Honors Experience Credit Even If You’re Not Registered In a Course
You do not need to be registered for a course to receive Honors Experience credits. For example, many internships are not academic credit-bearing, but can still earn Honors Experience credit through a system of petitioning and completing a digital badge through the Experiential Learning Network office.
Non-Coursework Honors Experiences
Students collaborate with faculty mentors on an ongoing faculty research or creative activity project or conduct independent research under the guidance of a faculty member. This experience provides students with an inquiry-based learning opportunity and engages them as active learners in a research or creative activity setting. Either the student’s own project or the faculty member’s project to which the student is contributing should utilize the methods for creating new knowledge that are recognized in the field and should result in a unique contribution to the field of knowledge.
- Departmental Course Number – 498.
- The minimum is 1 credit.
- For every 45 hours completed, 1 credit is awarded.
- Up to a maximum of 6 credit hours may be earned per research experience.
Note: Honors scholars already enrolled in departmental research credit (e.g., PSY 498, CHE 290) do not need to follow the process detailed below in order to receive Honors experience credit as the credits will automatically count as Honors Experience credits.
If your department is not able to offer you research credit or if you are completing an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) at another school, you can still receive Honors credit by submitting an Honors Petition. Requests for Honor Experience credit via the petition process should be submitted by the following deadlines:
- Fall: Sept. 15
- Winter: Jan. 15
- Spring: Feb. 15
- Summer: June 15
Petitions received after the aforementioned deadlines will be reviewed in the following cycle. Decisions will be relayed to you via email within four weeks of the posted deadlines.
In order to complete the petition process, you will be asked to submit a reflection paper to the Honors College and for your supervisor’s contact information. Your supervisor will not receive your reflection paper. Petitions will not be accepted and added to your Honors record without supervisor approval.
Students have the option of individualized student work under the guidance of a faculty member. Independent study courses are intended to pursue topics that are not currently offered through regular coursework at UB. Independent study may be the focal point in the design of an individual program or it may merely add desired depth or breadth to a student’s formal degree program. To enroll in independent study, students must identify a member of the faculty or appropriate professional staff member willing to sponsor their work and gain approval of the appropriate department.
Departmental Course Number – 499.
- Departmental Course Number – 496.
- The minimum is 1 credit.
- For every 45 hours completed, 1 credit is awarded.
- Up to a maximum of 6 credit hours may be earned per internship.
Note: Honors scholars already enrolled in departmental internship/co-op credit (e.g., MAE 496, ES 429, theatre practicums) do not need to follow the process detailed below in order to receive Honors Experience credit as the credits will automatically count as Honors Experience credits.
If your department is not able to offer you internship credit, you can still receive Honors credit by submitting an Honors Petition. Requests for Honor Experience credit via the petition process should be submitted by the following deadlines:
- Fall: Sept. 15
- Winter: Jan. 15
- Spring: Feb. 15
- Summer: June 15
Petitions received after the aforementioned deadlines will be reviewed in the following cycle. Decisions will be relayed to you via email within four weeks of the posted deadlines.
In order to complete the petition process, you will be asked to submit a reflection paper to the Honors College and for your supervisor’s contact information. Your supervisor will not receive your reflection paper. Petitions will not be accepted and added to your Honors record without supervisor approval.
Note: If you are doing a summer internship and earning 496 credits for the internship, then you will need to pay summer tuition for those credits.
- Departmental Course Indicator – OPR 481, 482, 483, 484, 485.
- Students completing fewer than 3 credit hours must petition the Honors College to have this experience counted.
- Your study abroad program may be completed during the fall, spring, summer or winter.
- Departmental Course Number – 495.
- Students must be enrolled in the appropriate course by the end of the Drop/Add Period.
- The following additional TA opportunities are acceptable:
- Gifted Math TA: For more information, call: 716-645-4467.
- Math Place Lab Tutors: If you choose to receive the credits, they appear on your transcript as ULC 499 and can be used toward your Honors Experiences.
- Center for Excellence in Writing: Writing consultants may be able to earn Honors Experience credit for this position by submitting an Honors Petition Request. The CEW training course, HMN 380, automatically counts toward Honors Experience credit.
- ESL 320 - ELI Chat Room.
Coursework Honors Experiences
To see a full list of acceptable courses for Honors credit, look in the University Honors College section of your Academic Requirements Report in the HUB Student Center under “Honors Experiences.” Please contact your Honors advisor if you have questions about acceptable Honors Experience coursework.
- Departmental Course Number – 500 or higher.
- You must be enrolled in the appropriate graduate course by the end of the Drop/Add period.
- For courses cross-listed as undergraduate/graduate, you must be registered for the graduation section for it to count toward your Honors Experiences.
- You must complete the Current Semester Undergraduate Registration in a Graduate Course paperwork (below) to enroll in a graduate-level course for undergraduate credit. This includes gaining permission from the instructor to take the course.
- If you are unable to access or use the PDF, please contact the Honors College.
- The form gives you a choice to enroll in the course for undergraduate credit or for graduate credit. If you want to use the course for a major, minor or UB curriculum course (or toward your 120 credits you need to graduate with an undergraduate degree) it must be taken for undergraduate credit. You would also need to confirm with your department that the course will count toward your major. If you take it for undergraduate credit, it will still show on your transcript as a graduate course, but it will be factored into your undergraduate GPA.
- Once you obtain the necessary signatures you may email the completed form to your Honors advisor, who can forward it along to the Office of the Registrar for them to enroll you.
- Undergraduate students can take up to three graduate-level courses.
- Honors students can contract directly with one of their faculty instructors to complete extra work in a course and submit it as an Honors contract.
- A final assessment from your faculty supervisor must be submitted to the Honors College.
- Students will earn Honors Experience credit for the contracted course as long as they pass the course. However, please note that in order to receive a "H" designation on your transcript next to the course grade, you must earn a grade of "B" or higher.
- Honors contracted courses must be at the 200 level and above.
About the Honors Contract
The Honors Contract permits students to turn a regular university course into an Honors course by contracting with the instructor to complete extra work.
The contract involves an agreement among the honors student, a UB faculty member, and the University Honors College. All of the terms stated in the contract must be successfully completed by the agreed upon due date in order for the student to receive honors credit.
The contract project should add an academic dimension by introducing new material or by allowing the student to go into greater depth than normally required in some aspect of the course. Contracts may also be service-learning focused through student engagement in a service project and reflection related to the course content. It should be made clear on the Contract for Honors Credit how this work exceeds regular course requirements. Since a faculty member must supervise the contract, students should select faculty who have the time to oversee their projects to completion.
Deadline
Honors Contracts will not be accepted later than the end of the second week of the semester or the first week of a summer session.
Time Involved
Students should expect to spend approximately 30 hours of work or service hours (including reflection) during the semester or summer session to complete their honors contracts. Faculty should expect to add individual student supervision meetings and any necessary lab time to their current semester workload.
Ideas for Honors Contracts
- An independent research project with lab work and demonstrable results.
- Performing service hours related to the course topic along with meaningful reflection (service-learning).
- Writing a major research paper (in addition to any course requirement).
- Foreign language: prepare a translation of a new author or dramatist.
- Music: prepare a lecture or recital about a musician you have come to admire.
- Writing: prepare a portfolio of creative writing.
- Any other exploratory, creative, wide-ranging or experimental learning experience related to the content of the contracted course.
When Is the Contract Complete?
The contract is complete when the instructor is satisfied with the student’s completed work per the terms of the contract by the due date. An evaluation form is sent to the course instructor at the end of the semester and must be signed by the instructor before being returned to the Honors office. Only then is the contract complete.
Grading
The Honors Contract does not affect the student’s grade in the course. To receive honors credit for the course, honors students must satisfactorily complete the terms of the contract during the semester that credit is earned. Students receiving an “I” in a course that they have contracted will not receive honors credit upon completion. Instructors will not penalize students who do not complete the terms of their honors contracts; these students will receive the grade earned in the class. Faculty must inform the University Honors College of the status of the contracted work at the same time they report grades for the course. A form will be mailed to the instructor for this purpose near the end of the semester.
Questions?
If you have any questions about contract coursework, please contact the Honors College.
Experiences Not In These Categories
If your experience doesn’t fit into one of these categories, you can petition to include the experience towards their Honors credits.
> Learn more about the Honors Experience Petition.
Frequently Asked Questions
For research or internship projects, if you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the experience, you can petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits” (we keep track of them in Honors, but they do not go on your transcript) by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.
- Make sure you indicate that you are petitioning for Honors Experience credit. Your “Project Mentor” is just your supervisor who will confirm the number of hours you will have completed.
- In the petition process, every 45 hours of work/research etc. counts as one in-house “credit”.
Research: Academic Credit
- The Honors College does not register students for research credits.
- If you are working with a faculty member on research, you can see if their department can register you for 498 credits (that is the course number for research credits in all departments).
- Any 498 credits on your transcript will automatically count toward your Honors Experience credits on your Academic Advising Report.
- You should consult your faculty supervisor and your department’s undergraduate academic coordinator about enrolling in 498 credits.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the research, you can also petition to have the research experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
Internships: Academic Credit
- The Honors College does not register students for internship credits.
- You can potentially earn internship credit (496) through your department. Consult with your department’s undergraduate office about this option.
- Note that if you are doing a summer internship, you will need to pay summer tuition for the credits.
- Any 496 class on your transcript counts toward your Honors Experiences on your Academic Advising Report.
- SEAS majors, visit the Engineering Internship and Co-Op Advisement Guide for information on internship credit.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the internship, you can also petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
The credit that you earn for TAing CSE 115 is CSE 495, and any 495 course automatically counts as Honors experience credit on your Academic Advising Report.
If you are only earning one credit of CSE 495 on your transcript, you can petition the experience for additional credits as long as the experience is at least 90 hours of work. In the petition process every 45 hours or TAing/internship/research is equal to one in house "credit" (we keep track of them here in Honors but they do not go on your transcript). So, if you spend more than 45 hours TAing (which you likely would), you can petition for the additional hours by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.
For a graduate class to count toward your Honors Experiences, you must be enrolled in the graduate version of the course. To be enrolled in a graduate course, an undergraduate student must submit the following completed form to petition for course credit outside of your primary academic career.
Once you obtain the necessary signatures, you may email the completed form to your Honors advisor, who can forward it along to the Office of the Registrar for them to enroll you.
NOTE: The form gives you a choice to enroll in the course for undergraduate credit or for graduate credit. If you want to use the course for a major, minor, or UB curriculum course (or toward your 120 credits you need to graduate with an undergraduate degree) it must be taken for undergraduate credit. You would also need to confirm with your department that the course will count toward your major. If you take it for undergraduate credit, it will still show on your transcript as a graduate course, but it will be factored into your undergraduate GPA.
Whether you take the course for graduate or for undergraduate credit, it will fall under your Honors Experiences on your Academic Advising Report.
