University at Buffalo (UB)
Honors Experience Petition
Occasionally, an Honors student will complete a noteworthy experience and not earn academic credit or pursue an experience that does not fit into the existing categories of Honors Experiences. When this occurs, the student may petition to include the experience towards their Honors credits.
Types of Petitions
Some examples of successful petitions include:
- Internship experiences completed outside of a decanal unit
- Tutoring with Tutoring & Academic Support Services
- UB’s CSTEP program
- Research experiences completed outside of a decanal unit at UB or Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) at another institution
- Executive board positions in a UB-approved student organization
- UB Honors Alternative Spring Break
- UB’s URGE to Compute program
- Volunteering at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital
Executive board positions must be confirmed by a UB faculty/staff club advisor and students must be able to make a connection between their role and their academics and/or professional and career goals.
Earn Honors Credit and a Digital Badge
The Honors College partners with UB’s Experiential Learning Network (ELN) to enhance honors experiences and the petition process. Through this partnership, you will earn both honors credits and an ELN digital badge.
By completing an honors experience petition through ELN, we’re ensuring our students will engage in thoughtful, well-researched preparation; produce tangible products from their experiences; and demonstrate their growth and value for potential employers or graduate programs.
How to Submit Your Petition
The Honors Experience Petition is embedded within the ELN Digital Badge, so you will submit your petition for approval in the sign-up form to begin the digital badge. You can petition through ELN even if you have completed the experience.
1. Click the button to get started
2. When you arrive at the “Starting the Project” section, please select “yes” and “Honors College Experience Credit” from the list of UB programs
3. Please be specific in your explanation as to why you chose to pursue this opportunity and how it pertains to your academic and professional goals
4. The Honors College will receive your petition through ELN. There is nothing additional you need to do.
5. You will be notified via automated email once a decision has been made on your request.
Supervisor Approval Required
After you complete the experience and earned the digital badge, your mentor/supervisor will automatically be sent a request to confirm the number of hours you completed during the experience. Your supervisor will not receive your reflection or any other materials submitted. Petitions will not be accepted and added to your Honors record without supervisor approval.
How the Hours Count for Experiences
- The hours noted on this petition will only be applied to Honors Experiences and, therefore, will not count towards major or degree credit requirements.
- For every 45 hours invested in the endeavor, the petition process would award you one Honors Experience credit, up to a maximum of six credit hours.
- Students will not receive an additional honors credit for completing a digital badge.
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.
In addition to meeting all other petition eligibility requirements, e-board positions must be from a UB-approved student organization, have a UB faculty/staff advisor who can verify your involvement and hours, and involve leadership beyond simply operating club meetings.
When you submit a petition for an e-board position, you will be required to also include a detailed breakdown of how you spent your time in your role, including activities and hours worked.
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.
Questions?
University Honors College