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Faculty Resources

The Honors Advisory Committee would like to invite all faculty who teach UGETC courses to submit a proposal to teach in the honors program. Honors instructors will have the opportunity to engage motivated students within a smaller class setting, the freedom to creatively weave individual areas of interest into the fabric of the class, and the option to include off-campus field trips as part of the course architecture.

The goal of honors teaching is not to add more work for students in addition to what is normally done, but to really think about ways to conduct your class differently to increase the challenge in the classroom. Honors classes are typically more reading and writing intensive. For example, focus on short answer and essay exams rather than multiple-choice, assign high-level readings, create short and long-term written assignments, etc. Many of the current honors classes are being taught in a more seminar-type discussion format rather than typical a powerpoint and lecture style.

The National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) is a group that provides encouragement and support to honors programs and honors colleges all across the nation. They have this to say about honors teaching:

Honors education is characterized by in-class and extracurricular activities that are measurably broader, deeper, or more complex than comparable learning experiences typically found at institutions of higher education. Honors experiences include a distinctive learner-directed environment and philosophy, provide opportunities that are appropriately tailored to fit the institution’s culture and mission, and frequently occur within a close community of students and faculty.

Other resources from NCHC that may be helpful as you design your course can be found at http://nchchonors.org/faculty-directors/

Faculty teaching an Honors course for the first time need to submit a Course Proposal , which is intended for an entire section of honors students, and only honors students. This is our primary form of honors teaching at CFCC. The committee is striving to offer a variety for each department and to offer courses from different departments each semester. Due to this, an approved proposal may not be offered in the semester immediately following its submission. Once proposals have been submitted and approved by the committee, we will hold onto them until it is an appropriate time to offer the course. Additionally, we anticipate getting multiple proposals for each course. When this is the case, the committee will vote on which proposal will be selected to be offered first, and others will be held for consideration in future semesters.

When you have completed your proposal, have your department chair sign off on it, and submit it to Dr. Hrebik (contact information below). You should send an electronic copy and follow it up with the signed hard copy.

Dr. John Ryan Hrebik
411 North Front Street, Wilmington, NC 28401
Office: S-403-A
Phone: 910-362-7693
jrhrebik516@.cfcc.edu

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