Honors College

• Cumulative GPA must remain 3.0 or higher once accepted to remain in good standing and earn a designation.
• If you're awarded a book stipend, you must take Honors credit each semester.
• You must complete 12 credits of honors work with grades of B or higher and complete a degree or certificate to earn the designation.

There is no penalty for taking Honors classes or completing contracts and not completing the designation. All successfully completed classes and contracts will still be noted as Honors on the transcript

• You will not be taking extra classes — Honors classes are just small, Honors-designated course sections of classes you would take anyway. The Honors classes count toward both your degree requirements and honors requirements.

• Honors classes are NOT designed to be more difficult. The difference is how you and your peers participate in class and discuss the material. Instead of sitting passively in a lecture, you'll be in a smaller class learning how to argue and defend your opinions by using evidence from scholarly sources. 

Students in the Honors College may earn honors credit with any combination of classes and contracts. If a student can complete Honors requirements with classes only, a contract is not required. An honors contract gives students the opportunity to create an honors experience in a class that is not a designated honors section.

Honors contracts are allowed for courses that are 100-level or above with instructor approval. The honors coordinator is available to consult with students and faculty throughout this process. Proposal forms are to be completed and submitted to the honors coordinator by the end of the 5th week of classes each fall or spring semester. Honors Contracts are not available for winter or summer courses.

DOWNLOAD A PROPOSAL FORM

Faculty members will need to submit an Honors Contract Faculty Completion Report to the honors coordinator before the end of finals so that all honors contract designations can be verified and submitted to Registration and Records for the student transcript.

An Honors Contract designation can be earned through a project the student proposes and develops with the guidance of the instructor OR a project the instructor has already developed. All projects must include the following:

1. Research (e.g. peer reviewed journals, library, interviews)

2. Writing (no less than 1500 words appropriately cited), and

3. Presentation/Deliverable (e.g. virtual/online, public forum, to instructor, website or app design, poster, artwork or music produced, etc.)

An Honors Service designation is also an option and must include in addition to Honors Contract requirements:

1. A minimum of 10 hours of community service to be approved by the Honors Coordinator and Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement

2. A written reflection component to be determined upon meeting with the Honors Coordinator and Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement

The instructor will provide the student with the following information: how the project will be graded (e.g. a rubric, criteria, standards, etc.), the project due date, and meeting/progress dates.

*Incomplete, unclear, or unapproved contracts will be returned to the student for revisions and/or clarification. The student will have one week to revise and resubmit the contract.

Project Requirements

The goal of an Honors Contract is to encourage students to go beyond normal class requirements to achieve a deeper knowledge and understanding of the course topics and materials.  The OCC faculty honors committee members want honors students to:

1. Think critically

2. Communicate effectively

3. Demonstrate integrity

4. Prepare for future success

The honors committee expects that each student’s project will achieve one or more of these goals.

The Honors College is aware of the great variation in classes here at OCC, but any subject may allow a student to take their educational experience to the next level. We encourage each student to develop an Honors Contract topic that will interest them and fit the class material.

The committee strongly encourages students completing contracts to work with campus librarians on their research component to ensure that scholarly sources are cited.

Some of our alumni enter the workforce, but those who transfer have gone to a wide variety of schools including (but not limited to!) the following for bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees:

Examples of recent honors class sections include:  

• COM210H: Honors Public Speaking     

• HIS102H: Honors World History II 

• HIS104H: Honors Western Civilization II

• HIS107H: Honors Modern American History     

• PHI108H: Honors Ethics

• PSY103H: Honors Introduction to Psychology

• SOC103H: Honors Introduction to Sociology

The Lillian Slutzker Honors College has many students who are Phi Theta Kappa members, and PTK eligibility is the same as Honors, but they are different.
The Lillian Slutzker Honors College is a curriculum-based academic program that provides students with opportunities to add depth and breadth to their educational experience through honors coursework, enriched learning opportunities, and intellectual engagement inside the classroom. In contrast, Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) is an international honor society for students attending two-year colleges. Onondaga Community College proudly hosts the Alpha Sigma Zeta Chapter of PTK, offering eligible students opportunities to participate in research, service, leadership, and fellowship activities outside of the classroom. Together, the Honors College and PTK provide a well-rounded honors experience that supports academic excellence, personal growth, and student success.