Honors Program

For Faculty

Welcome to the NKU Honors Program web site. 

 
New Course Proposals
The Honors Program is very interested in receiving new course proposals.  If you are interested in teaching an Honors course for the first time, begin the process by having a discussion with your departmental Chair.  If you are a tenure-earning faculty member, be sure to discuss with your Chair the value of teaching in Honors in relation to your progress toward tenure and promotion.  This may vary from department to department, and it is important to gauge your Chair’s response to your desire to teach in Honors.  If your Chair supports that desire, please contact the Honors Program Director to discuss the specific course you want to teach.  Following that discussion, be prepared to submit a proposed syllabus for the course to the Honors Program, being sure to include learning outcomes and assessment measures.  We look forward to hearing from all interested faculty.
 
You can learn more about the characteristics of an Honors course that we feel set them apart from regular college courses. 

Important changes to Capstone Project requirements

The Honors Program is implementing some changes to the process and requirements for the Capstone project over the next couple of years, for both students and faculty. Here are the most immediate revisions, with some revisions for next year to be shared at a later date:

  1. Beginning immediately, there will be two awards at each Conference of Honors for the Outstanding Capstone Project Award. There will be a small monetary award for both the student and the directing faculty member for the two projects selected. The amounts will be $150 for each of the two students whose projects are selected, and $75 for each of the directing faculty members.
  2. Beginning immediately, we would like to change the term faculty mentor to faculty director.
  3. Beginning immediately, the presentation at the Conference of Honors will attempt to more closely replicate Honors instruction. To that end, the student presenter should limit presentation to 13-15 minutes, and leave at least 5 minutes for interactive discussion following presentation. Further, the student, in consultation with their faculty director, should formulate an “open” question for a general audience, to be presented as a transition into discussion following the 13-15 minute presentation. An “open” question is one without a definitive answer, a question raised by the student research and project, one that can engage a general (not a specialized) audience in discussion.
  4. Beginning immediately, no faculty member should be involved in more than 3 Capstones in a given semester. “Involved” is defined as directing either the first-semester research credit (HNR 491-001) or the second-semester project/thesis completion credit (HNR 491-002), or any form of independent study to be counted as Capstone credit. This requirement is firm, so choose your students and projects judiciously.
  5. Beginning next academic year (2010-11), no faculty member should be involved in more than 2 Capstones in a given semester.
  6. Beginning Spring semester 2010, the proposal for the Capstone project needs to be 2-3 pages (double spaced) in length, and should include 2-4 preliminary sources already consulted by the students. Think of this short list of sources as a mini Works Cited, or if a creative project, a short list of influential sources to date. As students work with faculty directors to create a more focused, specific proposal, they might consider including questions that will drive their research. In addition to the proposal, students should submit a one-page timeline toward project completion, attached to the proposal. For now, the deadline for submitting the approved proposal remains the first week of classes during the research semester, at the mandatory Capstone first-semester meeting for students.
  7. Beginning Spring semester 2010, the proposal must now be approved and signed by both the project director and the Honors Program Director.

Finally, if you have any questions please contact Jodi, the Capstone Coordinator.  She's here to help in any way she can and will be the point of contact for both you and your students through much of the process.  Again, many thanks for your support!