Program Overview

Albert Dorman Honors College

The Albert Dorman Honors College offers a unique educational experience for its scholars. The college provides various programs and opportunities for students to enhance their academic experience.

Honors Course Enhancement

The Honors Course Enhancement allows scholars to add material to an existing NJIT course to meet their intellectual interests. Enhancements are granted as an exception when there is a compelling intellectual reason or a significant impediment to the academic progress of the scholar.

Guidelines and Limitations

• Albert Dorman Honors College scholars are permitted to earn honors credit for a non-honors course by completing additional coursework under very special circumstances.
• A maximum of two enhancements will be granted per scholar for the length of their tenure at NJIT.
• Enhanced courses will be approved only at the 300 and 400 levels within the scholar's major if no alternative Honors courses exist.
• Only one enhanced course at the lower-division level (200) may be considered if approved by the Honors advisor.
• This option is not available to first-year scholars.
• Scholars must be in good academic standing, meeting their Dorman Honors College requirements.

What Counts as an Enhancement?

A course enhancement is a semester-long project that a scholar undertakes to deepen their understanding of course content. In the project, they can apply course content to intellectual interests, professional interests, local needs, or current events. Examples include:

• Independent research
• Service projects
• Creative projects
• Literature reviews, and taking part in the instructor's research
• As a guideline, research papers should be approximately 10 pages and include appropriate academic citations.

Procedures for Application and Approval for Scholars

The scholar requesting this option must follow the procedures below in the order given.

1. To initiate a request for a course enhancement, scholars must first complete the course enhancement pre-application form.
2. Requests will then be reviewed by the designated honors advisor.
3. After the review of the request, the scholar will be contacted by their honors advisor to let them know whether or not the enhancement is pre-approved.
4. If the request is pre-approved, the advisor will send the scholar the enhancement guidelines.
5. The scholar and instructor must work together during that prior semester to develop ideas for enhancing the class.
6. At the beginning of the course enhancement semester, the scholar will receive an email with the course enhancement contract form.
7. The contract form must be completed, signed by the course instructor and scholar, and returned to the honors office prior to the enhancement deadline.
8. The honors advisor makes the decision whether the proposed enhancement falls within the guidelines.
9. At the end of the semester, the scholar must upload the work to the Honors College Canvas page by the deadline set forth in the initial approval email.

Revised Guidelines for Instructors

• The enhancement process starts in the previous semester when an honors scholar contacts the course instructor to ask about enhancing the course.
• If the instructor agrees, the scholar and the instructor discuss the enhancement project and agree to meet regularly during the semester of the course enhancement.
• The instructor, along with the scholar, fills out a simple contract form initiated by the Honors College to outline the honors enhancement work.
• The enhancement work needs to be approved by the honors advisors to ensure that it falls within the guidelines.
• The scholar and the instructor will meet two-to-three times throughout the semester to trace the progress of the enhancement work.
• The enhancement must be completed by the last day of the semester.
• The enhancement will be assessed separately from the work in the rest of the course.
• The enhancement work will be assessed as "With Honors" or "Without Honors."
• "With Honors" means that the scholar will earn honors credit in addition to the grade earned in the course.
• "Without Honors" means that the scholar did not produce work worthy of honors credit and will not earn honors credit.