Curriculum Policy and Adjustment

Honors Program policies are recommended by the Honors Program Committee. For a variety of reasons, students may find it difficulty to satisfy the precise requirements for an Honors Certificate. In such cases adjustments may be made with the approval of the director or by petition to the Honors Program Committee.

Three categories of curriculum adjustment deserve specific mention:

Student Exchange and Study Abroad

Honors students are frequently interested in and encouraged to apply for exchanges to other American universities or to universities abroad. For example, forty-three honors students have participated in semester or year-long international exchange programs during academic years 2003-2005, to study in Australia, Chile, China, Ecuador, England, France, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden. Many of these students also have benefited from scholarships and from the university's International Experience Grants to offset part of their travel and study expenses.

John Sawyer in the Dean of Students Office, 885-7979 (johns@uidaho.edu), coordinates the domestic National Student Exchange program; Robert Neuenschwander of the International Programs Office, 885-437 (bobn@uidaho.edu; ipo@uidaho.edu) is the study abroad advisor. Please contact them for information on exchange opportunities.

Students absent from campus for an exchange at either another U.S. or a foreign university may qualify for a reduction of 3 or 4 credits per semester (maximum of 7 credits total over two semesters) in the 27 credit Honors Certificate requirement, with these exchange credits typically used to satisfy upper-division credits within the honors curriculum. Where possible, substitutions should be of other honors courses at the host institution. Prior to going on exchange, students must meet with the program director in order to make provisional arrangements for which UHP requirements will waived in lieu of appropriate courses at another university.

Scheduling Conflicts

Students who find that a course required for their Honors Certificate or Core award conflicts with a course required for their major should see the program director to work out an alternative to the honors requirement. In most cases a student will not be denied an Honors Certificate or Core Award simply because of that conflict. To avoid such conflicts, frequent advising as the student progresses toward completion of the core award or the certificate is strongly recommended.

Internships and Student Teaching

Students who will be away from campus for the greater part of a semester or academic year on an internship or a student teaching assignment may encounter special difficulties in completing an Honors Certificate. Such students are advised to consult the program director before leaving campus (preferably one year in advance), to work out appropriate credit substitutions.