honors program

Students who enjoy critical thinking and rigorous intellectual challenge can join the John Martinson Honors College. Students are admitted to both the College of Education and the John Martinson Honors College.

A group of four Purdue students seated on a bench outside.

Overview

Meet like-minded students

John Martinson Honors College students spend their freshman year in an honors dorm. You’ll meet students from all majors at Purdue in this intellectually stimulating living environment.

John Martinson Honors College students within the College of Education have flexible pathways for meeting the JMHC requirements in tandem with their 4-year Plans of Study. These programs provide focused opportunities for learning about and engaging in education research. However, students with limited space in their schedules for additional courses are still able to meet JMHC research expectations via Honors Contracts in their required coursework.

Learn More About Applying to the John Martinson Honors College

Visit JMHC Website

Honors Contracts

As a College of Education student who is also a student in the John Martinson Honors College, you have the opportunity to work with a College of Education faculty member on a customized experience through an Honors Contract. An Honors Contract allows you to take an existing course for Honors credit.  A course taken with an Honors Contract will involve additional work and/or alternative work.

Before You Start

Prior to determining your intent to enter into an Honors Contract in a specific course, you and the faculty member teaching the course for which you wish to have an Honors Contract should carefully review the Honors Contract expectations.

Once you and the faculty course instructor determine that an Honors Contract is appropriate, you will work directly with that instructor to determine and agree on the experiences that will comprise your Honors Contract. Your instructor will provide a revised Honors course syllabus (or addendum to the syllabus) that describes the project and how your completion of it will factor into your course grade. Students should expect to produce work of elevated quality that goes beyond the expectations of the regular course syllabus and that is consistent with the four JMHC pillars as described on the JMHC home page. An Honors Contract may also include plans for meeting regularly throughout the semester with your instructor.

Submitting Your Honors Contract for Approval

Students interested in taking a College of Education course with an Honors Contract in any given semester must do two things as part of the college-specific workflow:

  1.  Complete the College of Education Honors Contracting Student Form. You will need to complete the Student Form for each course you plan to contract, which includes uploading the standard course syllabus and a revised honors syllabus (or addendum) containing the honors project description along with the modified honors grading scale.
  2. Request a Grade Mode Change by the posted deadline as described on the Honors Contracts page. You can initiate a Grade Mode Change anytime after your instructor agrees to contract with you, but it will not be approved by the College of Education’s Associate Dean for Learning until the Student Form is completed. You are responsible for working with your faculty instructors to provide the necessary information in a timely manner.

For questions about honors contracting for College of Education courses, please contact your advisor and/or email Dr. Tara Star Johnson, Associate Dean for Learning.