Supervise a capstone
Mentor a contract
Student Research Funding
Student Academic Journal

Teach an Honors Course

Are you ready to propose a new Honors College course? Here's what you need to know. 

Review the information and documents linked below. Submit required materials to the Honors College by the appropriate deadline, then be prepared for a committee of Honors faculty to review your proposal. Proposals will be evaluated on content, rigor, curricular need, and faculty qualifications to teach the class. At least one external reviewer from another academic unit will be included at course review meetings.

We also highly recommend that you review existing Honors courses, in case a similar course already exists. If you have any other questions, please email the Honors College.

Questions and Policies

Expand FAQ List

  • Texas State faculty of any rank may teach an honors course. Usually, Honors faculty are "borrowed" from departments on campus. Periodically, as need may arise, exceptionally accomplished members of the community are hired on a per-course basis to teach specialized courses in their area of expertise.

    In some cases, unclassified staff may also teach for honors in their area of expertise. Please refer to UPPS 04.04.11 and the FAQ blxes below for more details.

  • It is strongly recommended that faculty speak with their department chair and the Honors College prior to submitting a new course proposal.

    After submitting a complete proposal, the faculty member will be invited to a review meeting with the Honors College Curriculum Committee.

    A final decision about the new course proposal will be sent by email to the faculty member with further guidance and requests for revisions (if any) within two weeks of the curriculum meeting.

    Course proposals that are intended to satisfy General Education requirements must be reviewed and approved by the Texas State General Education Committee in addition to the Honors College. Faculty intending to submit a general education proposal should review GEC guidance on their website..

  • Course proposals for the fall term must be received by September 1 of the prior school year. Course proposals for the spring must be received by February 15 of the prior school year.

  • Most honors courses adopt an interdisciplinary approach, and many are structured as seminars or active workshops that promote engagement with course content. Seminars are capped at ~20 students, though interactive/active-learning courses may have slightly more.

    Students in Honors courses often represent many different academic fields. In order to effectively leverage diverse perspectives and viewpoints, and to attract enrollment, course material should appeal to students with broad disciplinary training.

    Many Honors courses are writing intensive. This means at least 65% of the overall course grade must derive from written work, and at least one written assignment should be 500 words or more in length. The writing intensive requirements must be explained in the course proposal.

    Honors courses may count toward degree or program requirements in other colleges with prior approval from the relevant academic unit. Compelling proposals will be accompanied by at least one curricular equivalency, allowing the course to count toward another major, minor, or degree program.

  • Department chairs or directors must release full-time faculty to teach in Honors. Upon request, the Honors College may reimburse home departments to help defray the cost of covering the faculty member's departmental course load. The chair’s/director's signature on the Departmental Approval Form indicates their willingness to grant the faculty member’s release. Faculty who are not full-time may contact petert@txstate.edu to discuss arrangements to teach an Honors class. Faculty are usually not permitted to receive course overloads for teaching in Honors.

  • To be reviewed, a complete course proposal must be received by the relevant deadline. Required components of a course proposal include: (1) Honors College Course Proposal Form, (2) Departmental Approval Form, (3) Course Substitution Form, (4) current CV for the instructor.

    General education proposals must also include a complete syllabus in the appropriate template. Please note that additional proposal materials addressing core component requirements are also required. Please contact honors for more information.

  • Please submit all required materials to Peter Tschirhart, Associate Dean in the Honors College, by email at petert@txstate.edu.

  • Faculty from other academic units usually teach only 1-2 classes in the Honors College per semester. Teaching requests should be coordinated with the faculty member's home academic unit and submitted through the Honors College teaching request form at least two semesters prior to the intended instructional term.

    Prior to finalizing teaching assignments, the faculty member's home academic unit will be asked to inform honors how the teaching assignment will be compensated. The chair or director of the unit may choose to: (1) include honors teaching as part of the faculty member's regular teaching load; (2) request reimbursement to the home department at the per course rate, in order to hire a temporary replacement for the faculty member; (3) ask honors to pay the faculty member directly on a teaching overload.

    In cases (1) and (2), the faculty member will continue to receive their usual pay from their home department. In (3), the faculty member will be issued a new PCR and receive pay at the home unit's overload rate directly from honors.

    According to AA/PPS No. 04.01.40, faculty may teach up to 6 credits on overload during exceptional circumstances. However, current Honors College policy is to pay no more than one overload per person, per semester.

  • According to UPPS No. 04.04.11, regular unclassified staff may teach one 3- or 4-credit hour course per “long” (fall or spring) semester in addition to one TXST 1100 (formerly US 1100) course. Please reference the linked policy for details on required supervisor approvals, required compensatory time, compensation restrictions, and worktime conflicts.

    It is expected that staff with teaching duties will be assigned courses and topics closely aligned with their earned credentials. Since many honors classes are interdisciplinary in nature, staff will be paid the per-course rate associated with: (1) the academic unit most closely aligned with their course topic; or (2) the academic affiliation of their academic credentials. Staff teaching TXST 1100 will be compensated according to that program's policy.