Illinois | College of Media | Current Students

The purpose of the James Scholar program is to allow students to work closely with an accomplished professor.
It seeks to reward those students with exceptional academic abilities while recognizing and encouraging their talents.
Students are asking to work with you in order to build a more individual relationship with and to learn from you; be prepared to put in extra one-on-one time with this student.
Students are told that they must complete extraordinary work in a course for it to qualify as an honors course and in most cases, they want to delve deeper into the topic than their peers; be willing to help and encourage them to do so.
Think "outside the box" when preparing an honors proposal with a student. Do not just assign an extra reading; expect work fitting of honors students and help them hone their skills.
If you cannot find appropriate work in your course, consider completing an honors project/independent study with a student and allow him/her to help you with any projects or research you may have in progress.
Foster an honors community. Consider a group session for honors students working with you so they might also work with one another.

Consider adding an honors discussion section to a course that you currently teach.
Only James Scholar students in the College of Media would be allowed to register for this section.
Honors students would participate in an extension of lecture work, as in the other discussion sections, but would be required to go beyond the typical work load; the students could work on an honors project together.
This would be a student's HCLA for the academic year; it should lighten the professor's load, as more than one student would be working on the same project.
An honors discussion section could give a professor the opportunity to try out new techniques, lessons, projects, a new syllabus, etc.

Students who choose to complete an HCLA will first contact the professor with whom they want to work on an independent study or the professor who teaches the course in question.
Students should be ready to submit a proposal to the professor in which they state the extra work suggested or the project they would like to work on.
The student and the professor should work together to come to an agreement on a clear and approved work proposal.
Students will obtain an HCLA form from the Student Services Center and have the consenting professor sign the form.
The approved course/project proposal should be attached to the HCLA form and turned in to the Student Services Center.
If the students will be completing an independent study, they will also need to complete a petition as well as an Independent Study form.
Students should notify their adviser when they are completing a campus honors course or HCLA.
If students will be completing an HCLA for a current course, the HCLA form must be turned in by the end of the fourth week of classes.
For honors credit, students should spend about 15 hours more than other students on extra work for the HCLA.
If the students will be completing an honors project or independent study, the necessary forms must be turned in by the seventh day of class.

Students will be told that, during finals week, they should remind their professor that they have been working on an HCLA and an "H" grade will need to be designated when grades are entered for the semester.
The College of Media data and records administrator will also send out a general reminder to all professors at the time that the grade submission e-mail is sent out.
If a student has earned the honors credit, when entering the grade into "Web for Faculty", choose the option that includes both the corresponding letter grade and the "H" (e.g,. AH, B+H).
Instructors may decline to grant honors credit if the HCLA project has not been completed satisfactorily. It is the sole judgment of the professor as to whether or not honors credit is to be granted.
Students must receive at least a B- in the course to receive an "H" grade.
After grades have rolled, students should check to be sure that they have received an "H" for the appropriate course.
If an "H" was not designated, students will contact their adviser who will forward the information to the data and records administrator; the professor or department will be contacted and asked to complete a Grade Change Form.

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