Faculty Resources & Forms
Faculty members interested in proposing any new lower-division honors course should first gain the approval of their department/program chair before beginning the process.
Proponents of new courses with a discipline or program prefix outside honors begin with the disciplinary/program curriculum committee. Suppose the course currently does NOT exist in the catalog. The faculty member should first fill out the new course proposal form from the TCU undergraduate council website and submit this form together with appropriate documents (e.g., sample syllabus) to the home department or other unit that houses the prefix.
If honors would offer the envisioned new course, the review begins with the honors curriculum committee. For all new lower-division courses, in addition to the undergraduate council new course proposal form and sample syllabus, faculty members should submit in hard and soft copy the appropriate form requesting honors designation—i.e., cultural visions or elective designation request form.
In proposing an honors designation for an already-existing lower-division course in the TCU catalog, the faculty member should determine whether to seek cultural visions or elective designation for the class and submit the appropriate form with the course syllabus to the honors curriculum committee chair in hard and soft copy.
The honors curriculum committee will examine the proposed course and provide the faculty with feedback as needed before the proposal meeting. For example, faculty may be asked to explain how the course meets the requirements at the meeting. Should changes be required, the faculty member will be invited to revise and resubmit the materials to the committee. The Dean of the Honors College will then convene a virtual or in-person meeting with a selected team of faculty from the full committee to reexamine the course proposal.
Once the honors curriculum committee approves the proposal, the faculty proposing the course should then submit the new course proposal to the undergraduate council. Faculty need not submit an already-existing course to the undergraduate council.
Did you know that the Honors College can also assist in sponsorship or co-sponsorship?