UW Honors Program COVID-19 FAQ

Mary Gates Hall is closed to UW students, staff and faculty for Autumn 2020. The building will remain secured until further notice. The Honors Suite is also closed and our services and staff are available online and by phone. For updates on the University’s response to COVID-19 as well as information for students, please visit www.uw.edu/coronavirus.

The fastest way to get in touch with us is to email uwhonors@uw.edu. You can also call 206.543.7444 to leave a voicemail; we check these messages regularly and will return calls as soon as we can.

We have moved all of our first-year admissions information online, so you can get all the information you need, including an informational video about UW Honors and and how to RSVP to live Q&As, by going to our Learn More page.

Student academic support services for current students remain our top priority. In Autumn 2020 advisers will not hold in-person meetings but will be available to assist students with advising questions over email or arrange to have individually scheduled meetings via phone or the Zoom online communication platform. If you believe your questions can be answered via email, please send your email to uwhonors@uw.edu, or fill out the appointment request form and note “email conversation only” under the preferred conversation format option. If you would like to arrange a meeting with an adviser, please continue to use our online advising scheduling tool to make an individual advising appointment, and an adviser will respond and arrange the best way in which to talk.

Drop in advising hours in Autumn 2020 will be held by individual advisers via Zoom. The drop in schedule, as well as information about how to access drop in advising, is posted on our advising page. Once you join the meeting you will be put into a waiting room; once available, an adviser will admit you from the waiting room to answer any quick questions you may have. If you believe your questions can be answered via email, please send your email to uwhonors@uw.edu. If you need a longer, individualized meeting, please continue to use our online advising scheduling tool to schedule an appointment.

Yes, Honors advisers are creating new group advising sessions for Autumn. We will focus on topics of interest and importance to students that bring us together as a collaborative community in these times of social distancing. Please read emails that we will send regarding these sessions as well as looking at the advising website for the most up to date information regarding group advising dates and times.

A: Due to the nature of experiential learning, we expect some activities to be impacted by social distancing practices, but that many others will continue or be able to be adapted to meet social distancing requirements. If your current or planned project has been impacted, please review the scenarios below.

• If you are graduating this quarter and still need to fulfill your experiential learning activity and are struggling to find an appropriate opportunity, please schedule an Honors advising appointment.
• If you were supposed to wrap up your experiential learning activity and COVID-19 has prevented you from being able to finish:
  • Email uwhonors@uw.edu or schedule an Honors advising appointment.
• If you were planning on starting an activity that is no longer possible:
  • Consider pursuing your activity at a later time, if possible.
  • Investigate alternate activities (like those available through the UW Community Engagement & Leadership Education (CELE) Center) that can be done while practicing social distancing.
  • We are also open to self-created opportunities but you will need to find a supervisor to provide you with feedback (as a reminder, supervisors can be faculty, staff, leaders outside of UW, and/or student leaders).

We have put our GPA review policy on hold indefinitely, starting with Winter 2020. This means that if your cumulative GPA was lower than a 3.3 after Winter 2020 or any quarter between then and now, you will not be transferred out of Honors. You will remain on probation status with Honors while your GPA remains below 3.3, but will continue to be able to fully participate in all Honors Program activities, classes, and programs.

We will still communicate with you regarding resources and support and encourage you to discuss your individual situation with an adviser.

Please remember that you still must have a 3.3 cumulative UW GPA to graduate with any Honors degree from UW.

We currently plan to resume our standard GPA status process once the UW returns to primarily in-person courses. You may review theHonors GPA policy here.

All Honors classes will be conducted online throughout autumn quarter 2020. The Honors instructors have been working hard to prepare for online instruction and are eager to work with you to create the best learning environment during these unprecedented times. Please contact your instructor if you have questions about a particular Honors class and check here for the latest UW updates about Autumn quarter.

For tips on getting started with on-line learning, check out Academic Support Programs’ Online Learning Resource page.

While many planned ad hoc projects, Honors 499 studies, and graduate level coursework will continue without too much adjustment, there will likely be some whose projects will need larger adjustments in order to move to online learning. Please think about how to adapt your projects proactively and begin strategizing with your ad hoc instructor as early as possible.

The Honors advisers are here to help you brainstorm tools and strategies to adapt.

No, the deadlines all remain the same. As always, we encourage students to work with their instructors on how to appropriately wrap up ad hoc Honors projects. If you are experiencing exceptional circumstances that keep you from completing your project and/or the instructor can’t submit the final evaluation by the deadline we will not deactivate the project, we won’t be able to attach the “H” to the course and you won’t be able to use it to meet the intended Honors requirement until that “H” is attached.

No projects will be deactivated until one quarter after the UW returns to primarily in-person courses.

No, while the UW remains in a primarily remote learning mode, the Honors Program will allow students to ad hoc classes with more than 50 students. Please get in touch with the course instructor as soon as possible to see if they are able to support your request to do ad hoc Honors in their course.

Please continue to check back here, and the Honors study abroad page, for more information regarding summer 2021 study abroad programs. We are hoping to move most Summer 2020 programs to Summer 2021. Students who applied and were accepted for a Summer 2020 will have priority consideration in 2021.

The Study Abroad Office will continue to update information regarding international travel. Stay informed here.

Yes! We will be holding meetings over zoom on the first Thursday of the month. For more meeting details and to RSVP for the first HCA meeting of autumn quarter please visit the HCA page. HCAs will continue to support and build community for Honors students via remote formats.

The Honors LLC was moved to Elm Hall in late summer 2020. Please contact UW’s Housing and Food Services for specific questions about the residence halls.

Dear Students,

Welcome back to this uniquely challenging spring quarter. We are happy to be working and adapting with you!

Our staff, faculty and student leaders care deeply about your learning and we are here for you— to provide academic guidance, to offer our spring courses, to support your learning and to create community with you.

The University has compiled many resources as you return for spring quarter, including  information on UW’s spring quarter operations and information on the corona virus and how UW is responding to this unprecedented moment. In addition to email updates we will continue to send, our Honors website also has a set of spring quarter FAQs to serve as a resource that can answer questions you may have.

This is a challenging time for everyone. We will get through this together. Please know that you may always reach out to us and to each other for inspiration and support.

Sincerely,

Victoria Lawson (Director) and Juliana Villegas (Associate Director), on behalf of the staff of the University of Washington Honors Program

Note: There is a lot of important information to absorb and plenty of change underway this quarter. As we consider the overarching purpose of our community, we’d like to share a few recent reflections from graduating seniors who completed their portfolio requirements last quarter:

“Understand that everything you do has an impact on others. Sometimes you can see it. Most of the time you can’t. Sometimes it’s good, other times it’s hurtful, no matter what your intentions are. Mostly though, understand that though we live in a hyper-individualistic society that tells you to follow your dreams and do what’s best for you. You MUST remember that you are nothing without everyone else. You cannot do what you are doing here without people around the globe doing what they do. We all support and depend on each other, and it’s easy to forget that, but we have to act with this at the forefront of our mind. You can do you, but you can’t do you without everyone else. Do your part.”

“Although it is important to have a plan, it is also so important to be open and willing for that plan to evolve and change over time. There is no shame in taking your time to figure things out!”

“Don’t stress out too much about the exact path you’ll take – planning is always helpful, especially for strictly academic things, but when it comes to the more general aspects of being alive do not allow yourself to be caught up in what you expect. Life has a way of leading you where you have to go, so clinging to expectations just limits yourself while also causing a lot of disappointment when things just don’t work out. Have faith that you’ll find your way, and move forward with optimism and determination!”

A: Mary Gates Hall is closed and accessible via Husky Card to UW students, staff and faculty who have been given access to the building (for example, people who work in the building during normal operations). The building will remain secured until further notice. The Honors Suite is also closed and our services and staff are available online and by phone. For updates on the University’s response to COVID-19 as well as information for students, please visit uw.edu/coronavirus.

A: As of the start of spring quarter, there are still several open Honors Courses for spring 2020 to consider enrolling in and full course descriptions can be found HERE. Be sure to consult the UW Academic Calendar for the deadlines to add and drop courses.

A: Student academic support services remain our top priority. In spring 2020, advisers will not hold in-person meetings but will be available to assist students with advising questions over email or arrange to have individually scheduled meetings via phone or the Zoom online communication platform. If you believe your questions can be answered via email, please send your email to uwhonors@uw.edu, or fill out the appointment request form and note “email conversation only” under the preferred conversation format option. If you would like to arrange a meeting with an adviser, please continue to use our online advising scheduling tool to make an individual advising appointment, and an adviser will respond and arrange the best way in which to talk.

A: Drop in advising hours in spring 2020 will be held by individual advisers via Zoom. The drop in schedule, as well as information how to access drop in advising, is posted on our advising website. We will have a waiting room function set up and an adviser will be available for quick questions.  If you believe your questions can be answered via email, please send your email to uwhonors@uw.edu. If you need a longer, individualized meeting, please continue to use our online advising scheduling tool to schedule an appointment.

A: Yes, Honors advisers are creating new group advising sessions for spring quarter, in light of our new remote working situation. We will create topics of interest and importance to students that bring us together as a collaborative community in these times of social distancing. Please read emails that we will send regarding these sessions as well as looking at the advising website for the most up to date information regarding group advising dates and times.

A: It is currently essential that experiential learning be completed remotely. Due to the nature of experiential learning, we expect some activities to be impacted by social distancing practices. If this applies to your planned project, please review the scenarios below. If your situation does not fall under these circumstances or your graduation may be impacted by changes to the activity you had planned, please reach out to the Honors advisers as soon as possible.

• If you were supposed to wrap up your experiential learning activity in winter quarter and the COVID-19 outbreak has prevented you from being able to finish:
  • Email uwhonors@uw.edu or schedule an Honors advising appointment.
• If you started and applied for an experiential learning activity during fall 2019/winter 2020 and set your end date for this spring, AND already completed the minimum of 20 hours but are no longer able to continue the activity as planned (view all active applications via your Honors Portal):
  • You are still encouraged to submit your final reflection in line with the spring quarter experiential learning deadlines.
  • If you would like to submit a reflection and get your supervisor’s final evaluation sooner (highly encouraged for those graduating spring 2020) please send an email to uwhonors@uw.edu and include your student number, your request to receive the final reflection link asap, and the title of your experiential learning activity.
• For those who were planning on starting an activity spring or summer quarter:
  • If you anticipate being able to complete your activity at a later time, we encourage you to do so. However, if one of the opportunities we suggest below interests you, or the activity you’re interested in allows you to practice social distancing we encourage you to submit an application.
  • If you were depending on the next 2-3 quarters to complete your experiential learning activity, we strongly suggest you check out the following resources for generating ideas for experiential learning. You may always email the advisers or schedule an appointment to discuss your ideas.

Opportunities compatible with social distancing:

• UW has created this landing page as a resource for our community to support each other during these times: https://www.washington.edu/together/
• Participate in citizen/community science: https://www.seattleaquarium.org/community-science
• United Way has assembled volunteer opportunities that can be done solo/remotely/online: https://www.uwkc.org/volunteer/
• We are also open to self-driven opportunities but you will need to find a supervisor to provide you with feedback (as a reminder, supervisors can be faculty, staff, leaders outside of UW, and/or student leaders).
  • An example of a self-driven experiential learning activity could be raising awareness about the need for blood donations in Washington. You could find an applicable RSO or organization that already does this to find a supervisor, and either join their efforts or create UW specific messaging for social media platforms (for more inspiration https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2020/03/what-you-can-do-to-help-seattle-s-covid-19-response)

Deadline:

• Experiential Learning applications are due Monday, April 13 by 9:00am

A: We have decided not to activate our Winter GPA review process. This means if you were on GPA probation in Honors during winter 2020, and your cumulative GPA after winter quarter was still lower than a 3.3, you will not be transferred out of Honors at the end of winter 2020, and will have an additional quarter on probation status.

If your GPA has fallen below a 3.3 cumulative at the end of winter 2020, you will not go on GPA probation for spring. We will still communicate with you regarding resources and support and encourage you to discuss your individual situation with an adviser.

We currently plan to resume our standard GPA status process at the end of spring 2020. You may review the Honors GPA policy here.

A: While many planned ad hoc projects, Honors 499 studies, and graduate level coursework will continue without too much adjustment, there will likely be some whose projects will need larger adjustments in order to move to the online platform. Please take the time necessary to think about how to adapt your projects proactively and begin strategizing with your ad hoc faculty supervisor now. We also want to remind you that the Honors advisers are here to help you brainstorm tools and strategies to adapt.

Deadlines:

• Honors 499 independent study applications are due on Monday, March 30, by 5pm.

• Applications for both ad hoc and graduate level courses are due Monday, April 6, by 9:00am.

A: Following the guidance of the CDC, state, and university, all planned, in-person, spring HCA events are canceled or postponed until a later quarter. We will be holding meetings over Zoom on the first Thursday of the month from 6-7pm. For more meeting details and to RSVP for the first HCA meeting of spring quarter please visit the HCA page.

All UW Summer Study Abroad Programs are canceled for 2020. Please check back for more information regarding summer 2021. Most of our Summer 2020 programs will move to summer 2021. Students who applied and were accepted for summer 2020 will have priority consideration in 2021. The Study Abroad Office will continue to update information regarding international travel. Stay informed here.

For those students who have been impacted by an Honors Study Abroad cancellation, the Honors staff is available to support you as you work to adjust your academic plans for the future. To our students who were enrolled in an Honors study abroad program in the summer of 2020, we are offering the following flexibility in response to these unusual circumstances:

We will waive 5 credits of your Honors core curriculum. We hope that you have plenty of time to finish your Honors core curriculum, and you are most certainly welcome to take full advantage of Honors course offerings in the future. However, if upon review of your plan, you find this to be impossible and would like to activate this waiver, please fill out this Course Waiver Request Form and indicate which Honors core requirement you are interested in having waived (only the core curriculum options from your planned study abroad). Once we have a completed form from you, we will make the appropriate exception for you in DARS.

We are also increasing enrollment in many closed spring Honors courses. We have worked with our spring quarter instructors to increase enrollment in several classes that were formerly closed. Please review the Spring Honors Course Descriptions to see a full range of our spring quarter offerings.

You may want to consider Honors summer courses or pursuing ad-hoc projects for either spring or summer UW courses. Contact an adviser if you have questions.