Rutgers University Faculty | Teaching and Working in the Honors College

Are you looking to have a teaching experience that is unmatched? Are you searching for the highest impact opportunities to make your classes and teaching outcomes exceptional, where you can engage undergraduate students in the highest levels of our premier research and teaching university? If so, then teaching in the Honors College curriculum is for you.

Rutgers University Honors College

Our Honors College expands on the 250+ year legacy of education and over fifty years of honors education at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, and brings it into the 21st Century by redefining interdisciplinary education, elevating intellectual integrity, and enrolling students from across the liberal arts and professional schools, to study and work together. We then bring them, collectively, into your classes in order to tackle important issues as well as lasting questions, and to engage in the strategic advantages that only Rutgers can provide because of its exceptional faculty and far-reaching resources. 

Attracting some of the highest achieving students from throughout New Jersey, the U.S., and the world, the Rutgers University Honors College is a community of 4,000 students and over 200 faculty where intellectual curiosity, hands-on knowledge, inclusion, collaboration, and giving back are central to its philosophy and allow you to teach in ways that are dynamic, experimental, and innovative.

Inspired. Empowered. Connected.

We invite you to join us in our mission to expand what an interdisciplinary education can be by working with students who are curious and driven. We welcome your ideas, your knowledge and research, and your dedication to teaching and mentoring as a means to developing and enriching our undergraduate students' knowledge. There is a whole community of extraordinary students ready to make important contributions to their world, through an introduction to your work and hte development of their personal and intellectual purpose.

Ways to Get Involved

• Teaching an Honors College Mission-based Course in your School: Honors Colloquium (SAS), Readings in Biology (SEBS), The Business of Everything (RBS), Interplay (MGSA), or IDEA (SOE).
• Teaching Honors Courses: Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars, COIL, LGBTQ+ Learning Collaborative, Embedded Study Abroad, and Cross-Cultural Communities (CCC) sections
• Teaching Honors College Byrne Seminars
• Serve as an Honors College Faculty Member or Faculty Fellow
• Being an Honors Faculty and Professional Mentor
• Serving as an advisor for an Honors College Capstone Project
• Contributing to the Honors College as a Faculty Fellow (Residential or Affiliated)
• Creating co-curricular programs specific to your research interests
   

Resources 

The Honors College is pleased to offer modest funding for classroom enrichment activities such as field trips, guest speakers, or other special programming. The Academic Master Plan and Discovery Advantage report highlight the value of activities that offer rich hands-on experiences and/or interactions with different communities. Such activities help students connect course content with the world beyond the classroom and fulfills an important element of the Honors-focused interdisciplinary approach to learning.

Enrichment activities supported through this program must be associated with an Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar or Byrne Seminar course taught for the Honors College at Rutgers–New Brunswick. The activity should be clearly connected to learning goals and integrated into the course through preparation and follow-up, while going beyond a typical classroom experience. 

Funding is limited, and proposals will be accepted on a monthly cycle: proposals received by 11:59pm on each monthly deadline will be reviewed within approximately 10 days. Note that payment requests often take 3-4 weeks to process, so please allow plenty of time before your activity (see chart).
   

* Note that the September and January deadlines are modified due to breaks.
** Please use the May deadline to submit for activities for Summer Session 2026.

We welcome innovative activities that enhance student learning. Requests are limited to $400 per semester, per class. 

Examples of items that may be funded include but are not limited to:

• Tickets for museums or performances
• Local transportation (e.g., NJ Transit)
• Honoraria for outside speakers (*Note: Honoraria may not be issued for Rutgers employees, LLC's, or corporations)
• Other creative activities that provide interactions and/or hands-on experiences beyond a typical classroom experience
• Expendable supplies or services that are directly related to the proposed activity

 Examples of items that may not be funded:

• Catering or meals for on-campus events
• Room and board
• Travel expenses for guest speakers
• Equipment that will be used beyond the duration of the proposed activity

The Honors College can offer help with administrative arrangements.

If you receive funding for a classroom enrichment activity, you will be asked to share student feedback about the experience.

Proposals are evaluated using the following criteria: 

• Learning objectives: Are there specific learning objectives for the proposed activity? How well does the activity align with the course learning goals?
• Enhancement: Will the activity provide interactions and/or hands-on experiences that go beyond a typical classroom experience?
• Integration: Is the activity well integrated into the course through preparation and follow-up? Will students be asked to reflect on what they learned from the experience?
• Connections: Will the activity help students connect course content with the world beyond the classroom, through real-world applications and/or lived experiences?
• Impact: Will the activity be feasible and accessible for all students? Will it have significant impact on their learning?
• Budget: Are the proposed expenses appropriate, and is the overall cost reasonable given the expected impact?

Here is the link to submit a funding proposal: LINK

If you have any questions, contact J.D. Bowers, Dean, Honors College, jd.bowers@rutgers.edu .

Important Links:

• Honors College Academics
• Honors College Curriculum

QUESTIONS?

Please contact J.D. Bowers, Dean of the Honors College.