3.18.1 Honorary Degrees Procedure

3.18.1 Honorary Degrees Procedure

1. Administrative Responsibility: Administration of this procedure is assigned to the Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs (VPASA), who is responsible for making judgments relative to implementation of the procedure. Substantive changes to the policy or procedure require review through the college governance process and action by the college president.

2. The college may award the following honorary degrees:

a. Associate in Arts
b. Associate in Science
c. Associate in Applied Science

3. Process for Recommending Honorary Degree Recipients: An eight-person committee will review and act on nominations for awarding of honorary degrees. The committee will be composed of four unlimited, full-time faculty and three full-time, non-faculty appointed by the VPAA, who will chair the committee as an ex-officio, non-voting member. The committee will judge nominees according to the following criteria and guidelines for selection.

  1. Eminent contribution to the college, system, community, State of Minnesota, or society over an extended period of time,
  2. Eminent achievement in a particular field of endeavor,
  3. Personal status that will enhance the reputation of the college (or the system) and serve as an example to its students and alumni,
  4. Potential for contribution to the goals or welfare of the college,
  5. While recipients may be alumni, former employees, former Board of Trustees members, or public officials, they may not be (at the time of the award) current employees (incumbent members of the Board of Trustees, or incumbent officials of federal, state, or local government),
  6. The VPASA may seek out nominations or receive unsolicited ones. A nomination statement about the individual, using a form provided by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs, must be completed. The statement will address the criteria provided herein this procedure. Nominations must be received no later than March 1st prior to the May graduation. If a recommendation(s) is forwarded to the college president, it must be received by the president no later than April 1st.
  7. Recommendations of the committee will be forwarded to the college president, who will approve or disapprove the recommendation.

4. Presentation of Honorary Degrees: Honorary degrees will be given at commencement, and the recipient normally must agree to be present as a condition of receiving the award.

5. Limitations on Awarding of Honorary Degrees: To ensure that awarding Honorary Degrees is an exceptional and unusual event, degrees normally will not be awarded every year. An exception may be made by the college president.

Date of Implementation/Presidential Approval: 03/05/2007

Date of last review: 11/24/2020

 

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