Awarding of Posthumous Degree
Undergraduate
A deceased student who did not complete all requirements for his/her degree at the time of death may be awarded a degree posthumously provided the following conditions are met:
- The student should have been in academic and disciplinary good standing at the time of death
- The student has earned a minimum of 90 credits (i.e., senior status)
- The faculty of the deceased student’s primary major approves the awarding of the degree upon recommendation of the school’s dean after ascertaining that conditions 1 and 2 have been met.
Graduate
The policy is unchanged except that condition 2 will require a student to have completed 75% of the credits necessary to complete the degree the student was pursuing.
Procedure
Inquiries relative to the awarding of a posthumous degree (normally requested by deceased student’s family) should be referred to the dean of the student’s school.
The Registrar will confirm for the dean the student’s academic standing and earned credits. The Dean of Students will confirm for the dean the disciplinary standing.
The recommendation of the dean will be forwarded to the Provost for approval.
If approved, the Provost will request the Registrar to complete the transcription, graduation, and diploma procedures. The transcript will reflect that the degree was awarded posthumously.
If the student does not meet the criteria, or if the decision to award the degree is not approved, the Provost will have the option to award an In Memorium Degree.
An In Memorium Degree is a recognition provided to honor a deceased student’s progress to a degree for those students ineligible for a Posthumous Degree. The In Memorium degree is not included in the official count of degrees and is not reported nor recorded to the student’s academic record and transcript. The In Memorium degree may be awarded solely at the discretion of the Provost.
The Provost will be responsible for communicating the final determination to the family.
