3.02—Honorary Posthumous Degrees (HPD)

Effective: 04/07/2008
Senate Proposal: Yes
Responsible University Officer: Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Responsible Office: Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Policy Statement

The following sections are from Senate Proposals 25-08 and 2-04, which became University policy on January 22, 2004 and revised on April 7, 2008. The Senate proposal as approved is available through the Senate Office, the University archives, or the Senate website.

Definition

An Honorary Posthumous Degree (HPD) may be awarded by the University to recognize progress toward a degree when that progress is terminated by the death of a student. The award is in recognition of the student's goals and also of the personal and financial support of the student's family and friends, to commemorate their connection to the Michigan Tech community.

Policy

To be recommended for an HPD, a student must have been pursuing a degree at the time of death. An HPD will be awarded in the major field only.

Procedure

Normally, the student's academic advisor or the student's family will initiate the request for awarding an HPD. An HPD will be conferred upon recommendation from the deceased student's major academic department or school, followed by the approval of the University. The recommendation should be submitted as a written request to the provost's office, together with documentation that the student was pursuing a degree at Michigan Tech.

Guidelines for the submission of the recommendation, and the procedures for the actual awarding of the degree, will be developed by the provost.

Contacts

Office/Unit Name Telephone Number
Provost's Office 7-2440

Adoption Date

11/19/2003 University Senate passed Proposal 2-04
01/22/2004 Approved by president
04/02/2008 University Senate passed Proposal 25-08
04/07/2008 Approved by administration

Revisions

 08/07/2018 To reflect current practice, changed the title of the Provost to "Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs"
04/10/2017 Transfer of policy page from HTML to CMS. Academic numbers renamed from "2.3000" to "3. Academic". Specifically from "2.3002—Honorary Posthumous Degrees (HPD)" to "3.02—Honorary Posthumous Degrees (HPD)".
05/08/2012 To reflect current University titles and practice, MTU is now Michigan Tech and the email address for questions is now hbwebmaster.