Awarding of a Posthumous Degree

Undergraduate

A deceased student who did not complete all requirements for their degree at the time of death may be awarded a degree posthumously provided the following conditions are met:

1. 1. The student should have been in academic and disciplinary good standing at the time of death
   2. The student has earned a minimum of 90 credits (i.e., senior status)
   3. The faculty of the deceased student’s primary major approves the awarding of the degree upon recommendation of the department chair or program director 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 the deceased student’s family) should be referred to the appropriate department chair or program director.
The Office of the Registrar will confirm for the department chair or program director the student’s academic standing and earned credits. The Vice President for Student Affairs or Associate Dean in the Division of Professional and Graduate Studies will confirm for the department chair or program director the disciplinary standing.

The recommendation of the department chair or program director will be forwarded to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty for approval.

If approved, the Vice President 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 Vice President will have the option to award an In Memoriam Degree.

An In Memoriam 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 Memoriam 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 Memoriam degree may be awarded solely at the discretion of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty will be responsible for communicating the final determination to the family.