Honorary Degree Nomination Procedures

Graduate School of Leadership and Management, UK - Honorary Degree Nomination Procedures

Criteria for Selecting Honorary Degree Recipients

On recommendation of the Honors and Awards Committee and the President, the Board of Trustees may vote to confer honorary degrees on distinguished individuals. The Board should award an honorary degree only in recognition of extraordinary and lasting distinction. The award should represent the highest intellectual and moral values; it should reflect the very character and quality of the graduate school itself.

  1. The awarding of an honorary doctorate degree is recognition of a person whose life and achievements serve as examples of the graduate school’s aspirations for its students. It should be offered well before the end of a career, while the accomplishments are recent and the activities worthy of highest commendations.
  2. An honorary degree may be offered to a person who has contributed significantly to the cultural, scientific, and/or social development of the State, nation, or world. The contribution should be sustained over a period of years and should be lasting in nature. One should be able to document the national or international impact of the contributions. The mere holding of an executive position, public office, or professorship for many years is not sufficient. The creativity of the individual and the extraordinary character of the contributions must be evident.
  3. The individual receiving an honorary degree should have a sustained reputation over a period of years. The reputation should extend beyond the boundaries of the graduate school and the state and preferably should extend nationally or internationally. Letters of recommendation should manifest the broadness of that reputation.
  4. The activities of the individual should contain outstanding contributions in scholarly research, teaching and learning, the arts, public service, or business. The person might be a distinguished scholar in the natural, physical or social sciences, the arts or humanities, or a distinguished person in public life, business, the professions, or the performing arts. Evaluation will be based on the level of intellectual and professional attainment and the significance of the contributions to the enrichment and/or welfare of the state, nation, or world.
  5. The Committee will seek to maintain a balance among various fields of activity, both in a given calendar year and in a cycle of years. A program in the awarding of honorary degrees should maintain a reasonable balance between academic and non-academic recipients, and various fields of endeavor.
  6. The Committee will make an effort to recognize the achievements of women and minorities, consonant with the equal opportunity goals of the institution.
  7. An honorary degree cannot be awarded to an active member of the school faculty, administration, staff. Persons in these categories are eligible for nomination three years after retirement or resignation from their positions at the school or any of the partnering institutions.
  8. A member of the Board of Trustees can be awarded an honorary degree from the GSLM providing said Trustee has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for a period of at least 15 years. Said honorary degree to be awarded to the recipient by the Board of Trustees upon retirement from the Board of Trustee.

Honorary Doctorate Degree Nomination Procedures

  1. Nominations will be sent to the Office of the President and may be made by any member of the faculty, staff, student body, administration
  2. Board of Trustees, or by any alumnus of the graduate school or partnering institutions. An individual may not nominate himself or herself. The nominator should submit a narrative letter indicating the importance of the candidate’s achievements and the reasons why these achievements should be honored by the University, along with a biographical sketch of the candidate. Other documents, such as letters of support for the nomination or articles about the nominee or written by the nominee, are also welcome.
  3. The Office of the President will assemble dossiers, ask for further information from the nominator if necessary, duplicate the dossiers for the Honors and Awards Committee, and mail the information to committee members.
  4. The President will convene the Honors and Awards Committee early in the academic year. After a period of discussion the members will select nominees to be invited to receive a degree, and may authorize the President to invite alternates if the original invitee declines. The Committee shall decide how many awards will be recommended, and in what categories, considering a proper balance of fields of endeavor and other factors. The Office of the President will make available a list of previous recipients to indicate the balance of awards from previous years. In any one field, a nominee and alternates may be chosen. An honorary degree cannot be offered to a previous recipient.
  5. A Committee report and a slate of nominees will be presented to the Board of Trustees. The Board will make its selections and set the date of the event as the Commencement or a special Convocation.
  6. Only under extraordinary circumstances will honorary degrees be conferred in absentia

GSLM Honorary Doctorate Degrees may be awarded in four categories based on the specific criteria listed below:

Doctor of Laws

Distinguished service to state or to nation, to learning or to humankind, coupled with intellectual gifts and moral qualities that entitle the recipient to rank with persons of culture and high principle.

Doctor of Letters or Doctor of Fine Arts

Distinguished service to science, coupled with personal qualities and a kind of learning that entitles the recipient to recognition by a learned educational body of high standing.

Doctor of Humane Letters

Distinguished service of a general nature, coupled with personal qualities and a kind of learning that entitles the recipient to recognition by a learned educational body of high standing.

Confidentiality

Nomination information submitted will be kept confidential. Confidentiality at all points in the nominating process is crucial. No discussion concerning nominees should take place outside of those directly involved in the evaluation process. The President, or a designee, is responsible for contacting the candidates once the Board of Trustees has approved a slate of candidates.

To be considered for a preliminary nomination for the Honorary Doctorate Award, or to nominate someone, kindly fill out the Online Form and we’ll get back to you. Kindly note that only GSLM Alumni or registered delegates shall be eligible for this award.

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