Rationale:
To (1) implement best practices for awarding of honorary degrees, and (2) ensure that honorary degree candidate consideration is appropriately inclusive of and transparent to the campus community.
Purpose:
Provide for the orderly administration of the honorary degree award process.
Scope:
This Policy applies to all honorary degrees awarded by UNC Asheville on or after June 2019, as well as previously-awarded honorary degrees when further review pursuant to this policy is warranted.
Policy:
The University of North Carolina Asheville honorary doctorate degree is one of the most significant honors conferred at the University and in higher education. Since 1986, UNC Asheville has, in many years, presented honorary doctorate degrees to prominent educational, corporate, civic, and arts leaders at the annual May Commencement. The awarding of the honorary degree reveals the University’s values and standards by recognition of transformative leadership, distinguished service and notable accomplishments an individual makes to the University, the broader region or state and globally.
An honorary degree is awarded to individuals who have distinguished superior achievement in public affairs, corporate leadership, scholarship, service to higher education, philanthropic leadership, and national or global individual achievement. Trustees of the University and Board of Governors members may be candidates for an honorary degree one year following retirement from the Board.
Nomination, Review and Approval Process:
Any member of the University community may nominate a candidate for an honorary degree. Nominations should contain a brief biographical statement, a statement of memorandum based upon the award. Nominations should be made in writing to the Chancellor. The Chancellor and the Provost will forward all nominations to the Honorary Degree Committee of the Board of Trustees no later than September 1 for the upcoming May Commencement.
The Honorary Degree Committee of the Board of Trustees shall include 3 trustees, Chancellor, the Provost, 1 faculty, 1 staff, and 1 student, who will serve for two-year terms with the exception of the Chancellor and Provost who will serve as ex-officio. The student and faculty members will be chosen by the Chancellor and Provost in consultation with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Student Government Association. The trustee members will be assigned by the Chair of the Board of Trustees, in a manner consistent of the Board of Trustee bylaws. Some years, the honorary degree will not be given.
The Honorary Degree Committee will select up to 4 candidates, and the Chancellor and Provost will forward them to the Executive and Governance Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Executive and Governance Committee of the Board of Trustees will review the nomination(s), and if it agrees with the list of nominees, will seek approval of the full board at the next regular meeting during closed session. The Board of Trustees will grant final approval of honorary degree recipients. The nominee will undergo a thorough background check prior to awarding of the degree.
No more than three honorary degrees shall be conferred at any one Commencement. One honorary degree recipient may be the Commencement speaker, but it is not necessary for the Commencement speaker to receive an honorary degree.
The Board on its own motion may revoke, or recommend the revocation of, an honorary degree if there is a material change in the known reputation of the honoree that would compromise the public trust, dishonor University standards, or otherwise be contrary to the best interest of the University.
All final nominees will be thoroughly reviewed and vetted by the University and may be subject to background checks prior to the conferring of the degree. Awardees are expected to be present to receive an honorary degree, although it is within the Board’s discretion to make an award in absentia in emergency or unusual circumstances.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina Asheville, in the exercise of its authority to approve all honorary degree recipients, accepts and affirms these protocols beginning June 2019.