Amherst Honorary Degree Nomination Procedures

The Director of Commencements oversees the campus honorary degree nominations process, including calling for honorary degree nominations, recruiting committee members, communicating with campus deans and administrators concerning prospective nominations, setting meetings of the nominations committee, gathering biographical profiles, responding to inquiries, etc.
Each year, early in spring semester, an email message is sent from the Chancellor’s Office to all faculty, staff and students on campus inviting them to nominate candidates for honorary doctorates. Nominations are accepted through the end of March, usually one week after the end of spring break, and may be submitted by anyone: faculty, staff, students, alumni, or friends of the University. Nominators are asked to provide a letter that states the reasons why the candidate deserves the degree and a resume or a short published biography of the candidate. Nominees are not informed of the nomination. Nominations may be received at any time during the year, but they are kept on file until the March deadline.
During April and May, the Honorary Degree Advisory Committee meets to consider the nominations received. This committee is purely advisory to the Chancellor who may (or may not) forward the committee’s recommended nominees to the President. Members are asked to do additional research on the nominees, and if they so choose, they can make additional nominations. The Committee will often forward as many as ten names to the Chancellor for consideration. The Chancellor may also forward other nominations to the President, nominations that have not been considered or recommended by the committee.
All committee deliberations and votes are confidential. The nominees forwarded to the President by the Chancellor are also kept confidential.
Members of the Honorary Degree Advisory Committee include the following: the Faculty Senate is invited to name up to three members of the committee, the Alumni Association is invited to name up to two members, The Dean of the Graduate School is invited to name up to two graduate students, and the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs & Campus Life is invited to name up to two undergraduate students to the committee. The Chancellor also may name up to three members. Faculty Senate and Associate Alumni designate their representatives for multi-year terms; all other representatives are named for one year, although the same person may be designated again.
After its deliberations and voting, the Chair of the Advisory Committee usually meets with the Chancellor in June to deliver the recommendations of the committee and to provide any additional background the Chancellor may request concerning them.
The Chancellor reviews the list and may add to or subtract from it. The list is then forwarded to the President.
The President reviews the list and may add to or subtract from it. The list is then forwarded to the Trustees.
The Trustees review the list, add to or subtract from it as they wish, and then vote on the nominees at their November meeting.
The list of nominees approved by the Trustees is then sent back to the campus. (Some honorary degrees may be conferred at special convocations during the year; others may be delayed for up to two years after which they need to be re-approved by the Trustees.)
In December or January, the Chancellor’s Office sends out an honorary degree offer letter to those whose degrees are to be awarded at commencement.
It is a condition of the degree that the person be present to accept it. Not all offers of a degree are accepted—the bigger the name, the more potential for calendar conflicts.
Arrangements for the honorary degree candidate’s visit to campus are made by the Director of Commencements.