Award of Posthumous Degrees by Boston University

Effective fall 2020

Approval Process for Posthumous Degree

Requests for posthumous degrees should be initiated by the student’s academic program, have the support of the Dean of the student’s school or college and the Provost, and the approval of the President. Once a school or college has received final approval from the Provost and President, they will send that approval to the Diploma office in the Office of the University Registrar, who will be responsible for ordering the diploma. Requests must be made within two calendar years of the student’s passing.

Criteria

Each case will be considered on its own merits. However, some general guidelines apply:

• The student must have been enrolled in a degree program and in Good Academic Standing at the time of death.
• The student must have been in the final term of coursework, likely to pass those courses with acceptable grades, and likely to have fulfilled any noncourse requirements of the degree within one additional term of enrollment.
• For graduate degrees requiring a research product, the student must have completed all course and other requirements pursuant to the degree and must have been near completion of the dissertation/thesis; and the student’s committee must have determined the scholarship to be substantial work and worthy of the degree.
• For graduate degrees requiring a creative product, the student must have completed all course and other requirements pursuant to the degree and must have been near completion of the creative product; and the student’s committee must have determined the product to be substantial work and worthy of the degree.

Certificate of Academic Achievement

If the conditions required for award of a posthumous degree have not been met, a Certificate of Academic Achievement may be issued if the student had made some progress toward a degree, as defined by the school/college of enrollment, or achieved particular distinction during their tenure at the University.

Approval Process for Certificate of Academic Achievement

Requests for Certificates of Academic Achievement should be initiated by the student’s academic program, have the support of the Dean of the student’s school or college, and the approval of the Provost. Once a school or college has received final approval from the Provost, they will send that approval to the Diploma office in the Office of the University Registrar, who will be responsible for producing the certificate. Requests must be made within two calendar years of the student’s passing.