Honorary Degrees

Context

The awarding of honorary degrees is intended to encourage a standard of excellence and innovation which is exemplary to students, faculty and staff, and to society generally.  Recipients are to exhibit a record of outstanding distinction and achievement, connected to the work of the Institute and the communities it serves. 

There are four general categories of people upon whom the Institute may confer honorary degrees:

1. Individuals who have made outstanding and sustained contributions to justice and public safety in British Columbia or Canada;
2. Individuals who are distinguished in their field;
3. Individuals who have distinguished reputations in the area of public service at the provincial, national or international level;
4. Individuals who have made significant and noteworthy contributions to JIBC and/or the Province of British Columbia.

Procedures

The Honorary Degree Committee is responsible for:

• Establishing criteria and processes for the nomination, evaluation and recommendation of candidates for honorary degrees.
• Evaluating nominations and selecting those to be recommended to the Board of Governors for approval. 
• Ensuring sufficient due diligence to mitigate the risk of harm to JIBC’s reputation.

Nominations

• The President will send out a call for nominations to employees, Board of Governors and JIBC Foundation members annually. The deadline for nominations is in the fall. Nominations are received from the JIBC community, including members of the Honorary Degree Committee, and from external stakeholders. 
• Nomination packages may be requested from the President’s Office or downloaded from the JIBC website www.jibc.ca and will include the procedures for the awarding of honorary degrees. A cover form to be completed by the nominator. 
• Nominations are submitted in confidence. The nominee should not be informed of his/her nomination. 
• The President will acknowledge the receipt of all nominations and forward to the Honorary Degree Committee.

Criteria and Selection

The following guidelines may assist the Honorary Degree Committee in recommending candidates to the Board of Governors for honorary degrees:

• The distinction and achievement demonstrated by the individual should be consistent with the vision, mission, and values of the Institution.
• There should be clear evidence that the nominee’s contributions are innovative, beyond the norm, and characteristic of a leader in the field.
• Achievements may include contributions at the municipal, provincial, national or international levels.
• Persons holding political office (municipal, provincial or federal), a current appointment with JIBC, or who are current employees at JIBC are not eligible for consideration for honorary degrees until two (2) years after the completion of their last regular appointment.
• The selection of candidates shall take place in such a way as to minimize perceived conflict of interest and prevent real conflict of interest.
  • A person is in conflict of interest in connection with a nomination if s/he is a friend, close colleague, employer, or family member of the nominee, or has any other close relationship to the nominee, or stands to gain in any way from any decision on the nomination.
  • Any member of the Honorary Degree Committee or of the Board of Governors who has an interest (real or perceived) in a particular nomination must declare that interest to the Honorary Degree Committee or the Board of Governors before deliberations commence.
  • The Chair of the Honorary Degree Committee shall rule on whether a member with a perceived interest is in real conflict of interest; if so, the member shall be absent from all deliberations concerning the nomination and shall not vote on any recommendation bearing on the nomination.
• The Honorary Degree Committee will recommend candidates for Board of Governor consideration, having rank-ordered the nominations received. Together with its recommendations, the Honorary Degree Committee will report to the Board of Governors on the number of nominations received.
• The final decision for bestowing an honorary degree rests with the Board of Governors.
• All meetings of the Honorary Degree Committee and the Board of Governors which deal with nominations for honorary degrees will be held in-camera and all personal information will remain confidential. 
• According to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, nominees are entitled to access personal information regarding their nomination including relevant portions of the minutes of such in-camera meetings. 

Conferring of Honorary Degrees

• Normally, one honorary degree will be conferred at each Convocation ceremony.
• Once a candidate has been approved by the Board of Governors, the decision on when to confer the honorary degree lies with the President.  However, the acceptance of the honorary degree must be made within twelve (12) months.
• The President’s Office shall liaise with the Office of the Registrar to determine the best available ceremony at which to present the honorary degree and confirm with the candidate.
• Successful candidates will be informed in writing by the President.  All communication with nominators, successful and unsuccessful, and candidates, will be undertaken by the President’s Office.
• Once the successful candidate(s) has (have) accepted the invitation, the President will make a formal announcement to the Board of Governors, Senior Management Council, all staff and stakeholders who are relevant to the candidate, confirming the candidate(s) and the ceremony at which the honorary degree is to be conferred.
• The successful candidate will attend the ceremony at which the honorary degree is to be conferred. If having accepted the invitation and circumstances change, the Board of Governors will decide whether to award the degree in absentia or posthumously.
• The Board of Governors may rescind an honorary degree on the recommendation of the Honorary Degree Committee. The decision to rescind an honorary degree should be based on the nature of the conduct, with the guiding principle that the conduct should be proven.

JIBC will notify the recipient in writing of the decision to rescind an honorary degree and will request the recipient discontinue using references to the honorary degree. JIBC will cease to publically recognize the individual as an honorary degree recipient.

Related Policies and Procedures

• 1201 Honorary Degrees Policy