Meeting of the Board of Regents | June 2008

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	Higher Education Committee
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	Proposed Amendment to the Rules of the Board of Regents Relating to Registered Degrees
DATE:	June 4, 2008
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goal 4
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Discussion

 

Should the Board of Regents amend §3.50(c) of the Rules of the Board of Regents to provide for honorary associate degrees? 

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

             

              Required by State statute

             

Proposed Handling

 

The proposed amendment is before the Higher education Committee for discussion in May 2008 and will be submitted for action at the July meeting.

 

Procedural History

 

Chapter 324 of the Laws of 2006 amended §6306 of the Education Law by adding subdivision 5-b, which provides: “Subject to the approval of the board of regents, the board of trustees [of a community college] shall have the authority to award honorary associate degrees.”

 

Background Information

 

The only honorary degree titles available for use by New York degree-granting institutions are those listed in §3.50(c) of the Rules of the Board of Regents.  That subdivision now lists only master’s degree and doctoral titles.  An amendment is needed to list the honorary associate degree titles that may be used.  It is proposed to list 13 such titles, consistent with those already authorized for honorary master’s and doctoral degrees.

 

By implementing §6306(5-b) of the Education Law by identifying the associate degree titles available for use, this amendment would benefit community colleges.  Those titles also could be awarded by the SUNY and CUNY Boards of Trustees, by independent colleges that seek amendment of their charters to authorize their use, or by any New York degree granting institution meeting the requirements of §3.48 of the Rules of the Board of Regents: (1) holding an absolute charter or the equivalent, (2) conferring baccalaureate or higher degrees, and (3) holding institutional accreditation by a Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agency.

 

The State University of New York polled its community colleges and advised the Department that they preferred to use Associate of Humane Letters (A.H.L.) and Associate of Letters (A.Litt.) as honorary degrees.  CUNY did not disagree. (CUNY community colleges do not have separate boards of trustees and the CUNY Board of Trustees is authorized to award any honorary degree listed in §3.50(c).  Recognizing that other New York higher education institutions might be interested in awarding honorary associate degrees, the Department proposes to include the titles requested by SUNY and go well beyond them.

 

Recommendation

 

The Higher Education Committee should discuss the proposed amendment at its June 2008 meeting.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

Following discussion in May, the proposed amendment would be before the Board for adoption in July 2008.  The effective date of the amendment would be August 21, 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMENDMENT TO THE RULES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS

              Pursuant to sections 207, 210, 214, 215, 305, and 6306(5-b) of the Education Law.

Subdivision (c) of §3.50 of the Rules of the Board of Regents is amended by the addition of a new paragraph (3), effective August 21, 2008, as follows:

(3) Associate Degrees:

              Associate of Civil Law (A.C.L.)

              Associate of Commercial Science (A.C.S.)

              Associate of Divinity (A.D.)

              Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.)

              Associate of Hebrew Letters (A.H.Litt.)

              Associate of Humane Letters (A.H.L.)

              Associate of Jewish Theology (A.J.T.)

              Associate of Laws (LL.A.)

              Associate of Letters (A.Litt.)

              Associate of Music (A.Mus.)

              Associate of Pedagogy (A.Pd.)

              Associate of Sacred Theology (A.S.T.)