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Regulations - Award of the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University and Doctor of Laws

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(1) The following Regulations are made in furtherance of Statute 6.2 - Admission to Honorary Degrees and prescribe the processes to be followed for the awarding of an honorary degree of Doctor of the University and honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Honorary Degrees

(2) There will be an honorary degree of Doctor of the University [DUniv(HonorisCausa)] and an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws [DLawsUniv(HonorisCausa)].

Process

(3) The following process and timeline applies to all nominations:

DATE

ACTION
1 June A call for nominations is issued by the Legal, Assurance and Governance Directorate on behalf of the Chief Operating Officer, to Members of Corporation, Senate, Chapters, the Professoriate and ACU Alumni.
30 July
Closing date for nominations to be received by mail to: Honorary.Degrees@acu.edu.au
November The Honorary Awards Committee meets to consider on-time nominations
December (or later) The Honorary Awards Committee's recommendations are presented to the next meeting of Senate for approval
Autumn Graduations Awards presented
February The Honorary Awards Committee meets to consider late and supplementary nominations
March (or later) The Honorary Awards Committee's recommendations are presented to the next meeting of Senate for approval
Spring Graduations Awards presented

(4) Nominations outside of this cycle will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Chair, Honorary Awards Committee (Chancellor).

Nominations for award of Honorary Doctorate

(5) A Nomination Form must be duly completed. A Nomination Form will not be accepted and progressed for consideration by the Honorary Awards Committee unless it is completed in full.

(6) Each nomination will be assessed against Selection Criteria detailed in Statute 6.2 - Admission to Honorary Degrees.

(7) Each nomination must have a Proposer and a Seconder.

(8) Nominations are confidential. It is not permissible to contact any person under consideration of an award, either directly or indirectly.

(9) The Honorary Awards Committee may make confidential enquiries pertinent to any nomination and shall not be required to divulge its reasons for declining to recommend a candidate for an Honorary Doctorate.

Conferral of award of Honorary Doctorate

(10) The award of an Honorary Doctorate shall normally be conferred at an official graduation ceremony. These shall ordinarily be ACU’s Autumn graduation ceremonies following Senate approvals in December and ACU’s Spring graduation ceremonies following Senate approvals in March. The acceptance of an award outside of a graduation ceremony is not encouraged and only granted in exceptional circumstances by the Chair, Honorary Awards Committee.

(11) Senate may ordinarily grant a maximum of five Honorary Doctorates each year, although Senate may increase the number in special circumstances. Furthermore, there will normally be a maximum of one Honorary Doctorate awarded at any one graduation ceremony. There is no presumption that there will be an Honorary Doctorate awarded at each graduation ceremony in a particular year.

Conferral of award for overseas recipients

(12) Overseas conferral will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. It is preferable that awards be bestowed in Australia in conjunction with the graduation ceremonies.

(13) Awards must be conferred by either the Chair, Honorary Awards Committee or a member of Senate, commencing with the Vice-Chancellor and President. Overseas conferral of award ceremonies will include the same formalities that apply to Australian ceremonies, including the reading of a citation and bestowing of the award. A minimum of three months’ notice is needed to ensure events are arranged appropriately, including preparing the conferral arrangements, the creation and approval of a citation, liaison with the Media team and event preparations.

(14) The type of overseas conferral event will be considered on a case-by-case basis, along with factors such as the recipient’s preference, country, links with stakeholders in that country and the University’s profile in that country.

Roles and responsibilities

(15) The following table outlines the various roles and responsibilities in the Honorary Award process:

ROLE

RESPONSIBILITY
Member of Corporation, Senate, Chapter, the Professoriate or ACU Alumni Proposes nomination for honorary degree
Member of Corporation or Senate Acts as seconder for nomination for honorary degree
Legal, Assurance and Governance Directorate Reviews nominations to ensure appropriate information has been received ahead of the review by the Honorary Awards Committee
Honorary Awards Committee Reviews and assesses all nominations against the selection criteria in Statute 6.2 - Admission to Honorary Degrees and makes recommendations to Senate for approval
Senate Considers recommendations of the Honorary Awards Committee and resolves whether to award an honorary degree to each of the recommended candidates
Chair, Honorary Awards Committee The Chair, Honorary Awards Committee will advise the outcome of a nomination in writing to the successful nominee
National Manager, Graduations and Protocol Coordinates with the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and President, the Legal, Assurance and Governance Directorate, and the Events team to arrange recipient communications and conferral of award

(16) Information relating to a nomination must be treated as confidential. This does not preclude confidential discussions being held internally between officers of ACU, as necessary to facilitate the processes and responsibilities described in clauses (3) to (9) of these Regulations.

Acceptance

(17) Successful nominees have a period of two months to accept an award. Acceptance should be received in writing.

APPROVED BY SENATE RESOLUTION: S 2021/159
DATED: 2 December 2021