Each year, SUNY Oswego nominates between one and five exemplary individuals to SUNY for consideration of receiving a SUNY honorary doctorate degree. SUNY Oswego typically presentes SUNY honorary degree awards to recipients at its commencement ceremonies and asks the recipients to serve as the ceremony's commencement speaker.
If you would like to suggest an individual for a SUNY honorary degree nomination and/or to be considered as a commencement speaker, please complete this Google Form by Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.
Please remember that all nominations should meet the following SUNY Honorary Degree Criteria for Selection:
- The basis for the selection of a degree recipient shall be consistent with the Purposes of Honorary Degrees stated above.
- The nominee must be distinguished, and the person’s achievements must be both relevant and appropriate to the nominating campus. Eligibility for nomination is restricted to persons of state, national, or international stature.
- The nominee should have a connection with the campus or SUNY as a whole. The nominee may be a graduate of SUNY, may have participated in campus programs, partnered in scholarly or creative activity with its faculty or students, or assisted the campus with programmatic development. Furthermore, the connection may be established through national or international prominence in a particular discipline in which the campus has a program. Alternatively, the candidate may have achieved national or international prominence in their field.
- Substantive service to SUNY or the particular campus is not sufficient justification for an honorary degree if the individual does not meet the other criteria for honorary degrees. Under those circumstances, a campus award is recommended.
All suggestions received will be kept confidential (and prospective nominees should not be made aware that they are under consideration) according to the SUNY Honorary Degree Procedures and Guidelines. All suggestions will be reviewed by the SUNY Oswego Honorary Degree and Commencement Speaker Nomination Committee and then shared with the President's Cabinet for the Cabinet’s selection of individuals to submit to SUNY for approval by the SUNY Board of Trustees.
The commitee look forward to receiving your honorary degree nomination suggestions via this form.