Honorary Degrees bring PSU national recognition

The Portland State Honorary Degree Committee will convene this fall to select a recipient of the Doctor of Human Letters degree, which will be awarded at the 2011 spring commencement ceremony.

The committee, chaired by Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Roy Koch, is charged by PSU President Wim Wiewel with selecting an individual to be acknowledged for their lifelong work and contributions.

Though nominations can be submitted by anyone, the specific criteria for final selection will mean only a few individuals will be seriously considered. Nominations should have résumés indicating their achievement in scholarship, the arts or public service.

PSU began the Honorary Degree program primarily as a mechanism to help the university gain more recognition at the national level.

“This was done during a period when the university was rapidly changing its role from a regional university to one that was working on the national scale, much more involved in research,” Koch said.

According to Koch, creating an identity for PSU was essential to the initiative. The award’s recipient is lauded at the national level for their body of work, and therefore the public pays more attention to the university.

Often the committee tries to find nominees that align with the initiatives PSU is undertaking.

“We look at the values of the institution, and the values we’re trying to integrate into our educational programs and try to find someone who matches those values,” Koch said.

PSU’s current initiatives include sustainability and an academic initiative in the K–12 system that is designed to prepare students for college.

PSU has awarded this esteemed degree for 17 years to deserving members of the academic, artistic, business, political and humanitarian community. The program started in 1993, and except for 1994, the school has awarded the degree to at least one person every year.

“It’s something we at least consider every year, depending on the nominees, et cetera; we either award one or we don’t,” Koch said.

According to Koch, past recipients include former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. However, the university is hesitant to grant the award to sitting politicians.

“We want to avoid the perception of being in a quid pro quo situation,” he said.

Other nominees include Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman and CEO of Mercy Corps Neal Keny-Guyer.

Committee meetings will be held during multiple closed-door sessions. While the committee is not required to reach a decision by a specific date, Koch said it would like to reach a consensus by the first of the year. The Oregon State Board of Higher Education then approves the selection.

This gives the university nearly six months to prepare for the presentation of the award at commencement. If there are scheduling conflicts, however, it will move the awarding ceremony to another time.

Though anyone can submit the nominee packet, the difference will come down to relevance to school initiatives and the overall body of work between candidates, Koch said. All nomination packets must be turned into the university President’s Office by Nov. 19. The nomination packets are available on the Office of Academic Affair’s website.

The list of nominees will not be made public and the recipient will not be announced until after the board has approved the decision. ?