The members of the Senate Honorary Degrees Committee are governed by the following powers and duties:
- To work with the Senate and the University Advancement Office to devise sufficient procedures for encouraging submission of nominations for honorary degrees from members of the public at large including procedures which enable appropriate candidates to be nominated and considered on an expedited basis if sufficient circumstances exist
- To work with the Deans' Offices to solicit nominations for academic Honorary Degree recipients representative of outstanding academic accomplishments consistent with the University philosophy, and to ensure that at least one academic degree is awarded each year
- To generate a pool of nominees for honorary degrees that have advanced humanity generally by their works with diverse characteristics of personal experience, history, background, culture, leadership, innovation, and education in order to promote the multicultural values of the University
- Review all nominations and select a slate of nominees for presentation to Senate
- Review committee activity for the Executive and submit to the Senate recommendations and curriculum vitae (CV) of selected nominees
- Be concerned about Convocation ceremonies as they related to Honorary Degree recipients and, in particular, with proprieties and academic etiquette, and make recommendations as they see fit to the Convocation Committee of the University