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Ad eundem degree

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An ad eundem degree is an academic degree awarded by one university or college to an alumnus of another, in a process often known as incorporation. The recipient of the ad eundem degree is often a faculty member at the institution which awards the degree, e.g. at the University of Cambridge, where incorporation is expressly limited to a person who "has been admitted to a University office or a Headship or a Fellowship (other than an Honorary Fellowship) of a College, or holds a post in the University Press ... or is a Head-elect or designate of a College".[1]

An ad eundem degree is not an earned degree.[2][3]

History

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In the later Middle Ages it was common, when a graduate from one university moved into the neighborhood of another, for the new university to admit the graduate as a courtesy, "at the same degree" (in Latin, ad eundem gradum). Thus if someone was a Bachelor of Arts in the university that they had attended, they would likewise be a bachelor of arts of their new university. Not every college extended this courtesy to all other colleges, however.

The practice of incorporation diminished in the early 19th century, but it continues at the University of Oxford,[4] the University of Cambridge,[1] and Trinity College Dublin.[5]

Australia

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At the University of Sydney, members of the academic staff and general staff who do not hold a degree from the university, "and who have completed a minimum of ten years’ service prior to their retirement may be considered by Senate, on their retirement, for admission ad eundem gradum to an appropriate degree of the University."[6]

Ireland

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A number of female students at Oxford and Cambridge were awarded ad eundem University of Dublin degrees at Trinity College, Dublin, between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities refused to confer degrees upon women and were nicknamed steamboat ladies.[7]

Today, "graduates of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are eligible to apply for corresponding degrees of" Trinity College, Dublin provided that they wish to register for a degree at Trinity College or are members of the academic staff, and pay the required fee.[2]

South Africa

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Rhodes University in South Africa uses the term ad eundem gradum to give a student status to undertake a research higher degree based on experience, as opposed to an explicit qualification.[8] In this case the student does not acquire a qualification, but is exempt from an entry requirement.

United Kingdom

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At the University of Oxford, incorporation first appeared in the University Statutes in 1516, although the practice itself is older: in the 15th and early 16th centuries, incorporation was granted to members of universities from all over Europe. In 1861, incorporation was restricted to members of Cambridge University and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1908, incorporation was further restricted to specific degrees from these universities.[9]

After the foundation of the University of Durham in 1832, Durham made attempts to have its degrees recognized in the ad eundem system, introducing the first external examiner system, with all examinations co-marked by an Oxford academic, to assure the other universities that it was maintaining comparable standards. These attempts were rebuffed by the other universities, and eventually abandoned by Durham.[10] Still, Durham granted graduates from other universities degrees ad eundem until the practice was abolished by the adoption of new university statutes in 1909.[11]

United States

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Original use

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In the United States, the ad eundem Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts as a regularly awarded academic qualification from graduates of other colleges and universities generally dates from the colonial period, and was awarded at the institutions listed below.

Institution First Documented Usage Last Documented Usage
Harvard University 1830[12]
Yale University 1724[13] 1874[14][15]
Columbia University 1758[16] 1774[17]
Princeton University 1763[18] 1884[19]
University of Pennsylvania[20]
Williams College 1795[21]

Contemporary use

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Several US universities, namely Harvard University,[22][23] Yale University,[24][25] Brown University,[26] Amherst College and Wesleyan University, follow a tradition that only alumni may hold certain faculty positions, and in limited cases preserve the tradition of the ad eundem Master of Arts to the present day, with the specific circumstances described below.

Upon being awarded tenure

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Ad Eundem Gradum Master of Arts degree awarded by Brown University

At Brown[27] and Harvard (since 1942)[28][29] the degrees are awarded to those faculty who are granted tenure and the rank of associate professor, usually after approximately eight years of service to the university as an assistant professor or for a shorter amount of time for a professor with prior service at another university. Because these degrees do not involve any further study, many faculty members do not list them on their curricula vitae,[24][25] although some, such as Francesca Gino,[30] choose to do so given the exclusivity of the degree.

At Harvard the master's degree is described as given ut in grege nostro numeretur ("so that (s)he may be numbered in our flock").[22][23]

At Brown, the degrees have been awarded as a part of the annual May commencement ceremony.[31]

Upon being promoted to full professor

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At Amherst,[32][33][34] Wesleyan (since 1894)[35][36][37] and Yale (since 1902)[38] the degrees are conferred upon those who rise to the rank of full professor. Yale refers to this degree as the MA Privatim.[39] During the 150th anniversary of Princeton University, in 1896, 16 full professors were awarded the MA Privatim.[40]

At Amherst, in recent years, the degrees are awarded during first-year student convocation in August,[32][41] at Yale it is an "elegant, brief ceremony, usual in February or March",[38][42] and at Wesleyan as part of commencement in May.[43] Amherst College grants this degree to college faculty despite the fact that it grants only bachelor's degrees to its matriculated students.[44]

Posthumous awards

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In April 2023, the President of Yale, Peter Salovey, awarded M.A. Privatim degrees posthumously to Reverend James W. C. Pennington and Reverend Alexander Crummell, the first two black students at Yale, both of whom faced numerous incidents of discrimination and left Yale without earning degrees.[45][46]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Ordinances of the University of Cambridge, Chapter II, Section 8. Incorporation.
  2. ^ "ad eundem". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 13 July 2019. to, in, or of the same rank —used especially of the honorary granting of academic standing or a degree by a university to one whose actual work was done elsewhere
  3. ^ Martha Wright (December 1966). "ad eundem gradum". AAUP Bulletin. 52 (4). American Association of University Professors: 433–436. doi:10.2307/40223470. JSTOR 40223470. by the last quarter of the nineteenth century most colleges abandoned the ad eundem gradum and substituted only the 'earned' degree
  4. ^ University of Oxford, Council Regulations 22 of 2002 Archived 2016-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, sec. 1.7-1.18.
  5. ^ The 2010 Consolidated Statutes of Trinity College Dublin and of the University of Dublin Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Division - University, sec. 3.(4)(a), p. 157.
  6. ^ Degrees conferred ad eundem gradum, The University of Sydney, 2007
  7. ^ "A Timeline of the History of Women in Trinity". A Century of Women in Trinity College. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  8. ^ Higher Degrees Guide Archived October 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 2010
  9. ^ Oxford University Archives, A History of Incorporation at Oxford.
  10. ^ Andrews, Matthew (12 August 2016). "Durham University: Last of the Ancient Universities and First of the New (1831-1871)". University Histories. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  11. ^ Durham University Calendar 1910–1911. Durham University. 1910.
  12. ^ "Morning Exercises". commencement.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  13. ^ Wright, Martha (1966). "Ad Eundem Gradum". AAUP Bulletin. 52 (4): 433–436. doi:10.2307/40223470. ISSN 0001-026X.
  14. ^ "A.M. Degree before the Civil War? | H-Education | H-Net". networks.h-net.org. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  15. ^ Wright, Martha (1966). "Ad Eundem Gradum". AAUP Bulletin. 52 (4): 433–436. doi:10.2307/40223470. ISSN 0001-026X.
  16. ^ King's College (New York, N. Y. ) (19201940). The matricula or Register of admissions & graduations, & of officers employed in King's College at New York. Columbia University Libraries. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ King's College (New York, N. Y. ) (17541777). The matricula or Register of admissions & graduations, & of officers employed in King's College at New-York. Columbia University Libraries. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ alumni, Pennsylvania univ, soc of the (1880). Catalogue of the trustees officers and graduates of the departments of arts and science and of the honorary graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, 1749-1880.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ SELDEN, WILLIAM K. (1990). ""Honoris Causa" Honorary Degrees at Princeton University, 1748 – 1987". The Princeton University Library Chronicle. 51 (3): 283–290. doi:10.2307/26403802. ISSN 0032-8456.
  20. ^ "History of Penn Alumni Catalogues". University Archives and Records Center. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  21. ^ Wright, Martha (1966). "Ad Eundem Gradum". AAUP Bulletin. 52 (4): 433–436. doi:10.2307/40223470. ISSN 0001-026X.
  22. ^ a b "Honorary Degrees at Harvard: Quick Facts". Harvard University Archives Research Guides. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  23. ^ a b Elkins, Kimball C. (1958), "Honorary degrees at Harvard", Harvard Library Bulletin, 12 (3): 326–353
  24. ^ a b Lassila, Kathrin (July–August 2010). "The "private" Yale degree". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  25. ^ a b Mirkinson, Jack (March 23, 2006). "Profs' degrees are relics of old University tradition". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  26. ^ Mitchell, Martha (1993). "Honorary Degrees". Encyclopedia Brunoniana. Brown University Library. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  27. ^ "Encyclopedia Brunoniana | Honorary degrees". www.brown.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  28. ^ "University Has Broadened Idea of Honorary Degrees | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  29. ^ "Morning Exercises". commencement.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  30. ^ "About". Francesca Gino. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  31. ^ "Brown to confer 2,921 degrees at 255th Commencement". Brown University. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  32. ^ a b "Convocation | Events & Calendars | Amherst College". www.amherst.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  33. ^ Convocation 2022 - Amherst College, retrieved 2023-05-17
  34. ^ "Convocation: Notes on the Class of 2027". www.amherst.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  35. ^ "4 Faculty Honored with MA Ad Eundem Gradum Degrees". Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  36. ^ "Wesleyan University's 189th Commencement | You are cordially invited to join us for our virtual Commencement! We look forward to celebrating the Class of 2021 and their accomplishments. For all... | By Wesleyan University | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  37. ^ "Commencement Program, Commencement 2021 - Wesleyan University". www.wesleyan.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  38. ^ a b "Academic Ceremonies | Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life". secretary.yale.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  39. ^ [1] Yale University, Office of the Secretary and Vice President for Student Life, Academic Ceremonies
  40. ^ Selden, William K. (1990). ""Honoris Causa" Honorary Degrees at Princeton University, 1748 – 1987". The Princeton University Library Chronicle. 51 (3): 283–290. doi:10.2307/26403802. ISSN 0032-8456.
  41. ^ Convocation 2022 - Amherst College, retrieved 2023-05-17
  42. ^ "New Yale faculty receive honorary Master of Arts degrees". YaleNews. 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  43. ^ "4 Faculty Honored with MA Ad Eundem Gradum Degrees". Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  44. ^ "Amherst College". New England Commission Higher Education. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  45. ^ "Honoring the Rev. James W. C. Pennington and the Rev. Alexander Crummell". Office of the President. 2023-04-22. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  46. ^ Staff, TheGrio (2023-04-27). "Black men who suffered racial injustice at Yale finally get degrees". TheGrio. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
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