BILL NUMBER: S5355

SPONSOR: BRISPORT
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing policies
for the awarding of posthumous degrees

 
PURPOSE:

This bill intends to authorize posthumous degrees to students who have
been killed while enrolled in a state or city university of New York.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 sets the title of the legislation as "Mel's Law"

Section 2 amends Subdivision 2 of section 355 of the education law by
authorizing posthumous degrees to students who died before they could
graduate from a state university of New York.

Section 3 amends Section 6206 of the education law by authorizing
              

posthumous degrees to students who died before they could graduate from
a city university of New York.

Section 4 states that these degrees will not affect an institution's
standing or its evaluation process for accreditation.

Section 5 is an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Death among college students is at an all-time high. Today, some of the
leading causes include suicide, accidents (vehicular, drug/alcohol-
related, and other), homicide, and cancer. Excessive drinking, exper-
imentation with illicit substances, high pressure, and isolation have
all been reported as common experiences on college campuses, which---
when coupled with the COVID19 pandemic---help us to understand why the
mortality rate among this group continues has been particularly high.

When a student dies before graduating from a state or city university in
New York, they are not automatically entitled to formal recognition of
their academic efforts or achievements. For many families, this can be
devastating; in addition to losing a loved one, they are missing a sense
of closure for the work, money, and time that was put into their higher
education. This is especially true for first-generation college
students.

The State University of New York (SUNY) currently has no system-wide
policy for addressing the issue of posthumous degrees. This has left
room for many of the individual schools to implement their own policies
regarding the topic. Because these policies are not uniform across the
system, the wording and credit requirements vary from school to school.
The City University of New York (CUNY) does have a system-wide policy on
eligibility for posthumous degrees. However, this policy leaves out
students who have completed fewer than 45 credit hours. This leaves
students' families without a tangible piece of evidence of their loved
one's efforts in higher education.

This legislation will establish formal processes, without impacting the
accreditation of such institutions. The recognition of a student's time
and effort is essential to their loved ones, and formal recognition can
bring a sense of closure and healing to those close to the student. The
presentation of a posthumous degree can bring some joy to the student's
family, friends, and the campus community during a time of grieving and
loss.

The passage of this bill would help families like that of Brooklyn resi-
dent Melquain Jatelle-Anderson, who was tragically shot and killed at a
bus stop in 2017 while enrolled at a City University of New York. While
his family did receive recognition of his efforts, there was no policy
in place to allow the awarding of a posthumous degree under his circum-
stances. Granting posthumous degrees to all students who die while
enrolled in higher education can be a stepping stone for the family to
find closure.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.