Ad eundem degree
An ad eundem degree is an academic degree awarded by one university or college to an alumnus of another, in a process commonly 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]
History
[edit]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
[edit]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]
Requests for ad eundem gradum degrees also occurred at Adelaide University in the 1880s.[7]
Ireland
[edit]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 the "steamboat ladies".[8]
Today, graduates of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are eligible to apply for corresponding degrees of Trinity College Dublin, and vice versa, provided that they wish to register for a degree at Trinity College or are members of the academic staff, and pay the required fee.[9][10][11][12]
South Africa
[edit]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.[13] In this case the student does not acquire a qualification, but is exempt from an entry requirement.
United Kingdom
[edit]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.[14] While not an earned degree, both original degree(s) and incorporated ad eundem degree(s) are given in post-nominals listed in the Oxford University Calendar.[15]
After the foundation of the University of Durham in 1832, Durham made attempts to have its degrees recognised 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.[16] Still, Durham granted graduates from other universities degrees ad eundem until the practice was abolished by the adoption of new university statutes in 1909.[17]
United States
[edit]Original use
[edit]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 | Most Recently Documented |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | Common in the 1700s.[18] Ad eundem degrees were not specifically recorded as such at Harvard until the period after 1750.[19] | 1830[20][21] |
| Yale University | 1705[22] | 1879[22] |
| Columbia University | 1767[23] | 1770[24] |
| Princeton University | 1763[25] | 1884[26] |
| University of Pennsylvania[27] | ||
| Williams College | 1795[28] |
Contemporary use
[edit]Three universities in the United States refer to the honorary MA degrees awarded to professors at various stages of their careers as ad eundem degrees.[29]
| Institution | MA awarded at what stage | First documented | Most recent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown University | Associate Professor | 1945[30] | 2026[31] |
| Lawrence University | Retirement[32] | 1978[33] | 2022[34] |
| Wesleyan University | Professor | 1894[35][36][37] | 2021[38] |
Upon being awarded tenure
[edit]
At Brown, ad eundem 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.[39][40] The degrees have normally been awarded as a part of the annual May commencement ceremony.[41][42]
Upon being promoted to full professor
[edit]At Wesleyan, ad eundem degrees are conferred upon those who rise to the rank of full professor. However, those professors who already earned a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan by attending as an undergraduate are not presented with a second degree.[43]
Upon retirement
[edit]At Lawrence, ad eundem degrees are conferred upon professors at their retirement.[32]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 Ordinances of the University of Cambridge, Chapter II, Section 8. Incorporation.
- ↑ "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
- ↑ 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
- ↑ University of Oxford, Council Regulations 22 of 2002 Archived 2016-07-27 at the Wayback Machine, sec. 1.7-1.18.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Degrees conferred ad eundem gradum, The University of Sydney, 2007
- ↑ "Professor William Lowrie - The University - Admission Ad Eundem Gradum BSc Degree". Adelaide University. Retrieved 2026-05-10.
- ↑ "A Timeline of the History of Women in Trinity". A Century of Women in Trinity College. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ↑ "Degrees and Diplomas" (PDF).
- ↑ "Requirements for Incorporation at Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin universities". Oxford University.
- ↑ "CHAPTER II : MATRICULATION, RESIDENCE, ADMISSION TO DEGREES, DISCIPLINE – INCORPORATION". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ↑ "University of Oxford charter for Incorporation of Cambridge and Dublin". University of Oxford.
- ↑ Higher Degrees Guide Archived October 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 2010
- ↑ Oxford University Archives, A History of Incorporation at Oxford.
- ↑ "Oxford University Calendar: notes on style" (PDF). 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
In the case of incorporated degrees, the original degree and the incorporated degree should be shown: eg 'MA Dub, MA Oxf'
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Durham University Calendar 1910–1911. Durham University. 1910.
- ↑ Harvard Library Bulletin Autumn 1958: Vol 12 Iss 3. Internet Archive. Harvard University Library. Autumn 1958.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ Harvard Library Bulletin Autumn 1958: Vol 12 Iss 3. Internet Archive. Harvard University Library. Autumn 1958.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Morning Exercises". commencement.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
- ↑ Harvard Library Bulletin Autumn 1958: Vol 12 Iss 3. Internet Archive. Harvard University Library. Autumn 1958.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - 1 2 "Miscellaneous Regulations". Yale University. 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
- ↑ The matricula or Register of admissions & graduations, & of officers employed in King's College at New York. Columbia University Libraries. pp. 21–22.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ King's College (New York, N. Y.). The matricula or Register of admissions & graduations, & of officers employed in King's College at New-York. Columbia University Libraries. pp. 28–28.
- ↑ 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. 1880. p. 27.
Francis Hopkinson b. Phila., 1738; d. Phila. 1798. AM, ad eun. Coll. N. J., 1763
- ↑ 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. JSTOR 26403802.
- ↑ "History of Penn Alumni Catalogues". University Archives and Records Center. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
- ↑ Wright, Martha (1966). "Ad Eundem Gradum". AAUP Bulletin. 52 (4): 433–436. doi:10.2307/40223470. ISSN 0001-026X. JSTOR 40223470.
- ↑ Mitchell, Martha (1993). "Honorary Degrees". Encyclopedia Brunoniana. Brown University Library. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ↑ "Verification required".
- ↑ "Brown to confer 3,288 degrees at 258th Commencement | Brown University". www.brown.edu. 2026-05-22. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
- 1 2 "Six retiring faculty, 191 years of combined teaching experience celebrated at 2018 commencement". Lawrence University News. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ "Faculty Award Citations | University Archives | Lawrence University". lux.lawrence.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ "Faculty Award Citations | University Archives | Lawrence University". lux.lawrence.edu. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ "4 Faculty Honored with MA Ad Eundem Gradum Degrees". Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Commencement Program, Commencement 2021 - Wesleyan University". www.wesleyan.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
- ↑ "Commencement Program, Commencement 2021 - Wesleyan University". www.wesleyan.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
- ↑ "Encyclopedia Brunoniana | Honorary degrees". www.brown.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ↑ "Full Commencement Program 2024" (PDF). commencement.brown.edu.
- ↑ "Brown to confer 2,921 degrees at 255th Commencement". Brown University. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
- ↑ Brown University (2023-05-28). 255th Commencement Procession and Ceremonies. Retrieved 2024-08-31 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Wesleyan Holds 177th Commencement Ceremony". Retrieved 2026-05-10.
