New Protocols to Aid Degree Completion for Students Affected by Immigration Laws

Syracuse University this fall has adopted new protocols designed to allow students impacted by recent changes to U.S. immigration law to complete their academic degrees.

The protocols, approved by Chancellor and President Kent Syverud and Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly, create a pathway to degree completion for currently enrolled students whose studies may have been interrupted by the changes implemented by the Trump Administration. The protocols were initially drafted by the University Senate’s Academic Affairs Committee last spring and subsequently endorsed by the full Senate.

“We are an international community of scholars,” says Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs LaVonda Nichelle Reed. “As such, we have an obligation to ensure that those students affected by recent changes in immigration law have the support needed to successfully complete their Syracuse University degree program. These protocols create a pathway for them to do that by protecting the substantial investment of resources that they already have put into their Syracuse University education.”

The protocols apply to current undergraduate and graduate students who are refused re-entry to the U.S. by the first day of classes or who are deported from the U.S. on or after the first day of classes. They are formulated to maximize opportunity for students to complete courses and degrees, whether students are enrolled in programs that only require coursework for degree completion or in a graduate program requiring a thesis or dissertation.

In addition to other requirements, students must be in good standing, both academically and with respect to conduct, in order to be eligible.

All protocols are subject to the limits imposed by accreditation and professional licensing requirements for the specific degree program in which a student is enrolled.

To review the text of the protocols and a related Frequently Asked Questions document, go to the Office of the Registrar website here or the Slutzker Center website here.