Expression of Sympathy Policy

Effective Date
October 16, 2023

Revised Date

Contact

607-431-4315
communications@hartwick.edu

Purpose
Policy #4.23: This policy governs the response to a Hartwick community member death.

Policy Scope
This policy applies to employees, alumni, donors and friends of Hartwick College.

Responsible Office
Strategic Communications

Please note: no community announcement will be made of a death unless permission is granted by survivors of the deceased. Our priority is to support the privacy and protected class information of current employees and students.

Hartwick College wishes to support our community when employees experience the loss of a loved one or when a community member passes away. Although there is no true way to quantify the importance and contribution that a person has made to our community, this policy provides guidance on how to best express our care of, and sympathy for, those who are left behind.

This policy defines: who should report the loss of an individual and to whom this loss should be reported; departments responsible for taking sympathy actions; sympathy actions to be taken; and the management of memorial services.

The loss of a loved one should be reported in a timely way so the College community may show its support. It is better that too many people report the passing of a community member rather than no one, so please share this information to the appropriate office(s) as noted below.

The Office of Strategic Communications will be responsible for reporting all losses to the College Community in every instance and will identity the specific areas of the community that will be receiving notifications related to losses.

Requests for a campus based memorial service should be sent to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Affairs. It is assumed that survivors will cover all expenses incurred with the memorial service; the standard facility rental fee will be waived if the decedent is a Current Student, Current Employee or Retired Employee, Current or Former Trustee, or an individual who has a special relationship with the President’s Office of College (as determined by the President). Campus space and all catering services must be reserved through Event Scheduling at scheduling@hartwick.edu.

This policy specifies official recognition to be offered at the time of a death and does not limit the personal actions that individual community members may take to show their own sympathy and support during these times of need.

What actions are to be taken by the Reporting Department upon consent of the survivor?

If the deceased is a Current Student or Current Employee, the Reporting Department will ensure that a community announcement, sympathy card, and gift are the actions taken.
If the deceased is a Current Employee’s Immediate Family Member, the action taken by the Reporting Department will be a sympathy card and gift.
If the deceased is a Retired Employee, the action taken by the Reporting Department will be a community announcement and sympathy card.
If the deceased is a Current or Former Trustee or an individual who has a special relationship with the President’s Office, the action taken will be determined by the President’s Office.
If the deceased is an Alum who has a special philanthropic relationship with the College, the action taken will be determined by the Office of Institutional Advancement and External Affairs.

*No community announcement will be made unless approved by the survivor. This provision supports the privacy and protected class information of current employees and students.

Refer to the information below in order to determine the appropriate unit(s) to report to, the unit taking the action, and the action to be taken.

If the deceased is a:

Current Student

The invidividual receiving information will report all information to:

Student Experience (studentaffairs@hartwick.edu/607-431-4501); and Institutional Advancement & External Affairs (advancement@hartwick.edu/607-431-4081); and Strategic Communications (communications@hartwick.edu/607431-4041)