Last August, the Church announced updates to the CES Honor Code and Ecclesiastical Endorsement, which were designed to help students grow closer to Jesus Christ and strengthen the overall student experience. The Student Ecclesiastical Endorsement had emphasized the CES Honor Code and dress and grooming policies. Updates to the Ecclesiastical Endorsement better aligned topics addressed by Church leaders with their core ecclesiastical responsibilities. Thus, the ecclesiastical interview focuses on a student’s efforts to grow spiritually and meet ecclesiastical expectations, which is an important part of accomplishing the religious mission of CES institutions. The administration of BYU policies, including the Honor Code and Dress and Grooming Principles and Expectations, now more fully resides with BYU.

As part of this update, the following two items will be going into effect.

1. The review and agreement to abide by the CES Honor Code and related university policies is no longer part of the endorsement process. Rather, students will need to review the CES Honor Code and related policies and affirm their intention to abide by them in a separate module. The module will need to be completed annually. Students will receive automated email notifications when the module needs to be completed.
   
2. Previously, different types of endorsements had different timelines. To simplify the endorsement experience for Bishops and students, we are moving to a single and consistent schedule for all endorsement renewals. In the old system, endorsements at BYU needed to be completed during the winter semester or spring/summer terms for a student to be able to register for the upcoming fall semester. This endorsement was then active for the entire academic year. Now, all ecclesiastical endorsements will be active for 12 months, regardless of when they are completed.

 An active endorsement is needed to register for classes, add classes from a waitlist, or graduate from BYU. If a student’s endorsement expires mid-semester, they will not be withdrawn from classes. Rather, they just won’t be able to register for upcoming classes, add classes from a waitlist, or graduate until their endorsement is renewed. To assist students in maintaining an active endorsement, they will begin receiving email reminders 10 weeks prior to the expiration date.

As we transition into this new system, we realize there are students slated to graduate in June and August who have had an active “academic year” endorsement that now may have an expired “12-month” endorsement. The same issue may also apply to students who are currently enrolled in summer classes and may discover an expired endorsement that keeps them from making last-minute changes to their summer class schedule. For these students, we have worked with the Registrar’s Office to ensure that the BYU system still recognizes their “academic year” endorsement so that they don’t experience any difficulties with their summer classes or June/August graduation.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Honor Code Office for assistance.