Hobart and William Smith Colleges

• Transcripts
• Replacement Diplomas
• Apostille/Authentication
• Auditing a Course
• Taking Courses as an Alumni
• Alums & Friends Home

DIPLOMA REPLACEMENTS

If your diploma has been misplaced or destroyed, you may request a replacement copy. To request a copy, please complete the Diploma Replacement Request form. Replacement diplomas take approximately 4-6 weeks. Please submit your payment of $75.00 in the form of cash or check via mail to the address below.

Please sign and submit the completed form by wither scanning and sending via email to registrar@hws.edu, or faxing it to (315) 781-3920.

Send it via mail to:
Hobart and William Smith Colleges 
Office of the Registrar
300 Pulteney St. 
Geneva, NY 14456

If a student's name has been legally changed by marriage, court order, or gender change, a new diploma may be issued upon written request, including legal proof of the change (i.e. driver's license, passport, copy of court order) payment of the fee, and return of the original diploma.

APOSTILLE/AUTHENTICATION

What is an Apostille/Authentication?
When traveling overseas, students or alumni may be asked to provide a diploma or transcript to a foreign government. The Apostille may be requested to assess the authenticity of these documents. Be sure to read and understand what is being requested. Diplomas and or transcripts may need authentication. Some entities may require original diplomas and transcripts while others may accept copies so be sure to find out what is needed. Please understand that this is a multi-step process and takes some time to complete.

1. To begin the Apostille Authentication

Diploma Authentication:
Send in the original diploma, a copy of it if copies are accepted, along with a letter indicating what needs to be done and your mailing address for return of your documents to the Registrar's office. We will then verify the diploma and have the original or the copy, whichever is indicated, notarized and sent back to the requestor.

If the original diploma is needed and a replacement is desired please see information on how to obtain a Diploma Replacement.

Transcript Authentication:
Complete the transcript request form. Indicate that the transcript needs to be authenticated for Apostille in the address box. Please provide a mailing address so that it may be returned promptly.

2. It is the responsibility of the requestor to complete the process by submitting the materials to the Ontario County Clerk's Office. Please go to the Ontario County Clerk's website for contact information and further details.

3. After documents have been authenticated by the County Clerk, they will then need to be sent to the NYS Department of State. Please go to the NYS Department of State's website for instructions and fees for submitting documents for the Certification of Authentication. It is the requestor's responsibility to submit the documents to the NYS Department of State.

Please feel free to contact us regarding any questions you may have about this process.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Office of the Registrar
300 Pulteney St.
Geneva, NY 14456
(315) 781-3651

Auditing a Course

Non-matriculated HWS students who wish to audit a class must obtain approval from the instructor offering the class. This approval must be granted either using the Course Audit Registration Form or an email from the instructor to the Registrar's Office. There is a nominal fee to audit a course as a non-matriculated student ($150 or $75 for people 55 and older). More information can be obtained from the Registrar’s Office.

The following conditions apply when auditing a course:

• Audits may be added only during the add/drop period of the semester.
• Audited classes carry no credit and do not apply toward graduation requirements, or enrollment status.
• Students and faculty/staff auditing a course are not expected to submit any work for the course unless the instructor requires it as part of the auditing arrangement.
• The instructor of an audited course is not expected to grade any work from an auditing student, nor track an auditing student's participation or attendance.
• Auditors cannot change a course from an audit to a graded course (including CR/DCR/NC) at any time during the semester they are auditing the course.
• The instructor of record reserves the right to de-register an auditor at any time.
• A notation of "AUD" will appear on auditors' transcripts for audited courses.

Taking Courses as an Alumni

Alumni who have graduated five or more years prior may take an individual courses at HWS for free each year. See the Non-matriculated HWS page.