Death of a Student

When a student dies, the Dean of Students Office is involved in a variety of functions in response to the tragedy. Our responsibility extends to the parents/spouse/domestic partner/roommate(s)/close friends of the deceased and to the campus communities impacted by the student’s death.  The immediate family directs much of this process with the support of Dean of Students staff.

Please contact our office with information regarding any student death.

Dean of Students staff are able to notify various offices at the University to reduce unnecessary University contacts to the deceased student and/or their family. This includes notification to the Office of the Registrar and the Official of Financial Aid.  If the student is a resident of campus housing, notification to University Housing will also be made. Assistance with notifications also occurs for off campus residents as well. Assistance with a memorial service or student vigil is part of our service to loved ones of the deceased. When applicable, we also provide local funeral home and cemetery information.

Dean of Students staff offer assistance to the student’s UM friends, roommate, peers, classmates, and others impacted by the student’s death. Contact information for impacted persons can be called directly into the Dean of Students office with a request for an outreach. Impacted students may also call or come in for assistance. Frequently, students close to the deceased may request academic notification to professors if they are absent from class due to this situation. In the case of a roommate, assistance in temporary relocation of housing may be helpful/ available.

The Dean of Students Office hosts an annual Campus Memorial Service in the spring of each year. We remember each student in our U of M family that has died during the academic year. The service is open to families and all those affected by the loss of the U of M student. It is important that the Dean of Students (DOS) office be notified of any student who has died even if other DOS services are not needed, so that we may include them and their loved ones in this Memorial service.  We want to recognize their personal gift to us in being a member of our University of Michigan family.