Trustees OK 'Master of Philosophy' degree

Graduate students who want to continue their education beyond a Master's degree, but who don't want to write a doctoral dissertation, should welcome a new degree offered this year by the School of Arts and Sciences. The University's Board of Trustees approved the "Master of Philosophy" in June to provide students with graduate-level education in the arts and sciences that is not necessarily oriented toward a research career. According to the proposal approved by the Trustees, all SAS graduate programs may decide whether to offer the degree in their respective departments. Each program will determine its own entrance requirements, with the approval of the SAS Graduate Education Committee and the SAS Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. The degree requires between 14 and 18 courses -- about six to eight classes more than a traditional Master's degree -- but does not require a lengthy dissertation. But students who are in a doctoral program now cannot drop the dissertation midway through the program and get the new degree, administrators said. Last year, graduate students initiated the proposal to offer the extended Master's, stressing they needed greater expertise than what a traditional Master's degree provides. SAS Graduate School Dean Walter Licht said he expects many students in the College's continuing education Master's program to pursue the new degree, adding that 30 graduates of the Organizational Dynamics program have already applied. "I do know there are people holding Master's degrees in history and English -- and even in the sciences -- who would like to continue their graduate-level studies, but have no interest in or need to attain a doctorate with its lengthy dissertation work," Licht said. "They will be our clientele for the Master of Philosophy. I suspect they might include a number of secondary-school teachers." CGS Director Richard Hendrix agreed that the new program would interest graduates in his school. "So far our plan is to use the Master of Philosophy degree within our Master of Liberal Arts program -- as a kind of second Master's degree for students who distinguished themselves in the MLA," Hendrix said. But CGS has not made the new degree option available yet because administrators are awaiting final approval from the SAS Graduate Education Committee. Once the committee gives its approval, the school may admit students for the program as soon as January.