Doctorate degree sentiments

Doctorate degree sentiments
Academic doctorate and honorary doctorate is a dichotomy. The distinction must be made clear to put to rest the seemingly unnecessary argument of the matter in the Ghanaian media. The doctorate degree discussion has become preposterous with the voice of the National Accreditation Board (NAB). What is the mandate of the NAB with regards to honorary doctorate degrees which are not used as a qualification for academic positions?
Factually, doctorate degrees are of two angles. An angle of a doctorate degree is that which is earned from an academic progression while the second angle of a doctorate is the one awarded to deserving individuals by a university. Some individuals have either angle one or two, while other individuals have both angle one and two.
Angle one is that which is awarded as the highest degree on the academic ladder while angle two among other reasons is awarded for practical management exactitude. Recipients of angle one are expected to have enrolled in an accredited university and assiduously worked academically either on the path of a pure research or a combination of course work and research within a specified academic duration.
Usually the pure research path to the award of doctorate degree empowers its holders to be more inclined to academia unlike the combination of course work and research path which empowers its holders to both industry and academia. Modern business school education has an inclination to doctorate degree holders whose studies were a combination of both course work and research as oppose to those whose studies were a pure research.
Some of the reasons alluded to the recent preference of doctorate degrees which has a combination of course work and research is that the aspect of the course work exposes doctoral students to practical management solutions to industry compared to the pure research path which are mainly theoretical and has little or no directly tested practical solutions to organisational management. My emphasis here is for business school education with spices for management consulting.
5 Steps to obtaining an academic doctorate degree
Getting an academic doctorate degree requires writing and defending a research work popularly referred to as a dissertation. It must be stated that different universities requires different steps to follow for an award of an academic doctorate degree. The duration for a doctorate degree also vary depending on whether or not the student is studying full time or part time and the programme of study.
However, there are some common steps which are generally acceptable steps which many universities follow such as:

Coursework
The content of a doctorate coursework vary from university to university. The initial stage of the doctorate that has coursework involves the attendance of lectures and writing course assignments in your relevant field of study. Coursework lectures and assignment equips doctoral students with deep insight into the subject-matter. It enables doctoral students to develop critical minds into research for problem solving.
Residency
Residency also known as colloquia or seminar presentation provides a form that shapes the doctoral work. Residency provides the needed guidelines and interactions with course experts and supervisors (primary and secondary) and other contributors to a successful coaching for the dissertation. The residency help to shape doctoral students thought process for their dissertation by a step-by-step approach to undertaking a doctoral dissertation.
Examinations
Depending on the doctoral requirement of the university, examinations may be awarded marks that will directly contribute to the award of the doctorate degree. The examination determines the doctoral student's readiness to successfully undertake the dissertation. Examinations may be written or oral or both written and oral.
Dissertation
The method used at the dissertation stage may vary from university to university. The dissertation stage of the doctoral work is the research component for the award of a doctorate degree. At this stage, the doctoral student goes through the process of filling a dissertation manual which elicits a proposal of the research direction.
The proposal contains the topic for the research, methodology to use, methods of data collection and relevant theories to be used. Thereafter, a supervisor may be assigned to the student. The rigorous process of the dissertation which includes large reading of scholarly articles and volumes of books catapults the students into a scholar.
Acceptance
The completion and submission of the dissertation is preceded by a research review committee of the university. Then the doctoral student is called before a panel of scholars for an oral defense. Depending on the area of the dissertation, there may be the need to bring on the panel some industry experts or representative of a professional association to attest the veracity of the dissertation to the relevance of industry and/or the professional body's specification.
Depending on the performance of the students with regards to understanding and control of the research, analysis and conclusion, the panel may fail the student, recommend for major or minor amendment of the dissertation or may pass the student. Upon the satisfaction of the panel, the student will be awarded the doctorate degree.
3 Steps to obtaining honorary doctorate degree
On the other hand, honorary doctorate degrees are equally awarded by universities to individuals who have distinguished themselves in their contributions to the development of society. Such distinguished individuals are awarded honorary doctorate degrees irrespective of their educational qualification.
There are records of honorary doctorate degree holders who have no formal education. Their highly rated contribution to society is exhibited in their adroit skill in managing their careers recognizable and a huge relief to society at large. While some universities allow candidates to apply for consideration of the award of honorary doctorate degree, others require the nomination for same award by a third party.
The criteria for the award are established by the awarding university. Among the steps which are commonly used include:
Benchmark and procedures
The benchmark for the award of honorary doctorate is that the prospective honoree should have made profound contributions to society at large. Integrity on the prospective honoree is important.
The procedures for the award differ from university to university. While in some universities it is awarded to individuals who have financially contributed to the university, elsewhere the award is not conferred with the payment of money or property to the university and also not given to individuals who have declared their intention for public office.
Application
Even when the university has nominated you for honorary doctorate, an application form has to be filled to provide the university with relevant information about yourself. It may also include letters of reference indicating your accomplishment.
The honorary doctorate includes: Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Law, and Doctor of Literature among others.
Review, selection and notification
The awarding university upon receipt of the application will hand it over to the appropriate committee for verification. If the review committee is satisfied with the application, they will make a report recommending the selection for the award of the applicant.
During the review and selection process, confidentiality ensuring that no publicity is issued until the final approval has been given. The university acting on the satisfactory review and selection of the application will then notify the applicant of the university's satisfaction to award the honorary doctorate degree.
Conclusion
The hue and cry of doctorate degree in the Ghanaian and social media space must be put into perspective with respect to holders of the degree in academia and outside academia. The reference to SMC in the media with regards to persons in academia who obtained their doctorate degrees there was unwarranted because the facts speaks for itself.
The researchers could have done a good job by checking with the NAB to authenticate their data on accredited universities in Ghana. With the clarification of the NAB on SMC, persons mentioned in the research with regard to their doctorate degrees are victims of a gigantic mischief perpetrated by the researchers.
The NAB's assertion that beneficiaries of honorary doctorate degrees are wrong to use the title "Doctor" is not true unless the NAB is issuing its own directive contrary to the respected norm for the use of the title "Doctor" by beneficiaries of the prized degree. I think that the NAB must accord the beneficiaries their due respect.
Beneficiaries of honorary doctorate degrees are given the legal right to use the title "Doctor" as prefix to their names as same title "Doctor" as used by academic doctorate degree holders.








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