I
did not know much about off-campus PhD degrees. I knew that as a
possibility but did not know that it seems to be a mechanism for getting
an easy PhD in some places in India! And with a PhD one satisfies
UGC/AICTE norms to be appointed as Assistant Professor!
Here's an article about Assam education minister speaking in the state assembly about cutting pay and stopping increments of teachers with off-campus Phd degrees, http://www.telegraphindia.com/
Some notes:
"Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the government would reduce salaries and stop promotions of college teachers having “off-campus” PhD degrees." The minister opined that off-campus PhD degrees have relaxed rules and involved less academic pressure. He also made a nice quip about attempt to find details about universities offering such off-campus PhD degrees being a work of research in itself!
He mentioned reports of a shocking 75 per cent of college teacher appointments in recent years involving off-campus PhD degrees!
He also raised some doubt about on campus PhD degrees from National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) 'C' grade universities and indicated that they may not be accepted. [Ravi: So NAAC rating plays a vital role in establishing credibility of a university not only with UGC but also with the very powerful government ministers.]
The article also mentions about a college teacher who got an off-campus PhD degree from a UGC recognized university, and who followed all norms for UGC PhD degree. He said that it will be an injustice if the government does not recognize his/her degree now. [Ravi: I tend to agree with the above college teacher. If the off-campus doctorate has been obtained from a recognized UGC university following UGC norms then UGC is at fault for giving permission to the university to give off-campus doctorate degrees. How can the government punish the poor teacher for UGC's fault and declare his/her off-campus PhD invalid!]
Ravi comments:
Hmm. Interesting world of PhD club academia. The idea, in the case of some of the less reputed academics/academic-
I wonder how many of such off-campus PhD teachers are CS or IT teachers.
P.S. A State Level Entrance Test (SLET) or National Entrance Test (NET) is not even mentioned in this context. I get the impression that, at least for the less reputed academics/academic institutions, the PhD route is the easier route to Assistant Professorship than clearing SLET or NET. But then I am not sure and may be way off the mark here.
A US academic responded by mail to the above matter by sharing the Lorenz university, http://www.lorenzuniversity.
I am quite astonished by this Lorenz university online degree mill continuing to do business! With online accreditation agencies to boot!
http://www.kchodorow.com/blog/
And Lorenz offers a doctorate degree as well!
But then, it being a scam can easily be detected by knowledgeable persons. In the case of the Indian state, Assam, some of whose universities are offering weak off-campus PhDs, it seems that they were recognized by UGC, the apex higher education body of the country! That makes it far worse.
I was also informed that a number of people associated with Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC) did their PhDs as external students from different universities (typically IITs and IISc).
I am quite sure that TRDDC would be an outstanding example of genuine and high-quality, off-campus (external student) PhDs.
As I have understood the desperate attempts by top academic administrators, bureaucrats & ministers to stem the rot in less reputed Indian academic institutions, which perhaps are a significant majority, they use a sledgehammer approach to resolve such problems. Perhaps they don't have a choice given the magnitude of the problem they face both in terms of the rot and in terms of sheer number of students affected.
In this case I am quite sure exceptions will be made for genuine high-quality off-campus (external student) PhDs. But the rule on paper may exclude off-campus PhDs. Such is life in India. The scamsters create trouble even for the genuine people.
Here's an article about Assam education minister speaking in the state assembly about cutting pay and stopping increments of teachers with off-campus Phd degrees, http://www.telegraphindia.com/
Some notes:
"Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the government would reduce salaries and stop promotions of college teachers having “off-campus” PhD degrees." The minister opined that off-campus PhD degrees have relaxed rules and involved less academic pressure. He also made a nice quip about attempt to find details about universities offering such off-campus PhD degrees being a work of research in itself!
He mentioned reports of a shocking 75 per cent of college teacher appointments in recent years involving off-campus PhD degrees!
He also raised some doubt about on campus PhD degrees from National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) 'C' grade universities and indicated that they may not be accepted. [Ravi: So NAAC rating plays a vital role in establishing credibility of a university not only with UGC but also with the very powerful government ministers.]
The article also mentions about a college teacher who got an off-campus PhD degree from a UGC recognized university, and who followed all norms for UGC PhD degree. He said that it will be an injustice if the government does not recognize his/her degree now. [Ravi: I tend to agree with the above college teacher. If the off-campus doctorate has been obtained from a recognized UGC university following UGC norms then UGC is at fault for giving permission to the university to give off-campus doctorate degrees. How can the government punish the poor teacher for UGC's fault and declare his/her off-campus PhD invalid!]
Ravi comments:
Hmm. Interesting world of PhD club academia. The idea, in the case of some of the less reputed academics/academic-
I wonder how many of such off-campus PhD teachers are CS or IT teachers.
P.S. A State Level Entrance Test (SLET) or National Entrance Test (NET) is not even mentioned in this context. I get the impression that, at least for the less reputed academics/academic institutions, the PhD route is the easier route to Assistant Professorship than clearing SLET or NET. But then I am not sure and may be way off the mark here.
A US academic responded by mail to the above matter by sharing the Lorenz university, http://www.lorenzuniversity.
I am quite astonished by this Lorenz university online degree mill continuing to do business! With online accreditation agencies to boot!
http://www.kchodorow.com/blog/
And Lorenz offers a doctorate degree as well!
But then, it being a scam can easily be detected by knowledgeable persons. In the case of the Indian state, Assam, some of whose universities are offering weak off-campus PhDs, it seems that they were recognized by UGC, the apex higher education body of the country! That makes it far worse.
I was also informed that a number of people associated with Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC) did their PhDs as external students from different universities (typically IITs and IISc).
I am quite sure that TRDDC would be an outstanding example of genuine and high-quality, off-campus (external student) PhDs.
As I have understood the desperate attempts by top academic administrators, bureaucrats & ministers to stem the rot in less reputed Indian academic institutions, which perhaps are a significant majority, they use a sledgehammer approach to resolve such problems. Perhaps they don't have a choice given the magnitude of the problem they face both in terms of the rot and in terms of sheer number of students affected.
In this case I am quite sure exceptions will be made for genuine high-quality off-campus (external student) PhDs. But the rule on paper may exclude off-campus PhDs. Such is life in India. The scamsters create trouble even for the genuine people.
Besides PhDs being sold, medical degrees also seem to be virtually on sale in India, according to this article in The Hindu on June 26th, 2013, Doctors by merit, not privilege. The author, Sujata Rao, has strong credentials.
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