Mr. Editor,
When Former Judge Anthony Carmona became President of Trinidad and Tobago
and consequently assumed the chancellorship of the University of Trinidad and
Tobago, at the University’s graduation ceremony one year, he whispered into the
ears of all the graduates who had completed their master’s degree in Carnival
Studies: “Go now and get your doctorate.” A committed few of them have since
made the attempt to do so, but a confused number of the graduating cohort
approached me last week with a contorted view: “Why must we spend years to read for a doctorate, when Government is handing out doctoral awards freely in bundles to artists and businessmen every year on Republic Day.” They went on to say that people like deceased Lord Superior, Roy Cape, and Black Stalin have never even entered the door of a secondary school, and yet Government has bathed them with doctorates. Worse, UTT has given ordinary citizens who have never even read a lawbook on Trinidad and Tobago doctorates in law and extended doctorates in Business and Science to orphanage graduates and countless other institutions, for selling four-corner cake and solo sweet drinks.
For the records, readers must know that accredited universities such as UWI, UTT,
Howard, Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge (to name a few) give to their graduates at
the first level bachelor’s degrees in science, maths, and the humanities, or in
whatever area the student studied. They are then considered to hold undergrad
degrees such as a B. A. or a B.Sc. Those whose work have not attained the level of
a four-year degree are usually awarded certificates or diplomas. There are too, many accredited community colleges and universities that award associate degrees to students whose work extend to less than the normal 120-degree credits, or whose tenure at the institution is limited to a two-year study. Note reader, that an M.D. in medicine (Medical Doctor) and a J.D. in law (Juris Doctor) are both first level,
professional, undergrad degrees, although many a medical doctor in Trinidad and
Tobago love to put up their first degrees on their office walls, to attract clients and unsuspecting persons, especially those who cannot afford to pay a large sum to
correct their health issues.
When students graduate from a postgraduate or second level study, they are usually awarded master’s degrees. Accredited universities therefore grant master’s degrees to students whose work extended to periods of time beyond the three - or four-years undergraduate, first degree level. Such students graduate with post graduate degrees such as an M.A., M.B.A., M.Sc., and M.S. Normally, however, any study,
certificate, or diploma where the field of study is beyond the undergraduate
(Bachelors) level, such as Accountancy, Dentistry, Finance or a DiP.Ed (Diploma in
Education) is yet considered to be post-graduate. Holders of a DMD, (Doctor of
Dental Medicine) for example, have completed at least four years of post-graduate
work but are not considered holders of doctorates. When then, a student completes
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his or her undergraduate, first-level study, and is accepted by the University to do
higher or upper-level studies, that student or the study itself is normally assumed to
be a postgraduate one.
The doctorate is the highest, most advanced academic award given to students at
accredited universities; it is a third level academic study. It symbolizes that the
students have mastered a significant level of work either by research and articulation and have drafted dissertations to defend their modes of thought or their findings gained from research. Those whose levels have been attained by research and a written dissertation whereby the methodology and their findings are clinically defended are awarded PhD’s or the Doctor of Philosophy degree. In the USA, on an average, less than 50 % of post grad students complete their education at master’s level. Hence a significant number of doctorate starters are given ABD’s (Dissertation Absent) since the gaining of a doctorate is one that entails years of further, rigorous study (four to eight years beyond the masters) and intense commitment on the part of the student. Normally, in Music and Education, those whose performance levels are articulated beyond the ordinary, or are outstanding practitioners of their areas of study are awarded Ed.D.’s or Doctor of Education degrees. A Doctor of Education degree, in terms of education and status, is accepted in circles of academia as being a little lower than a PhD. However, note gentle reader, that there are also many Doctors of Divinity degrees (D.D.s.) handed to many religious pastors by disreputable, community colleges and certain religious non-Catholic institutions, and there are, especially in the United States, many confounded degree mills that sell degrees, including Ph.D’s, to unworthy people all over the world. If the truth be told,
Doctor of Divinity degrees are usually honorary or granted to the recipients freely.
Our citizenry, especially our students, must not confuse the gaining of academic
degrees from accredited universities with accolades that emerge from our
government and our universities, especially those that emanate from the University
of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) on
Republic Day. Doctoral Degrees from universities are awards for academic work and academic pursuits. PhD’s reflect people who have topped the table of academic thought and philosophy and lead the world in education, policy making, analysis of ideas, sound epistemologies, expressive writing, and critical thinking. Hence the reason I wrote in an article a year ago that many, current parliamentarians show little respect for authors of dissertations, such as our Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley.
Accolades from the government such as the ORTT and the Chaconia and
Hummingbird medals are simply commendations and medals of acknowledgment
distributed to the populace for their contributions to the society or a field of industry.
That is why such doctorates, as those given to calypsonians and musicians, are
termed “honorary.” In fact, the only institution that has the right to address the
honorary doctorate as “Doctor” is the institution that has conferred the honour on the honorary recipient; all members of the non-awarding public ought to address such a person as “Honorary Doctor.”
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An honorary doctorate given to a lawyer does not make him or her a professional
attorney at law, unless, like Mr. Russell Martineau, he holds a law degree from an
accredited university. Similarly, an honorary doctorate in science given to a
calypsonian or a businessperson does not make him/her a scientist, nor a professor
of science, or even social science; they are awarded to persons who have impacted our world in areas such as healthcare, economics, entertainment and even medicine, but they are not certificates to be used for job applications nor promotions etc. Why,
Taylor Swift the American singer holds an honorary doctorate from New York
University; Rihanna the Barbadian singer obtained hers from UWI in Barbados, and
Bill Gates obtained his from Harvard.
Accredited universities grant Doctorate degrees to those who embody scholarly
achievements; honorary degrees celebrate contributions to society; they are purely
titular degrees and confer no academic rights on the recipient. Go now graduates of UTT and persevere towards your Ph.D.
In education,
Prof. Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool, ORTT.
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