drsquestion
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Posts: 2
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« on: November 29, 2010, 11:27:11 AM » |
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A long-time lurker here whose regular moniker has enough postings to warrant the use of a sockpuppet to ask for forumite advice regarding a specific situation.
Background: A 75 year old, undergraduate, private faith-based institution with a student body of 4,000 students and fully accredited in the United States. For the most part, recent faculty have earned the Ph.D with an accredited institution, though it is not unusual to hire faculty with a masters that is a good "fit" for the school. The school has been deeply inbred in the past, and though it seems to have turned a corner in the last couple of decades, older faculty in administrative positions continue to make a push for preferred candidates from time to time.
Current situation: Without divulging too much specific information, the anthropology department has made a strong push to hire a candidate with the title "DRS" listed on his vita, with a transcript that indicates the awarding of a degree of "Doctor of Religious Studies" from an American based institution that appears to be an online-only school that was accredited by the University of Liverpool, England, at least for the first couple of years of the candidate's course work, after which the accreditation status is unclear.
For the department that is making a major push to hire this candidate, this degree provides sufficient evidence of the candidate's minimal qualifications for faculty status. The main motivation, though, is to hire a "known quantity" with 20 years of experience in the “field”: namely, in China. The anthropology department has exhibited giddy excitement in hiring someone fluent in Chinese and acquainted with Chinese culture that would make the classroom “come alive,” and, more importantly, to work with around 300 Chinese students that have been admitted to our institution in spite of the typical low ability to speak and write in English. The University solution is to bring this candidate to teach a couple of courses in Chinese and thereby begin to acclimate these students to the university culture in the States. For this hire, an inbreeding culture coupled with preferring practical concerns over academic training is raising a number of questions among the faculty throughout the college. (This may be an institution-specific culture, but hires are typically done on the college level with the entire faculty from other departments invited to provide feedback – this is a smaller college with departments that are closely associated in disciplines: think anthropology, religion, geography, foreign languages, etc).
Have you ever heard of a “DRS” degree? A Google search has turned up mostly links to Ph.D or Ed.D programs with a specialty in religion, but the vita and transcript clearly indicates that this is a “Doctor in Religious Studies.” My initial hunch is that this is a pseudo degree earned from a diploma mill. Any evidence or insight regarding the nature and status of this kind of degree will be most welcome!
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