The proliferation of master's degrees continues to be a hot topic among faculty.
The Academic Council discussed proposals for two new master's degree programs at its monthly meeting Thursday—prompting debate on the value of expanding the University's graduate offerings and the motivations for doing so. The conversation is not a new one, part of an ongoing dialogue that was particularly apparent at the Council's November 2013 meeting.
A proposal for a master's in quantitative finance was presented by Emma Rasiel, associate professor of the practice of economics, and Tim Bollerslev, the Juanita and Clifton Kreps distinguished professor of economics. A proposal for a master's in biomedical science was presented by Dr. Kathryn Andolsek, assistant dean for premedical education, and Dr. Edward Buckley, vice dean for education for the School of Medicine.
The two proposals are a decrease from the flurry of action seen last Fall, when the Council heard proposals for five master's degree programs—raising questions of whether the infrastructure for adding new programs is appropriate, and whether the proliferation of master's programs is driven by financial or academic factors. Since the debate last year, administrators have taken steps to address these faculty concerns.
"There was much concern about the trend [last year]," said Academic Council chair Joshua Socolar, professor of physics. "Since then, Dean [of the Graduate School] Paula McClain and others have paid close attention to this issue, and it appears that the pace has slowed a bit."
A report on the impact of additional master's degree is upcoming, Socolar noted.
Both proposals were met by faculty with questions—on the academic necessity of the new programs, the types of students they might attract and their financial impact, among other factors.
Much of the conversation about the quantitative finance degree centered on whether or not the program would be too similar to existing degrees offered through the economics department and through the Fuqua School of Business. Some faculty questioned whether the program should be made an optional track in the current economics master's degree, rather than its own degree entirely.
"It's increasingly hard to tell where student specialization ends and where the need for a new master's degree begins," said Thomas Pfau, the Alice Mary Baldwin professor of English.
Rasiel noted that the current economics master's degree is a master's of arts, whereas the quantitative finance degree would be a master's of science.
Conversely, many of the questions about the biomedical sciences degree focused on how beneficial the degree would be to its students. Aimed to provide students with more knowledge and clinical experience in various areas of medicine before they choose to go further in their medical or scientific education, some questioned whether the degree might become a sort of expensive gap year for students who were not admitted to medical school on their first attempts.
Andolsek noted that, although "near-miss" medical school applicants were one group of students whom the degree would benefit, the program would offer them and others the opportunity to further explore medicine in a way that would greatly strengthen their chances of admission on a second application.
In other business:
The Council voted unanimously to approve a proposal that will upgrade the division of neurosurgery to a department. Dr. Ted Pappas, professor of surgery and vice dean for medical affairs, presented the proposal to the Council at their October meeting, noting that the transition will allow neurosurgery to be more competitive in terms of recruiting faculty and securing funding. The proposal will be presented to the Duke University Health System Board of Directors for final approval in April 2015.
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