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以下是早上收到的来自一位教授的群发给系里教授和研究生的邮件：

Colleagues,

I am investigating the feasibility of offering the coursework-only option

for getting a Ph.D.

Currently getting a Ph.D. requires that the majority of credits be derived

from research, which

can be problematic. Granting the Ph.D. degree based on the research

contributions contained in a doctoral dissertation

raises several issues, which include but are not limited to:

1) Research requires finding new ideas, developing new algorithms, or

building complex systems, which can turn frustrating.

2) Research is very labor-intensive and time-consuming, often requiring that

students spend evenings and weekends in the lab.

3) Ph.D. students have to publish their research in refereed venues, the

acceptance to which is highly-subjective and depends on the opinion of

anonymous reviewers.

4) Many Ph.D. students have developed an impressive ability to do well in

classes, and applying this ability to earning only some of the required

credits can be limiting.

5) Some Ph.D. students find it very frustrating having to answer the

question "when are you going to be done" with "when my research is good

enough and is published in the right places".

6) Writing a dissertation is a time-consuming undertaking that can take

months or even years to complete.

7) Ph.D. exams are often challenging to schedule, and committee members can

ask questions that are difficult to answer.

The coursework-only option would allow students to derive all the required

graduate credits from courses. One possible caveat is that coursework-only

Ph.D. students would have to maintain perfect GPA, with perhaps only a

couple of A- grades allowed.

The coursework-only Ph.D. option is only in early planning stages, and if

proposed, would have to be approved by the GPC, the college, and the

university. Nevertheless, I would like to solicit your feedback on this

option. If you a graduate student, please let me know if you may be

interested in pursuing the coursework-only option. If you are a faculty,

please let me know if you would consider recommending this option to your

students.

Regards,

Eli

回复一：

Very interesting and innovative!

I like this idea ;-)

回复二：

Hi, Eli.

I very much agree on your point 6).   I do not really see much
value in a voluminous thesis; in my opinion, one has  to be able to earn a Ph.D. based on publications only.  This is the case in several venerable  European institution (e.g. in Sweden), where the thesis is simply a collated set of student's pubs with some kind of unifying preface.

I can not see, however, how one can earn a Ph.D. without a serious research experience.  Yes, it does require finding new ideas, building new methods,  and it does involve lots of frustration (most of the time),  followed by moments of epiphany (sometimes),  but isn't it what it is all about?

                                           Just an opinion.

回复三：

Hi Eli,

Good idea, I would've loved for this option to have been available before I started and spent all this time. One question: would transfer credits count?

Another option that has been heavily recommended to me via email has been to confer a doctoral degree based on life work experiences. They say I don't even have to enroll, they will just send me my degree by mail -- how cool is that! It gets rid of the pesky coursework requirement as well. Glad I retrieved those emails from my spam mailbox in time.

I'm thankful that there are souls like you in academia who look out for us, especially on special days such as today. ;)

回复四：

I think this is an excellent idea.  I've been on a few job interviews lately, and they are absolutely grilling me on my coursework, and they don't seem particularly interested in my research. 

I do have one question, however.  It seems that it will be more difficult for faculty to do research without having graduate students working on the research option PhD.  Is it possible to do away with the research requirement for tenure and promotion at the same time?

回复五：

Eli,

I am so impressed by your innovative thinking. Don't worry about those who disagree with the idea. I am glad you are in my committee. Today, I agree 100% with you. However, I will have to give you my detailed opinion tomorrow. After I collect and burn everything I have done for the past 5 years towards a Ph.D.

Would I still need to have a committee to get a PhD?

- Amine C.

:):):):)

P.S. Best idea to enhance student-faculty interaction in the department.

我的：

The best idea i have seen today! It makes my day:))))