The Osmania University’s decision to set a March-end deadline for submission of doctoral theses for candidates who have completed six years has spurred ‘research’ activity while raising concerns about quality.
The premier university, which is under the pump, thanks to inadequate faculty strength following lack of recruitments and a fund crunch, has offered a “one-time, last opportunity” to Ph.D candidates enrolled in the last two decades. Many have woken up to the grim reality that their admission is at the risk of getting cancelled after expiry of the deadline.
Although the intent of the administration seems sound on paper, the university is apparently caught in a bind to accept theses with ‘less academic rigour’ and ‘quality’ as it is being “fast-tracked” and “compressed into a few months” whereas the entire process usually takes three to six years.
During the six-year period, candidates in consultation with their guides are supposed to make physical presentations to the department research committees about the research design, progress report, and the pre-submission seminar — first one in six months, progress report in a year or so and pre-submission in three years, said academic sources.
“We have many examples of research students enrolling for Ph.D programmes, but not completing it for years together. So, the idea behind setting a deadline is to compel them to take research to a logical end and submit their theses for further evaluation by a panel of experts,” informed a senior faculty member, requesting anonymity.
The question being asked is whether the faculty, under pressure from different groups over the past few years, will be able to ensure quality with so many doctoral works being submitted for scrutiny and approval in such a short window. In their eagerness to meet the deadline and not to miss out on the chance, some candidates are said to be “outsourcing” the research work, revealed academic sources, pleading anonymity.
Initially, it was decided to give time from July-December 2021 for submission but due to the COVID third wave, the date was extended till March-end. “The decision to give one last opportunity was taken by all the deans and the Vice-Chancellor. It is a tough task but the onus is on the faculty to own up the responsibility and ensure qualitative work is approved,” said dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Osmania University K. Narender.
It is easier said than done considering that OU has 400 of the sanctioned 1,270 teaching faculty, including assistant professors. On top of that, retired teachers are “giving up their students” not keen to take up ‘additional pressures’ in clearing up the pending theses.
“This has added to the burden on the existing faculty as ‘supervisors’ are not familiar with the new students,” pointed out a professor. “It is physically and mentally draining to go through one single project, and handling a couple of them is an uphill task”, added another faculty member.
Interestingly, the university apparently does not “cancel” Ph.D admissions, no matter however much delayed, and for a penalty per year, anyone can submit their thesis for approval!
