Draft amendments to the Degree Conferral Act (學位授予法) yesterday passed an initial review by the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee, with the regulations to allow students with remarkable achievements to use practical achievements in their field of study in place of an oral defense of their thesis.
According to the draft amendments, master’s and doctoral students of the arts, applied sciences and sports would be allowed to complete a task or provide proof of a special achievement instead of submitting a thesis.
If students complete an artwork or provide proof of a special achievement instead of submitting a thesis, they would have to provide a written report.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
For sports student, a special achievement could be winning at a major event.
While legislators across party lines agreed to introduce some flexibility over graduation qualifications to encourage diversity and innovation in higher education, some said the changes might lead to inconsistency in graduation standards.
If an Olympic gold medalist was granted a doctoral degree, people would ask whether an Asian Games gold medalist should be treated the same way, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) said, adding that there must be consistency in the standards used to evaluate special achievements.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said doctoral degrees should be reserved for students with professional academic training and the ability to conduct analytical research.
The ministry would ensure that universities are cautious when evaluating students’ work and accomplishment, Department of Higher Education Director-General Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said.
Students would be evaluated not only based on their work or achievement, but also their written report, Chu said, adding that doctoral degrees would have higher standards than master’s degrees.
To prevent students from hiring thesis writers, the draft amendments make writing a thesis for another and submitting it punishable by a fine from NT$300,000 to NT$1 million (US$9,679 and US$32,262), an increase from NT$200,000 to NT$300,000.
As thesis writers are often paid from NT$250,000 to NT$300,000, the fine must be higher than that to serve as a deterrent, Ko said.
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