January 8, 2009
Dr. Risa I. Palm
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
State University of New York
State University Plaza
Albany, NY 12246
RE: Proposal by the University at Albany for a
Combined MA Women’s Studies / PhD Sociology Program.
Dear Risa,
I am writing to share some major concerns regarding the above referenced combined
degree program (Attachment #1) that has recently been approved by the University at
Albany and submitted to SUNY System. As with all proposals that present novel issues, it
would appear that it would be most beneficial for SUNY and UAlbany if your office work
together with the University Faculty Senate to carefully review this proposal and to
formulate appropriate guidelines before this proposal – perhaps in a modified form - is sent
on to the State Education Department. In summary, the main concerns are as follows.
1. There is no precedent for a registered combined program within SUNY that involves a
Master and a PhD degree from DIFFERENT departments, and there appear to be no SUNY
guidelines that regulate such programs. In fact, such formally registered programs
involving MA and PhD from different departments may not exist at any other university in
the USA. Consequently, the UAlbany program, if approved, will set a very broad
precedent.
2. The proposal formalizes a 100% double counting, i.e., a “two for the price of one”
policy. All other formal dual degree programs at UAlbany (e.g. BA/MA, BS/MA,
MA/MA, joint programs UAlbany – Albany Law School) impose specific limits on the
number of credits that can be counted towards both degrees simultaneously, typically 40%
of one program, or a maximum of 20% of the combined total credits. The unprecedented
complete double counting explicitly documented in the proposal raises major questions
about the quality and integrity of the program that may reflect negatively on UAlbany and
– if approved by System - also on SUNY.
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 2
3. While the WSS/SOC proposal was approved by UAlbany faculty governance in May
2008, such approval was based on information that was significantly incomplete. Once
additional relevant information became available soon thereafter, UAlbany Senate Officers
recognized the potential problems and urged the UAlbany President to delay signing the
bill until more complete information would be available. Such information was gathered
by the Committee on Educational Policy and Procedures (CEPP) of the UAlbany Graduate
Academic Council (GAC) during fall 2008, but there was no thourough review by
governance of CEPP’s reports. The proposers of the WSS MA / SOC PhD proposal de
facto ignored relevant information implicit in the reports, were adamant about not
considering any revisions, and eventually prevailed upon Interim Provost S. Phillips and
Interim President George Philip to approve the proposal in its original form at the
beginning of December 2008.
4. The proposers and other supporters of the proposal argue that their proposal does not
create anything new, since this particular combined degree program, as well as others, have
been offered informally at UAlbany. Justification for such informal “programs” is derived
from a right of the doctoral faculty to evaluate and decide what prior graduate work of an
applicant qualifies the student for “advanced standing”, i.e., to decide what prior course
work could be counted towards fullfillment of the course requirements for the PhD. It
appears that the proposers want to transform the informal arrangements to grant advanced
standing to students based on a case by case evaluation of the individual’s record into a
standardized practice formalized as a combined degree program to be registered with the
State Education Department, without taking into consideration the substantial differences
and the implications of an unprecedented formal 100% double counting for the integrity
and quality of SUNY’s programs.
5. Additional context for the approval process at UAlbany is provided by the fact that the
UAlbany Dean of Graduate Studies, who successfully promoted the proposal before the
UAlbany Senate last May and before the Graduate Academic Council later this fall, is a
former Director of Graduate Studies and former Chair of the Department of Women’s
Studies. The Dean also continues to be a “core” faculty member of that department.
Furthermore, the Chair of the CEPP, the committee of the Graduate Academic Council that
in fall 2008 “researched” the existence of comparable programs and the need for any
relevant regulations, is a staff member in the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.
While this appearance of a major conflict of interest has no direct bearing on the merits of
the proposal and will have to be addressed by UAlbany Faculty Governance, it does shed
some additional light on the particular decision making process concerning this proposal.
More details about these matters and relevant documentation are provided in the appendix.
Again, given the unusual nature, precedent setting potential, and the concerns about 100%
double counting (as described in items 1 – 4 above) in a proposal to be registered with the
State Education Department, it would appear that a thorough review by SUNY System and
the University Faculty Senate would be in the best interest of SUNY and help to protect the
integrity of its programs. While a combined WSS MA / SOC PhD program may indeed be
a valuable interdisciplinary addition to SUNY’s programs, the underlying questions and
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 3
concerns about the integrity of this program regarding the extent of admissible double
counting should be carefully examined before the proposal is submitted to the State
Education Department.
I hope very much that your office will initiate such a thorough review by SUNY System
and the University Faculty Senate. SUNY needs to ensure that its programs meet the
highest standards of integrity recognized by leading institutions.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely yours,
R. Michael Range
Vice Chair 2008-2009 UAlbany University Senate
UAlbany Representative to the SUNY Faculty Senate
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University at Albany
(518) 442-4615
range@math.albany.edu
Cc:
John J. O’Connor, Officer in Charge and Vice Chancellor, SUNY
Carl Wiezalis, President, University Faculty Senate
Norman Goodman, Vice President and Secretary, University Faculty Senate
Mark Noll, Chair, Graduate and Reseach Committee of the University Faculty Senate
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 4
APPENDIX
The numbering of sections in the appendix corresponds to the numbering of areas of
concern in the letter.
1. a) The UAlbany Graduate Bulletin (http://www.albany.edu/graduatebulletin/) does not
contain any guidelines or regulations for combined degree programs involving an MA
degree and a PhD degree. There are specific guidelines governing BA/MA, BS/MA,
MA/MA combined degree programs. The only formal registered program listed in the
Graduate Bulletin involving an MA and a PhD degree is the Joint M.S.W./Ph.D. Program
in Social Welfare offered by the School of Social Welfare, a unit without any departmental
structure.
b) UFS colleagues at the other SUNY University Centers reported that there are no
combined MA/PhD program involving different departments at their institutions, and that
they are not aware of any relevant SUNY regulations. (e-mail correspondence available
upon request.)
c) The CEPP report states: “At this time, the CEPP was unable to find any cross
disciplinary MA/PhD programs that are officially registered with a University or state that
could be used as a model for the proposed Womens’s Studies MA / Sociology PhD.”
(CEPP report of October 16, 2008 meeting, Attachment # 2)
2. a) The UAlbany guidelines regulating combined BA/MA, BS/MA, MA/MA programs
explicitly limit the number of credits that can be counted towards both degrees
simultaneously. For example, for MA/MA: “Total minimum credit-hour requirements
for dual master's degrees programs will be 48 credits. Up to 20 percent of the total
graduate credits normally required for dual programs may be applied simultaneously
to both graduate programs.”
(http://www.albany.edu/graduatebulletin/requirements_dual_masters.htm)
b) While the CEPP report (Attachment #2) mentions the Public Administration & Policy /
Albany Law School Joint M.P.A / JD program in its search for applicable comparable
program, that report fails to point out that this registered program also limits the credits
that can be double counted: “An advantage of the joint degree program is that a maximum of six
courses may be applicable to both degrees.”
(http://www.albany.edu/graduatebulletin/public_admin_policy_joint_mpa_jd_degree.htm).
c) The Social Welfare Joint M.S.W/Ph.D. Program mentioned in 1.a) limits double
counting to 12 out of a total of 96 credits.
(http://www.albany.edu/graduatebulletin/ssw_joint_msw_phd_social_welfare.htm)
d) The CEPP report also makes reference to dual degree programs at the University of
Michigan:
“During the discussion of this issue, the University of Michigan has been referenced
several times as having dual programs. It was discovered that the University has a
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 5
“Student-Initiated Dual Degree Program” that allows a student to pursue a doctoral
degree in one field and a Master’s in another. The student can, in essence, combine any
two areas they choose. Please see 2.3.1 at
http://www.rackham.umich.edu/policies/gsh/section2/#23 .” (Attachment #2)
Quite surprisingly, the CEPP report neglects to also point to section 2.3.2 on “Double
Counting Credit Hours for Dual Degree Programs”, even though section 2.3.1 ends with
such a reference, and section 2.3.2 comes immediately thereafter. There one would have
read a remarkably clear policy which in particular includes the following statement:
“To preserve the integrity of each Rackham degree, at least half of the minimum
required credit hours for each Rackham degree must be earned in the Rackham
program under a Rackham registration, and counted solely for that degree. For
example, a student enrolled in a 36-hour Rackham master's degree program may
not apply more than a combination of 18 transfer and/or double-counted credit
hours toward the Rackham program. “
Given that these Student-Initiated Dual Degree Programs at the University of Michigan are
the only formal dual MA/PhD programs that the CEPP could identify nationwide, it is
more than puzzling that the CEPP neglected to point out the critical limit on the number of
credits that can be double counted. If it is important for UMichigan to “preserve the
integrity of each Rackham degree…..”, shouldn’t it be equally important for SUNY to
preserve the integrity of each graduate degree offered by any of its units, and by UAlbany
in particular?
To summarize: All examples of formal combined programs that involve an MA and a PhD
or JD degree that have been identified do explicitly and significantly limit the number of
credits that can be counted simultaneously towards both degrees. It is difficult to
understand how the CEPP, which after all identified these programs, could have failed to
point out this critical information that goes to the very heart of the concerns about the
quality and integrity of the Women’s Studies / Sociology proposal. (See also 5.e) below)
3. a) The 10/03/2008 letter by Senate Vice Chair Range to UAlbany Interim President
George Philip summarizes the approval process at UAlbany and relevant issues up to that
point in time (Attachment #3).
b) Subsequently, the CEPP of the Graduate Academic Council (GAC) submitted its first
report (Attachment #2) which documents the non-existence of comparable registered
combined MA/PhD programs. Details of this report have been discussed under 1. and 2.
above. Note, in particular, the puzzling omissions of critical interpretative information in
that report. The CEPP also met on October 30 to discuss whether there is a need for new
policies regarding combined MA/PhD programs. (Attachment #4) The Committee
concluded that no new policies were needed. A detailed written response was submitted to
Larry Kranich, Chair of the Graduate Academic Council, on Nov. 2 (Attachment #5).
c) The preceding information and the concerns regarding the excessive double counting in
the proposed UAlbany combined MA/PhD program were thoroughly discussed with
Interim Provost Susan Phillips in a meeting on November 7, 2008.
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 6
d) The questions raised in response to the second CEPP report (Attachment # 5) were
discussed at the November 11, 2008 meeting of the GAC, which was attended by several
senate officers. No agreement was reached. The Chair of the CEPP, the Dean of Graduate
Studies, and the chair of the Women’s Studies Department did not see any need to limit
double counting of credits, since the particular “program” had been run informally, and it
was the right of the Sociology doctoral faculty to accept prior course work towards the
PhD. The proposers were asked specifically why they wouldn’t consider setting up a
Women’s Studies Track of the Sociology PhD, in analogy to the Latin American and
Caribbean Studies Track of the Spanish PhD. No answer was given, except for the
statement that the Sociology department does not have any tracks for the PhD. No further
explanation was given. (Attachment # 6). This effectively terminated any efforts to work
with the proposers to modify their proposal to address the concerns about double counting.
e) Based on the two reports of the CEPP and recommendations by stake holders, Interim
President Philip approved the proposal in early December 2008.
4. a) The second CEPP report (Attachment #4), while intended to address the question
whether any new regulations may be needed for combined MA/PhD programs, de facto
sets out a rationale in support of the informally administered WSS MA / SOC PhD, and of
other such informal dual degree programs: “Currently, students who complete any
Master’s degree at the University can apply to a PhD program and it is left up to the PhD
department to decide how many (if any) of the credits are applicable to the PhD program.”
(Attachment # 4) It should be noted that this “policy” stated by CEPP is not listed in the
UAlbany Graduate Bulletin. What does exist are more restrictive explicit policies
regulating a second MA program at UAlbany. It appears that the CEPP creates a “policy”
of its own liking, simply based on the fact that there is no explicit applicable policy in the
Graduate Bulletin, as follows. “There are no regulations in the Graduate Bulleting that
limit the amount of credits a UAlbany Master’s degree can be used towards a UAlbany
PhD….. . Even students who complete an MS/MA at another institution can still apply
apply a large amount of credits (if not all) from their MA/MS to a UAlbany PhD.”
(Emphasis added.) The CEPP thus notes that there is a limit to the number of credits that
students from other instition may apply towards “advanced standing”, and - because there
is no explicit mention of UAlbany students - simply concludes that there shouldn’t be any
limits at all for UAlbany students, as long as the credits are approved by the PhD
department. Furthermore, according to the CEPP, existing policies regarding “advanced
standing” do not apply to students already at UAlbany. “Applicants for admission to the
doctoral programs who have completed graduate courses or programs elsewhere may
apply for admission with advanced standing.
http://www.albany.edu/graduatebulletin/women_studies_ma_degree.htm
........ Student enrolled in the MA Women s Studies/PhD Sociology would not be regulated
by this 50% policy as they completed the MA in residency at the University. “
(Attachment #4)
b) Even if the arguments above provide some justification for the informal combined
MA/PhD program that has been operated by the Women’s Studies and Sociology
Departments, it is difficult to apply this rationale to the majority of the students that,
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 7
according to the proposal, have gone through the program. The proposal includes the
following data.
“Since the inception of the Women’s Studies M.A. program, 11 Sociology PhD students
have completed the Women’s Studies M.A. while pursuing their PhD, and 2 Women’s
Studies M.A. students have been accepted into the Sociology PhD program. One
additional student started both programs in Fall 2005 and is pursuing them concurrently.”
(Attachment #1).
It would appear that an admission to the PhD program based on “advanced standing”, as
argued in a) would only apply to the 2 (out of the 14 students) students that had completed
the Women’s Studies MA prior to applying for admission to the Sociology PhD program.
The other 11 (Sociology PhD) students got the Women’s Studies MA (for free) “while
pursuing their PhD”, by simply choosing their course work appropriately. The proposers’
data de facto documents the existing “two for the price of one” policy in the informal
program operated by the Women’s Studies and Sociology Departments. The proposal
under consideration simply seeks to formalize this policy into an official combined degree
program to be registered with the State Education Department.
c) To confuse matters even more, the UAlbany Data Bank records several doctoral
students in the Women’s Studies Department, as well as several doctoral degrees awarded
by that department over a number of years. (See Attachment #7) Since the UAlbany
Women’s Studies Department does NOT have a doctoral program, that information is, at
best, misleading. This particular matter had been presented to Interim Provost Phillips on
November 7, 2008. Dr. Phillips recognized the inappropriateness of the data as reported
by Institutional Research, and she stated that she would follow up with cognizant
individuals to correct this matter. As of December 29, 2008, no changes or explanatory
additions have been made to the data reported in the UAlbany Data Bank.
5. a) The Dean of Graduate Studies Marjorie Pryse is an ex-officio member of the
UAlbany University Senate and of its Graduate Academic Council. In that capacity she
spoke in favor of the WSS MA / SOC PhD proposal at the May 12, 2008 senate meeting:
Senate Bill 0708-23: Proposal to establish a Combined M.A. Women’s Studies / Ph.D.
Sociology Program: The bill was introduced by GAC Chair Kranich. Dean Pryse and
Jon Bartow spoke in favor. A discussion ensued concerning the fact that in contrast to
existing MA/MA and BA/MA joint programs, this proposal allowed for the full 32 credits
for the MA to be double counted towards the PhD. The Bill passed, with six opposing and
two abstaining. ( http://www.albany.edu/senate/05-12-08_Senate_Minutes(1).doc )
Jon Bartow, the other individual identified as speaking in favor of the proposal, is Assistant
Dean of Graduate Studies and NOT a member of the senate. Dean Pryse is a former
Director of Graduate Studies and former Chair of the Department of Women’s Studies, and
she continues to be a “core” member of that department. The official “weight” of these
two top administrators from the Graduate Studies Office may have put a “stamp of
approval” on the proposal that swayed most senators to vote in its favor.
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 8
b) In September 2008 Dean Pryse continued to inject herself into matters concerning the
WSS/SOC proposal. Excerpts from a September 18, 2008 e-mail from Dean Pryse to
Larry Kranich, Chair of the Graduate Academic Council, read as follows.
“Larry………
……Concerning the question of the combined MA Women s Studies/PHD sociology, it is not at all
appropriate for the GAC to be discussing this issue. I do not understand by what policy in the
Charter the Senate Executive Committee or any of its councils has the prerogative to re-discuss a
matter that has been approved at all levels: departments, CAS Faculty Council, GAC, and the
Senate itself. The Senate passed the bill, and then it was supposed to go to the President for
signature (as do all bills, once Senate has passed them). By what authority did anyone attempt to
hold back this bill? Unless and until we have had a chance to fully explore what happened after
the bill left the Senate floor and arrived at the President s desk, I strongly oppose any re-discussion
by GAC of this bill and respectively request that you do not hold such a conversation in my
absence on Tuesday.
Please bear in mind that what is at stake here is not the content of any particular bill, but rather
the behavior of Reed (added: then Senate Chair Reed Hoyt) (and perhaps others) on the
Senate Executive Committee who appear (according to the e-mail I was copied on over the
summer that was signed by Reed) to have held back the bill for no particular reason and contrary
to any legitimate Senate process. Senate procedure, it strikes me, is NOT the prerogative of the
GAC, and therefore I strongly object to this item appearing on the agenda for Tuesday. Best—
Marjorie
Dr. Marjorie Pryse
Dean of Graduate Studies “
Note: According to UAlbany’s parliamentarian, a senate bill is not official until signed by
the President. As long as a bill is not official, the senate, and/or the appropriate
committee(s), can discuss and amend the bill, or even substitute another bill for it.
c) Dean Pryse (and others) voiced strong objections in mid september 2008 about the
senate officers’ intervention with Interim President Philip. UAlbany Senate Chair John
Delano wrote in a September 19, 2008 e-mail to the other Senate Officers Collier, Hoyt,
and Range:
“.....the perceptions are way out of alignment on the part
of the
> proposers of Bill 0708-23 (The WSS MA / SOC PhD). (a) I
had a 2-hour telephone conversation (!)
> with Marjorie (Added: Marjorie Pryse, Dean of Graduate Studies) this
afternoon.
(b) Three individuals associated with
> WSS/SOC have requested a meeting with George (Added: George
Philip, Interim President) on how they have been wronged
> by all of us in this process. (c) There is a perception
that the subset of
> the Senate Executive Committee was out-of-bounds by
approaching George
> with questions after the Bill had passed the Senate on May
12. …….
Dr. Risa Palm, January 8, 2009
Page 9
(d) I had been planning to mention the WSS/SOC issue in my
> Chair's Report on Monday, even before this explosion, and
still plan to
> make reference to it. ........
d) At the November 11, 2008 meeting of the UAlbany Graduate Academic Council, at
which the status of the WSS / SOC proposal was further discussed, Graduate Dean Pryse
(an ex-officio member of that Council) continued to use her position to promote the
proposal. (Senate Officers Collier, Hoyt and Range attended the meeting; minutes are not
yet available.)
e) The Chair of the CEPP (the committee that “researched” the comparable programs and
the need for any regulations) is a staff member in the Office of the Dean of Graduate
Studies. This particular apparent conflict of interest may provide some background to
explain the puzzling lack of diligence in the work of the CEPP that led to the omissions
noted in 2. and 3.b).
In summary: The appearance of a major conflict of interest by Dean of Graduate Studies
M. Pryse - a member of the Women’s Studies Department - and others in her office in the
handling of the WSS MA / SOC PhD proposal is well documented. Dean Pryse did not
recuse herself, even though the matter was raised with Interim President Philip (in the
10/13/08 letter, with cc to Dean Pryse) and with Interim Provost Phillips (in the 11/7/08
meeting). While this matter has no bearing on the merits of the proposal, it does provide
important background information to understand the approval process regarding this
particular proposal. UAlbany faculty governance is studying options how to prevent such
conflicts of interest to interfere with decision making processes in the future.
