At Winthrop University, graduate biology students seeking a master of science degree can now replace their research requirement with 12 hours of class work; but USC's biology faculty said the switch hurts the degree's value.
Winthrop will now grant the degree to both students who complete a thesis and students who do not. A nonthesis master's provides an advanced degree to students who intend to go into practice rather than research. It is similar to a professional degree or a master of business administration.
Though smaller universities nationally have been adding nonthesis options to their degrees, MIT, Harvard and Yale do not offer nonthesis master's degree.
Winthrop University is in Rock Hill, 70 miles north of USC.
Though the wording of the degree itself says it is nonthesis, Winthrop assistant biology professor Paula Mitchell said it will be indistinguishable from a thesis degree on resumes.
USC's Biology Department has discussed the nonthesis option.
"In the past, we've voted that an integral part of a biology degree is research," said Sarah Woodin, interim department chairwoman.
The Biology Department does offer a master of arts in teaching for high school teachers teaching higher-level courses.
Universities offering nonthesis degrees "may be motivated to provide a degree for those who are going to work in state agencies," she said. "I suppose a series of small projects may prepare someone to be a lab tech in a technical position as well."
But, Woodin said, "in a university program, most of the people we're giving degrees to will go into positions in which they will need to research. Even state agencies, especially the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), require research or the ability to judge others' research."
"As a consequence," she said, "I doubt we will move in the direction of a nonthesis degree."
Mitchell agreed; "a masters in science ought to emphasize research," she said.
Janice Chism, Winthrop's director for the graduate program, agreed that the degrees are professionally motivated. "There are a lot of students in our master's program who won't go on to get a Ph.D.," she said.
Those people might not find a thesis master's degree appropriate, either, she said. "People who work in environmental programs or a particular industry may want to expand their training in biology," she said, "but don't want particular training in a field."
Many of the students are specialized workers who need more education to advance in their field, Chism said. Some are public school teachers who want a higher degree for better pay. "The department felt they would be better served by broad coursework rather than a research project," she said.
The solution, Mitchell said, might be to call the nonthesis degree a master of teaching. But Mitchell said another broad degree at Winthrop is not feasible,. "Our first degree is necessarily a general master's in biology," she said. "We don't have enough people to teach."
USC offers nonthesis master's degrees in most of its colleges, although under a different name.
The College of Engineering offers nonthesis master of engineering degrees similar to what Winthrop offers. The College of Math and Sciences offers a master of math and a master of arts in teaching. The university's language faculties offer nonthesis master of arts degrees in various languages.
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