Use honorary doctorate degrees as suffix
I refer to the advertiser’s announcement in the newspapers of both the Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times of September 18, 2014 by the National Accreditation Board (NAB), regarding the conferment of dubious Honorary Degrees by some unaccredited institutions.
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The NAB should have gone a step further to declare all the dubious “Honorary Doctorate Degrees” awarded by the unaccredited institutions as “invalid and void”, and all recipients of such honorary doctorate degrees should be warned of the legal consequences of using the title “Dr” against their names - in accordance with the Tertiary Institutions (Establishment and Accreditation) Regulations, 2010 (L. I. 1984).
Some of the unaccredited institutions mentioned by NAB were: Day Spring Christian University of Mississippi, Pan-African Clergy Council and Bible College, Global Centre for Transformational Leadership and World Council for Evangelical Clergy (whose full name is: World Council for Evangelical Clergy Bible Seminary).
Interestingly, on April 12, 2013, my cousin (who is reverend minister and a Chartered Accountant) received a letter from the World Council for Evangelical Clergy Bible Seminary - which indicated its intention to award a “doctorate degree” to him.
The citation read as follows:
“For your faithfulness in your calling, your dedication to Christian Ministry, the huge impact you made on people’s lives, your profound intellectual and spiritual insight and your well-researched doctoral thesis, the organisation awards you a “doctor of divinity (D. Div)”.
The letter also indicated that if my cousin was interested in receiving the doctorate degree, he should make a contribution of US$ 5, 000. 00 (or any amount within his means) to cover the cost of academic gown and other expenses to be incurred during the awards ceremony.
Since my cousin did not even have a master’s degree and had not written any “doctoral thesis” to merit the award of a regular doctorate degree, he found the offer quite strange and refused to respond to it. Indeed, the recent statement by the NAB has shown that the World Council for Evangelical Clergy Bible Seminary is not accredited to award a regular or honorary degree.
Undoubtedly, there are many unaccredited institutions which are awarding dubious regular or honorary doctorate degrees to unsuspecting Ghanaians who are so fascinated about using the title “Dr” against their names.
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In fact, the best practice in many advanced countries is that those who receive Honorary Doctorate Degrees (Honoris Causa) do not even use the title “Dr” (either, as a prefix or as a suffix) against their names.
For instance, many people who do not even use the title “Dr” against their names include:-
(a) Mr Kofi Annan - former UN Secretary-General (who has received about eight honorary doctorate degrees from many universities around the world but does not use the title “Dr” against his name).
(b) Mr Ban Ki Moon - current UN Secretary-General (He has received about four honorary doctorate degrees )
(c) Mr Alex Ferguson - former coach of Manchester United (He has received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Manchester,UK and a “Professorial” title from the Harvard University, U S A).
Indeed, even in Ghana, many distinguished personalities who had received honorary doctorate degrees, but do not use the title “Dr” against their names include : Former President J. J. Rawlings , Former President J. A. Kufuor, Chief Justice, Mrs Theodora Wood and Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II .
However, there are some Ghanaians who have received honorary doctorate degrees, but are so desirous of using the title “Dr” against their names any time they get the opportunity to write their names or append their signatures on personal and official documents. Indeed, some of the recipients of honorary doctorate degrees do not even have a first degree or a master’s degree, and yet they insist on being called and introduced with the title “Dr” against their names.
In the circumstances, since many unaccredited institutions are awarding dubious regular or honorary degrees (and in view of the fact that some people also have an obsession in using “titles” against their names), I suggest that the National Accreditation Board (NAB) should take the following measures:
1. In the first place, NAB should make a public announcement to declare all honorary doctorate degrees awarded by the above-mentioned four institutions (and other unaccredited institutions) as “illegal and invalid”, and any person who has received such honorary doctorate degree should desist from using the title “Dr” against his / her name
2. Secondly, NAB should make a public announcement that any person who has been awarded an honorary doctorate degree (Honoris Causa) by an accredited institution (such as the University of Ghana, Legon, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast, etc.) and the person still insists on using the title “Dr”, then the person should not use the title “Dr” as a prefix before his or her name. Rather, the title “Dr” should be used as a suffix after his or her name, with the letters H. C. (Honoris Causa) into brackets.
For example: Joseph Siaw-Agyapong, Dr (H. C.)
Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Dr (H. C.)
Thus, anyone who sees the title “Dr” as a suffix after the names of Joseph Siaw-Agyepong and Ekwow Spio-Garbrah knows that they have been awarded honorary doctorate degrees (Honoris Causa) - which is not a regular doctorate degree.
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Invariably, it is only those who have academically qualified as medical doctors or those who have academically earned a regular doctorate degree through a three-year or four-year doctoral thesis - such as, Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D), etc. - who have the privilege of using the title “Dr” as a prefix before their names.
For example: Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor (who is a qualified Medical Doctor).
Dr Obed Yao Asamoah (who has an academic Doctor of Juridical Science in Law)
Indeed, the title “Dr” awarded to Medical Doctors and S.J.D. / Ph. D. holders should not be devalued by the charlatans and recipients of honorary doctorate degrees. The National Accreditation Board (NAB) should instil discipline and sanitise the use of academic titles in the country. It should ensure that the charlatans and recipients of honorary doctorate degrees who are misusing the title “Dr” are prosecuted for “wrongful use of academic title” - in accordance with the Tertiary Institutions (Establishment and Accreditation) Regulations, 2010 (L. I. 1984).
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The writer is a Senior Lecturer, University of Texas, U.S.A.