Hohai University cleared 125 doctoral students, attracting attention: Why is it time to increase clearance

　　The Paper Journalist Wang Yicheng

　　Recently, the Graduate School of Hohai University issued an announcement that 125 doctoral students have been dropped out.

This is also the first time that my country's colleges and universities have publicly removed a large number of doctoral students since it is well documented.

　　The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) noted that the Graduate School of Hohai University issued the above-mentioned "Announcement of Retirement".

Judging from the title of the article "Announcement of Hohai University Regarding the Decision of Dismissal of Doctoral Candidates (First Batch)", the 125 doctoral students on the list are the first batch of people to be removed, and a second batch is expected to follow. .

　　The Hohai University’s clearance announcement only announced the "student ID" of the relevant doctoral student, but did not disclose the corresponding student's name, gender, year of enrollment and other information.

　　Hohai University mentioned in the announcement that because the students in the attached list are difficult to contact, the "Letter of Withdrawal Decision" cannot be delivered directly, so the method of delivery by announcement is adopted.

Ten days from the date of the announcement shall be deemed to have been served, and the right to appeal shall be deemed to have been waived if the time expires.

　　Public information shows that Hohai University is a national key university directly under the Ministry of Education, a key construction of the national "211 Project", the construction of a national advantageous discipline innovation platform, and a first-class discipline construction university.

As of 2020, Hohai University has nearly 19,000 graduate students.

　　"Bright Swords" of major colleges and universities: Retiring "overdue doctoral students" one after another

　　The Paper has learned that each university has different regulations on the academic setting of doctoral students according to different training programs. Generally speaking, the length of the doctoral degree is generally 3-4 years.

　　In addition, the maximum length of study for doctoral students (including suspension and retention of student status) prescribed by each university is also different, generally 3 to 8 years.

For example, for PhD students at Nanjing University, the maximum length of study is 8 years.

The PhD students of Northwestern Polytechnical University shall not be more than 7 years in school.

　　In other words, under normal circumstances, doctoral students should complete the corresponding studies within 8 years at the longest.

　　In fact, the removal of graduate students from universities is not an exception.

In recent years, many colleges and universities have issued relevant announcements on "Ph.D. and postgraduate students will be dismissed from school."

　　Since 2021, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics has retired 6 PhD students of 2012; Wuhan University of Science and Technology's Graduate School issued an announcement, clearing 3 PhD students.

　　Earlier, the School of Information Science and Engineering of Northeastern University issued a "Publicity on the Handling of Some Overdue PhD Candidates" on its official website in October 2020.

Among them, there are a total of 52 doctoral students who have exceeded the maximum length of study. The earliest one was admitted in 2002 and has been "studying PhD" for 18 years.

In addition, there are 2 people who enrolled in 2003 and "studied Ph.D." for more than 17 years.

　　According to a report in Liaoning Daily in December 2020, Shenyang Agricultural University has cleared 236 overdue enrolled master and doctoral students, including 119 postgraduates and 117 doctoral students. All overdue postgraduates have also been "cleared."

　　The Paper noted that in the past two years, domestic colleges and universities have stepped up efforts to remove postponed doctoral and master students.

In fact, in March 2019, the Ministry of Education issued the "Notice on Further Standardizing and Strengthening the Management of Postgraduate Training", requiring that "postgraduate students who are not suitable for continuing to study for a degree should be diverted as soon as possible, and the diversion should be increased."

At the same time, it is necessary to pay close attention to the management of master and doctoral dissertations and degree awards.

　　In addition, in accordance with Article 30 of the "Regulations on the Management of Students in Regular Higher Education Institutions" that came into effect in September 2017, if the academic performance of students does not meet the school's requirements or fails to complete their studies within the school's prescribed period of study, the school may grant Withdrawal processing.

　　Are "overdue doctoral students" accused of occupying educational resources?

　　According to a number of college teachers, most of the graduate students who have been withdrawn from colleges and universities are currently in-service graduate students, and the reason for the withdrawal is also that they have not completed their studies within the school’s prescribed length of study, such as not completing their graduation thesis, unqualified thesis, and substandard credits, etc. .

　　Judging from the reality, many people choose to study on-the-job doctoral students for job promotion needs, and the attributes of pursuing a diploma are stronger.

This also means that the pressure and environment faced by on-the-job Ph.D. and full-time Ph.D. students are different.

"Many in-service doctoral students find it difficult to complete their studies within the prescribed school system, and they can't keep up with their work while studying for a PhD," said Zhang Peng, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing Normal University Press.

　　The Paper has learned that in recent years, domestic colleges and universities have also tightened their quotas for recruiting in-service doctoral students.

According to incomplete statistics, the enrollment of in-service doctoral students in most "double first-class" universities in China accounts for less than 20% of the total enrollment plan, and some are even strictly controlled within 10%.

　　In addition, the student status of "overdue doctoral students" has a certain impact on the school and the tutors.

"For example, the school has 100 doctoral candidates. After 8 years, you only graduated 80. The education department will also consider whether there is a problem with the school's training quality. To a certain extent, it may affect the school's enrollment indicators." Zhang Peng told The Paper.

　　The Paper learned that the state has various types of evaluations and assessments for colleges and universities, and the number of students enrolled and the proportion of the number of graduates are also considered as an important indicator.

If there are a large number of students who have exceeded the maximum length of study, for colleges and universities, various assessments and corresponding rankings may be affected.

　　From the perspective of tutors, long-term non-graduation of doctoral students also takes up the quota of tutors to recruit students.

For example, a doctoral supervisor has 5 doctoral positions. If one student has not graduated, then he will keep occupying one place, and other people will not be able to come to this supervisor to study the doctoral degree.

　　In addition, some doctoral students have not graduated in more than ten years, which also played a bad role model.

"For those who are new to the school, seeing that there are still seniors in the same school who have not graduated in seven or eight years or even ten years, they are bound to relax their time management requirements and lower their academic efficiency and quality standards. "Zhang Peng said.

　　Of course, some experts believe that the school's regulation of the removal of overdue graduate students does not directly link the removal of postgraduates with "strict discharge."

　　Professor Ren Mengshan, deputy dean of the Graduate School of Communication University of China, told The Paper that there may be many reasons for the removal of doctoral students from universities, and the current period is mainly related to the maximum length of study.

"Strict out" mostly refers to the academic assessment process. For example, some colleges and universities stipulate that doctoral candidates fail three times in the examination, or the mid-term examination of the dissertation fails two times, "you can leave directly" without having to reach Maximum length of study.

　　From a management point of view, a student has reached the maximum length of study, but the student status has not yet been cancelled. Are they still considered as students?

How to define its identity?

How to define the responsibilities and rights?

"Schools and students need to have a clear management standard."

　　In the past two years, domestic colleges and universities have begun to increase efforts to remove overdue doctoral students, which also shows that schools have begun to have a more standardized training of doctoral students. This is a kind of pressure on students. "Students have to leave when they arrive. ', you can't continue to linger like before."

　　"Ph.D. reading should be expected. Without a standardized exit mechanism, students will also have a procrastination mentality. After the corresponding mechanism is established and improved, those who apply for PhD candidates in the future will have clear cognitive expectations. For example,'I must get a degree within 8 years.'" Professor Ren Mengshan said.