After having done the investigation and identified Uinv. of the Witwatersrand (Wits) as my first choice, the only likely supervisor at Wits has directed me to his counterpart at UNISA as being a better bet! Oh, well... Trouble is, the department at UNISA that offers my speciality (Bus. Management) only offers DCom doctorates, and I'm really not keen on that nomenclature - I'd prefer a plain PhD, but they only confer that on the Science students. Even the Arts/Soc Scie D Litt e Phil seems better. Firstly, am I just beng picky and pedantic? I feel the DCom soulds less solid and is a little more of an explanation - even the DBL is better. Secondly, how flexible are universities on this? My potential supervisor holds a DCom himself, which makes it more tricky to raise for discussion!
I don't think you're being silly as I believe the language we use in any context carries meanings and associations that are both private (individualized) and public (social). Having said that I'm not certain that your fears are warranted either. What will people think when they see DCom? I don't know but as you've suggested, there's bound to be some questions asked (but then you're going to have some explaining to do in any case, right? Regardless of that, I once heard of a person in a similar situation who, sensitive to the DLitt et Phil nomenclature, got a letter saying that the DLitt et Phil degree was the equivalent of a PhD and they used this letter to justify writing PhD on their resume. Is this ethical? I'd say 'yes' as long as the person was willing to give the complete explanation when asked. I haven't thought about this much and I'd be interested in hearing other opinions. Keep us updated, I'm always interested in hearing more ZA stories. Jack
Who ever your supervisor is, you will need to develop a very special communications basis with him or her over the next several years. If you have concerns expaining why you are interested in Wits over UNISA now, think how difficult other issues mihgt become. Most professors are aware of the real world, and that students come from different backgrounds and have different goals and needs. So expalin to him or her what you have been willing to post to utter strangers around the world. If he or she does not like it, it is better to know now. But I bet he or she will understand, and give you some positive feedback.
I just spell out the degrees on my resume. I think it looks better anyway than abreviations. For example, write, "Doctoral degree in business administration, University of South Africa, 2004." Then give the dissertation area or title and the director's name and contact info.
Both Mike and Craig have made excellent points above. I would only add that in my own explorations of ZA doctoral degrees through DL I found Witts singularly disinterested, perhaps more so than any other school I contacted. It struck me as possible, though I didn't say so in my first posting, that they simply are notnotnot interested in the prospect of long-distance doctoral degrees as a matter of policy. Personally, I chaulked it up to short-sightedness and moved on. BTW, the folks at UFS seem generally amenable to such inquiries although I confess that I don't even know if they have a relevant program. Jack
