Now that I’ve read “The Wanderer”, I’ve learned the Anglo-Saxon word “snottor”.  That got me thinking. I realized there’s a confluence of events in the world that need to be dealt with.

  1. Signum U is about to get the authority to grant degrees. Master of Arts is the current thinking, which shows a lack of ambition.
  2. More than a few Signum students already have master’s degrees and even doctorates.  Why take a course for credit, if it gives you a distinction you’ve already got?
  3. The title “doctor”, alas, carries a lot of social rank with it.  This being the USA, for-profit STEM education has sprung up to meet the market.  Trade schools around the country are cranking out doctorates in the servile arts that require relatively little effort.  So there are lots of “doctors” out there.  It’s not very distinctive any more.

We’re going to need a new academic title to differentiate real scholars from people who got their boss to pay their tuition to get an extra degree so they look more impressive on a contract proposal.  It seems wrong to have a Latin-named degree at Signum, anyway.

I hereby propose the creation of a new academic degree of “Snottor” for continuing students who already have a Ph.D. in another field.  It ranks higher than “Doctor”,  so all the world may know our magnificent erudition.  Let’s just see some unscrupulous college try to sell Snottorates for massaging the amour-propre of middle management!

And “diploma” should be replaced with “twifeald”.