Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am writing on behalf of my classmates in Master of Clinical Research program to address a few issues that a class, as a whole have encountered since last year.

First issue is about obtaining a minor Graduate Certificate in Regulatory Affairs through MCR coursework. We were told personally and in writing by several faculty members multiple times during the fall semester of 2014 that we would be eligible to receive a DRA certificate by taking DRA 804, DRA 815 in addition to any other DRA courses. Those faculty members include Professor Bernard Tyrrel, Dr. David Mantus and Dr. Timothy Maher. However, we have not yet been assured that we could acquire the DRA certificate. Some of the emails and communications between students and faculty members regarding this matter are attached to this petition

Second issue is pertaining to a title of our program. Originally, its title was listed on the MCPHS website as "MS of Clinical Research”. Nevertheless, sometime during the summer of 2014, the name was changed to "Master of Clinical Research" without any formal notifications to the students at that time. Per students who were enrolled in the program last year, Dr. Carol Nash, the former director of the program assured that our program was indeed a MS degree. Mislabeling and misinformation about our program brought confusion and disappointment among students. From our point of view and the employers too, MS degree is far more superior to an MCR degree. Furthermore, in contrast to MCR degree, an MS degree is internationally recognized which is beneficial to international student when returning to their home countries in the near future.

It was brought to our attention that both Regulatory Affair program and PEP program provide either a non-thesis or thesis path to students and they acquire a MS degree. Therefore, we would like to propose an optional thesis path for Clinical Research program with a MS degree. For most second year students, it will be difficult to get in to a thesis path since they will graduate next semester. However, it is a necessary change for the program itself and first year as well as prospective students. When compared to similar programs in Boston University and Tufts University, our program seems to be less competitive because it dose not offer a MS degree and the thesis path. We think it should be at least an optional variety for those who acquire a thesis. It came to our knowledge that are few students when applied to MCPHS, their first priority was to get into the Clinical Research Program program but because of the lack of the thesis path, they were not allowed to join because they are required by their sponsors to do a thesis for graduation.

Below are the names of all MCR students who supported one or more of the proposed issues: