PhD in Business Administration

Foundation requirements are designed to develop an appreciation of the institution of business and to help students see how their areas of specialization fit into this general picture. With the approval of the student's Committee, a student may satisfy these requirements in any of the following ways:

1. By completing an undergraduate degree in business at an AACSB accredited institution, with an average of "B" or better in the last 60 hours, no more than five years prior to admission to the PhD program.
2. By completing an MBA degree at an AACSB accredited institution, no more than five years prior to admission to the PhD program.
3. By completing one graduate course (2 credit hours or more) with a grade of "B" or better, in each of the functional areas: Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Management and Marketing. (Economics requirements are described under core requirements.) All graduate level courses at the 6000 level or above, with the exception of specific "tool" courses (e.g., statistics), will count toward this requirement.
4. By successfully petitioning the Doctoral Program Committee to accept previous academic work (e.g., specialized Masters programs in business, degrees granted more than 5 years ago, etc.) in fulfillment of all or part of this requirement. Such a petition must be initiated during the first semester of the program.

The core courses are designed to provide a strong background in economics and to develop the student's writing, quantitative and statistical research skills. These courses are required of all students in the program. The college will waive a course only if the student has passed the same or equivalent course with a grade of "B" or better within the preceding five years.

The economics requirement can be met by completing two graduate level economics courses that have been approved by the student's program committee.

Students are required to take a one credit-hour research skills course, QMB 7557, Research and Writing Skills for Doctoral Students, in the first semester of the program. Following this introductory course, the quantitative and statistical coursework is to be determined by the student's program committee in consultation with the student. A three course series is required. An appropriate sequence should be chosen from the following:

• ECO 6424 Econometrics I
• ECO 6425 Econometrics II
• ECO 7426 Econometrics III
• ECO 7427 Econometrics IV
• QMB 6375 Applied Linear Statistical Models
• QMB 7565 Introduction to Research Methods
• QMB 7566 Applied Multivariate Statistical Methods

Any substitution of other appropriate mathematics, statistical and quantitative courses must be approved by the College Doctoral Program Committee, preferably at the time of acceptance into the program, or definitely before taking a substitute course.

In addition, students are required to take an additional research elective approved by their program committee.

Should a student earn a "C" or lower in one of the core courses, the case will be brought before the college doctoral program committee for review. After reviewing the case, the Committee will take one of the following steps:

1. Require the student to pass an examination that covers the material relevant to the subject. A student who fails the exam on the first attempt may retake it within one year. A student who fails the exam on the second attempt will be subject to dismissal.
   
   
2. Require the student to retake the course. If a student retakes the course and fails to receive a grade of "B" or better, the student is subject to dismissal.

All students will take at least five courses at the 6000 or 7000 level in an area designated as the student's major. Students are encouraged to identify courses in the concentration that will provide experience in applying current research techniques to problems in that field. To accomplish this, the student may propose a combination of formal classroom courses and independent directed-research courses. This combination may include a year-long research seminar in which the groundwork is laid for the student's dissertation. The specific agenda of courses will be determined by the student's program committee. The following fields are offered as concentrations: Accounting, Finance, Information Systems and Marketing.

Courses taken as part of the Foundation or Core sections may not be counted as part of the hours required for a concentration.

The support field will consist of a minimum of three courses (nine hours) from one or more of the fields listed under the following areas:Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Management, Marketing, or other departments in the university. The support field and the concentration cannot be taken in the same department. Courses within the support field can be selected to complement the concentration, and, in special cases, may include courses outside the Muma College of Business. The nature and number of the support field courses will be determined by the student's program committee in consultation with the PhD coordinator of the support field department.