BCIS Department Degree Programs

Doctor of Philosophy
Major in Business Computer Information Systems

 2003-2003 Catalog

| Introduction | Program Admission Requirements | Governing Requirements | Course Work Requirements | Background Requirements | Research Requirements | General Deficiency Requirements | Ph. D. Advisor |

The Ph.D. program in business computer information systems is designed to prepare its graduates for a career in university education, research, or professional practice. It is open to individuals who have demonstrated superior academic and/or practical proficiency.

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For admission into the Doctor of Philosophy program with a major in Business Computer Information Systems, a student must first meet the admission requirements of the College of Business Administration. In addition, admission to the Ph.D. program in Business Computer Information Systems is a highly competitive process, and is based on a variety of factors including on the student's academic record, work experience, and expressed statement of personal objectives. Only students who, in the judgment of the departmental Graduate Faculty, show high promise of academic achievement will be admitted. Satisfying quantitative criteria does not guarantee admission.

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The minimum requirements and standards for Doctoral Programs in Business Administration are defined in the College of Business Administration's Handbook for Doctoral Students. The general requirements for Ph.D. degrees, as established by the Graduate School of the University of North Texas, can be found in the Graduate Catalog. All doctoral work must meet the requirements of the Graduate School and the College of Business as well as those specified by the graduate faculty of the Department of Business Computer Information Systems.

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Course work requirements for the Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Computer Information Systems consists of major and supporting fields of at least 33 hours and a research core of 12 hours. The specific requirements of the major and supporting fields are established by each individual student's Program Committee, although 9 to 12 of the 33 hours are typically used for the supporting field. The research and foundation core, required of all business Ph.D. students, provides a common foundation in research methodology. The final requirements for the Ph.D. consist of 12 hours of pre-dissertation individual research and 12 hours of dissertation research.

Students entering the Ph.D. program have widely varying academic and professional backgrounds. Students are individually evaluated by their Degree Program Committee and a degree program is designed especially to meet their particular needs and interests. The following degree programs describe the typical requirements for some of the more common academic backgrounds entering the Business Computer Information Systems Ph.D. program.

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In addition to the College of Business Administration background requirements, the Department of Business Computer Information Systems requires that students have a general background in business computer information systems. This background may be acquired through undergraduate programs, professional experience or completion of the following courses offered by the department.

 

BCIS 3620, File Concepts and Procedures

BCIS 3690, Information Systems Concepts

BCIS 4610, Analysis of Business Information Systems

BCIS 4620, Introduction to Database Applications

BCIS 4680, Distributed Systems and Teleprocessing

BCIS 4720, E-Commerce Systems

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All Ph.D. programs in Business Administration are required to complete 12 hours of approved formal course work in research methodology, 9 hours of foundation courses, and 24 hours of the independent pre-dissertation and dissertation research study. BCIS Ph.D. students typically satisfy their research requirements with the following courses:

Research (12 hours):
     -BUSI 6220 Applied Regression Analysis
     -BUSI 6480 Advanced Issues in Research Design 
     -BUSI 6240 Applied Multivariable Statistics
     -BUSI 6280 Applications in Casual and Covariance Structural Modeling

Foundation (9 hours):
     -BUSI 6100 University Teaching for Business Administration
     -BUSI 6450 Business Research Methods 
     -BUSI 6460 Foundation of Scientific Inquiry

Pre-Dissertation Research (12 hours):
     -BCIS 6940 Individual Research

Dissertation (12 hours):
     -BCIS 6950 Dissertation Seminar

The research core is designed to provide the student with competencies in epistemology, logic, philosophy of science, research design, analytic tools, and business research methodology. Consequently, students should take the research core courses early in their program so that they can apply the concepts learned throughout their program.

Pre-dissertation and dissertation research is not started until the student has passed his/her qualifying examinations and has been admitted to candidacy. This research is supervised by the student's major professor (Dissertation Committee Chairperson). The pre-dissertation research is oriented towards developing a defendable dissertation proposal and leads up to the development of a successful dissertation.

Students are urged to consider their research goals very early in their program. Students should coordinate their career interests, research interests, and dissertation interests with their course work. Students that attempt to complete a dissertation without the appropriate supporting course work normally do not successfully finish their program.

Begin your dissertation preparation and research starting the very first day of your Ph.D. program

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If a student does not have an academic background equivalent to the background requirements for the MBA program, then the student will be required to complete those 5000-level background courses for the MBA that are appropriate to remove the deficiencies.

MBA in BCIS Background

Students that enter the Ph.D. program with an M.B.A. in Business Computer Information Systems should have had previous course work equivalent to the following BCIS core courses:

Although specific degree program requirements are established in advance by the student's Degree Program Committee, a typical 33 hour major and supporting field degree program for students having an M.B.A. in Business Computer Information Systems might consist of some of the following courses:

Business Computer Information Systems Major Courses (24+ hours):

MBA Background Not in BCIS

Students that enter the Ph.D. program with an MBA not in Business Computer Information Systems typically have satisfied the general deficiency requirements (if not, see the General Deficiency Requirements). If the student has not had course work equivalent to the BCIS deficiency requirements courses (including a working knowledge of COBOL and JAVA), then the student will be required to take those courses necessary to satisfy his or her deficiencies before starting the major field course work.

Information Systems Deficiency Requirements:

Although specific degree program requirements are established in advance by the student's Degree Program Committee, a typical 33 hour major and supporting field degree program for students not having an MBA in Business Computer Information Systems might consist of some of the following courses:

Business Computer Information Systems Major Courses (24+ hours):

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