BCIS Department Degree Programs

Doctor of Philosophy
Major in Management Science

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

The Ph.D. program in management science 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 Management Science, a student must first meet the admission requirements of the College of Business Administration. In addition, admission to the Ph.D. program in Management Science 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 Management Science 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 of the 33 hours, and 3 of the research core hours, are typically used for the supporting field. The research 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 Management Science program.

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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 and 24 hours of the independent pre-dissertation and dissertation research study. OMS Ph.D.
students typically satisfy their research requirements with the following courses:

Research Core (12 hours):

-BUSI 6450 Business Research Methods

-MSCI 6000 Multivariate Statistical Analysis

-MSCI 6010 Advanced Research Seminar

-MSCI 6720 Experimental Design and Statistical Modeling

Pre-Dissertation Research (12 hours):

-MSCI 6940 Individual Research

Dissertation (12 hours):

-MSCI 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 Background

Students that enter the Ph.D. program with an MBA should have had previous course work equivalent to the following MSCI core courses:

-MSCI 5010 Statistical Analysis

-MSCI 5180 Data Analysis

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. consist of some of the following courses:

Management Science Major Courses (24+ hours):

-MSCI 6710 Theory and Application of Stochastic Modeling

-MSCI 6740 Mathematical Programming

-MSCI 6750 Management Science Seminar (Mathematical Statistics I)

-MSCI 6750 Management Science Seminar (Mathematical Statistics II)

-MSCI 5xxx Any MSCI Core Course Not Satisfied by Previous Work

-Supporting Courses (9+ hours) from a supporting field approved by the Chair of the student's program committee.

Please note: Every student must enroll in MSCI 6750 Seminar every semester until comprehensive exams are successfully passed. Credit is not given.

Bachelor's Degree Background

Students that enter the Ph.D. program with a Bachelor's Degree will have typically satisfied the general degree requirements (if not, see the General Deficiency Requirements). It is expected that students should be able to complete all course and independent study requirements within the required 99 semester hours regardless of the student's previous background.

Although specific degree program requirements are established in advance by the student's Degree Program Committee, a typical degree program for students having a Bachelor's Degree might include some of the following courses:

MBA Core Course Requirements (18 hours):

-MGMT 5140 Organization Behavior and Analysis

-FINA 5170 Financial Management

-MKTG 5150 Marketing Management

-MSCI 5180 Data Analysis

-ACCT 5130 Accounting for Management

-BUSI 5190 Administrative Strategy Background Courses Required (12 hours):

-MSCI 5220 Sampling

-MSCI 5240 Forecasting

-MSCI 5250 Simulation

-MSCI 5320 Quality Control Management Science Major Courses (24+ hours):

-MSCI 6710 Theory and Application of Stochastic Modeling

-MSCI 6740 Mathematical Programming

-MSCI 6750 Management Science Seminar (Mathematical Statistics I)

-MSCI 6750 Management Science Seminar (Mathematical Statistics II)

-MSCI 5xxx Any MSCI Core Course Not Satisfied by Previous Work

-Supporting Courses (9+ hours) from a supporting field approved by the Chair of the student's program committee.

Please note: Every student must enroll in MSCI 6750 Seminar every semester until comprehensive exams are successfully passed. Credit is not given.

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