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In This Site

• Ph.D. Homepage
• Program Information
• Admission Information
• Qualifying Exam
• Important Dates and Deadlines
• Funding
• Teaching Fellows
• Dissertation
• Orientation
• Contact Information

Additional Information

• Our Current Ph.D. Students
• Doctorate Student Profile
• Ph.D. Handbook (.pdf)

Ph.D. Programs

• Accounting Ph.D. Program
• Finance Ph.D. Program
• Marketing Ph.D. Program
• Management Ph.D. Program
• Management Science Ph.D. Program
• Information Systems Ph.D. Program

Dissertation

Candidacy

• The student is admitted to candidacy when all course work other than the pre-dissertation research and dissertation research has been completed and the written and oral qualifying examinations have been passed.
• Doctoral students must maintain continuous enrollment subsequent to passing the qualifying examination for admission to candidacy. The student must register in 6940 subsequent to passing the qualifying examination.
• When the student is admitted to candidacy, the appropriate departmental committee is dissolved and a Dissertation Committee is formed. In the event that a committee is not formed, the appropriate departmental committee will serve as the default committee and the Ph.D. Coordinator will serve as chair. The Dissertation Committee consists of a major professor, who assumes primary responsibility for the dissertation, serves as chairperson of the Dissertation Committee, and is selected from the Graduate Faculty of the student's major area. This chairperson must be a Category III Doctoral Mentor Faculty. Two or more members are selected in consonance with the dissertation requirements from Category III or Category II Graduate Faculty member. Other faculty may be added if they possess special expertise needed by the committee. While the student may recommend to the department the composition of the committee, the selection will be made by the department in accordance with established departmental procedures (e.g. which may include departmental requirement of an outside college member). The major area Ph.D. Coordinator submits the recommendations to the Director of Ph.D. Program & Research. The Director verifies appropriate qualifications and notifies the Dean of the Graduate School, of the formation of the candidate's Dissertation Committee (Form K).

Dissertation Proposal

• Work in 6940 will be supervised by the Chair of the Dissertation Committee and is intended to provide the student with the background necessary to defend a research proposal. The courses, therefore, are primarily directed research into potential areas. Manuals describing acceptable style are on file in the Office of the Graduate Dean.
• Upon approval of his/her Dissertation Committee, a dissertation proposal defense may be scheduled after completion of a minimum of six hours of pre-dissertation (6910/6940). A total of twelve hours of 6910/6940 is required; however if deemed necessary by the Dissertation Committee, a student may be required to take more.
• The student is responsible for requesting the proposal defense be scheduled, which is accomplished by filing Form L with the Chair of his/her Dissertation Committee. The Dissertation Committee will set the time and place of the defense, after consultation with the Ph.D. Coordinator and the COBA Doctoral Program Director. The members of the Dissertation Committee should have copies of the proposal or dissertation at least three weeks prior to scheduling a defense. Form L, electronic and hard copies of the Abstract and the Proposal or Dissertation must be given to the Doctoral Program Director (229-D) (DPC 11/05/03) in a timely manner so the defense can be announced two weeks in advance by memorandum to the COBA Faculty and doctoral students. The announcement will include: (1) the name of the candidate, (2) the candidate's major area, (3) the date, time and place of the defense, (4) the title of the proposed dissertation, (5) names of the dissertation advisory committee members, and (6) a one or two page abstract of the proposal. The Chair of the Dissertation Committee will make copies of the proposal available to all interested faculty and doctoral students.
• The abstract must include a statement of the problem and a description of the research methodology. The abstract will conform to the standard format approved by the COBA Doctoral Program Committee. A description of this format is available from the COBA Doctoral Program Director (Form M).
• All faculty and doctoral students in the College of Business Administration are encouraged to take an active part in the proposal defense.
• After the defense, the dissertation proposal should be revised by the candidate to reflect suggestions made by the faculty. A final draft should be prepared for review and approved by the candidate's Dissertation Committee. Form N will then be sent to the Graduate Dean's Office.
• Once the proposal has been approved, the candidate may enroll for the remaining 6940 course hours prior to or concurrently with the 6950 dissertation hours.
• The candidate should retain a signed copy of the dissertation proposal in his/her personal records.

Dissertation

• A student must enroll in 6950 for a minimum of three credit hours during each long semester until the dissertation has been accepted by the Dean of the Graduate School. Registration in at least one summer session is required if the student is using university facilities and/or faculty time during that summer session. Failure to maintain continuous enrollment will either invalidate any previous dissertation credit or will result in the student being dropped from the degree program unless granted an official leave of absence by the Graduate Dean for medical or other exceptional reasons. UNT Policy Manual, Volume III, 18.1.20.
• When the candidate's Dissertation Committee agrees that the dissertation is ready for defense, the student will work with his/her Dissertation Chair and the major area Ph.D. Coordinator to schedule the defense. The defense is then announced two weeks in advance by memorandum to the COBA Graduate Faculty and doctoral students. The announcement will include: (1) the name of the candidate, (2) the candidate's major area, (3) the date, time and place of the defense, (4) the title of the dissertation, (5) names of the dissertation advisory committee members, and (6) a one or two page abstract of the dissertation. The defense will be conducted in accordance with policies and procedures established by the Graduate School of the University, the COBA and the candidate's major area. The candidate is advised to check with these offices to obtain official information concerning these policies and procedures. A form requesting the oral defense (Form O) should be filed with the Graduate School via the Ph.D. Coordinator and the COBA Doctoral Program Director.
• The Director of Ph.D. Program & Research must receive a copy of the dissertation at least two weeks prior to the defense.
• At the time of filing for final defense the Ph.D. student is required to submit a current electronic vita to be retained in the student's file (see Form P).
• After the candidate successfully defends the dissertation, the Dissertation Committee chairperson should complete and file the Report of the Final Comprehensive Examination (Sample Only attached, may not be copied for use - this form is generated by the Graduate School) for the Doctor's Degree with the Graduate School Office via the major area Ph.D. Coordinator and the Director of Ph.D. Program & Research. The dissertation is not completed until it has been approved by the candidate's Dissertation Committee and accepted by the Graduate School of the University.