Program Progression

To provide a sense of how the program unfolds over time, a program progression chart is presented on the next page. The following sections discuss the major elements presented in this program progression chart.

Initial Counseling by PhD Coordinator

The department of management PhD Program Coordinator serves as the advisor to each doctoral student in management until the formation of his/her permanent advisory committee. The advisory committee is normally formed at the end of the third semester or beginning of the fourth semester.

The role of the PhD Coordinator includes:

• Determining which of the foundation requirements have been satisfied.

• Providing orientation to new doctoral students.

• Advising students on courses to be taken prior to the formation of their advisory committee.

• Counseling students with respect to general and procedural questions.

• Chairing the departmental Doctoral Program Committee (DPC).

• Facilitating the professional development of doctoral students.

• Coordinating the first-year review of doctoral students.

• Coordinating the administration of the preliminary examination.

• Advising the assistant department head, as requested, on the graduate assistantship assignments of doctoral students.

Early Course Work

The early course work is likely to focus on completing the various required courses as identified earlier in this handbook. The departmental PhD Program Coordinator serves as the primary advisor to doctoral students in the selection of the early course work.

Performance Standards

Academic excellence is expected in all work undertaken. A minimum grade point (GPR) of 3.00 (B average, based on a 4.00 maximum) in all course work, other than those courses in which grades of Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U) are given (681, 684, 690, 691, 692), must be maintained throughout the period of graduate study by every graduate student at Texas A&M University. After admission to the PhD Program, all grades earned in courses taken at Texas A&M University will be used in computing the GPR.

A course in which a grade of less than C or Unsatisfactory (U) is earned will not count toward completion of the degree program. A course in which the final grade is C or less may be repeated for a higher grade. Each grade earned in a course that is repeated will be used in the computation of the GPR. Semester credit hours to which grades of D or F are assigned shall be included in calculating the GPR. Those course (credit hours) involving grades W and Q shall be excluded in calculating the GPR. Grades of D, F, or U for courses on a degree program must be absolved by repeating the courses and achieving a grade of C or above.

Further information on performance standards is contained in the Graduate Catalog. Academic progress is monitored by the EAD. A student is considered to be on scholastic probation if the student's GPR falls below the minimum 3.0 in a given semester. Students on academic probation will be notified of their status as well as the conditions required to regain good academic standing. Failure to remedy such academic deficiency in an appropriate time period, failure to earn at least a 3.0 GPR after being placed on scholastic probation, or other evidence of poor performance constitutes grounds for being dropped from the PhD program.

First-Year Review

During the third full semester in the program, the department of management DPC conducts a review of the student's performance to date. A variety of information sources are used — faculty from whom the student has taken courses, faculty with whom the student has worked, the student him/herself, and grades in courses.

The primary purpose of the review is to diagnose the student's strengths and weaknesses to assist in guiding his/her continuing professional development. The student receives both written and oral feedback from the DPC. The committee also seeks feedback from the student.

Establish Advisory Committee

The advisory committee guides and directs the student's academic program. This committee is responsible for the proposed degree program, the research proposal, the preliminary examination (written and oral), the dissertation, and the final examination. In addition, the advisory committee as a group and as individual members are responsible for counseling students on academic matters, and, in the case of academic deficiency, initiating recommendations to the director of the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS). The advisory committee should normally be formed after completion of the first-year review, which usually means at the end of the third semester or beginning of the fourth semester.

Committee Chair. Each student needs to give thoughtful consideration to whom they wish to chair their committee. The Council of Graduate Schools in the United States suggests that students consider "faculty actively engaged in research" as potential committee members. An advisory committee chair is typically selected because the student feels comfortable in discussing with the chair his/her degree program and other related issues. The advisory committee chair, as well as the entire advisory committee is available upon "demand." Students are encouraged to seek out these faculty as needed. Students make recommendations for whom they wish to chair their advisory committees. They should arrange short "interviews" with selected graduate faculty members to discuss research interests and availability to identify a desired chairperson. The head of the department of management or designated representative must be involved in the process and must approve the final selection of a chairperson.

Committee Composition. Advisory committees will consist of no fewer than five members - three from management, one from the students' minor area, and one appointed by the director of OGS to serve as the Graduate Council Representative (GCR) (note: as of 2003, the GCR is no longer required). With the consent of the advisory committee chairperson, a student may have more than five members.

In developing the composition of the advisory committee, a student should consider the following:

• The general area(s) of concentration. Identify faculty in the area(s) of concentration.

• The particular research interest. Identify faculty who are qualified to supervise such research.

• Career plans. Identify faculty members who have knowledge and/or contacts that could be helpful in accomplishing those plans.

• A brief biographical listing of current Department of Management graduate faculty and their research interests begins on page 13 of this handbook.

Committee Changes. As students prepare to embark on their dissertation research, they may want to petition OGS to change the composition of their committee (including the chair) to better reflect their current research interests. Given the time period between formation of the advisory committee and the focusing in on a dissertation topic, it is not unusual to make one or more changes in the advisory committee. Students who wish to change the composition of their committee are advised to consult the their advisory committee chairperson and the departmental PhD Program Coordinator.

Preparation of Degree Plan

The student's proposed degree plan must be filed with OGS (302 J. K. W. Administration Building) before registration (or preregistration) for a fifth term, excluding summer terms, and no later than 90 days prior to the preliminary examination. The form on which the degree plan must be submitted is available from OGS.

The degree plan must list all courses taken at TAMU after admission to the PhD program. The proposed degree plan form must be signed by the student, the members of the student's advisory committee, and the head of the student's major department or the departmental PhD Program Coordinator. The degree plan form is then submitted to the EAD. The EAD will verify compliance with program requirements and will then submit the proposed degree plan form to the director of OGS. Subsequent to the approval of a degree program, additional course work may be added by the student's advisory committee. This could occur if additional course work is deemed necessary to correct deficiencies in the student's academic preparation.

After the degree plan is approved, it may be altered by a petition initiated by the student. A petition form is used for all proposed changes in membership of a student's advisory committee, change of major department, change in courses, requests for exception to published rules, etc. Petition forms are available from OGS. A petition requires approval of the advisory committee, the department head or departmental PhD Program Coordinator, and the EAD before it is submitted to the director of OGS.

Preliminary Examination

Preliminary exams serve to focus student's effort on developing a comprehensive understanding of the literature each will use during the rest of their professional careers. Preliminary exmas enable students to reflect on their course work and independent readings to develop a deeper understanding of the field. Students should be able to articulate their perspectives on key theoretical and methodological issues. At the point of the exam students should be broad based and current in their reading. They should be able to state and logically defend their positions on each of the major theoretical and methodological issues in their area of concentration and state the major positions held in other management content areas.

Through the preliminary examination, the students' advisory committee should be satisfied that the student has demonstrated the following qualifications:

Knowledge of the Field - The student should have a broad and current knowledge of theory, methods, and research in the concentrations (e.g., OB, OT, HRM, Strategy, etc.) that are covered in his or her exam.

Critical Evaluation - The student should be able to integrate and critically evaluate streams of theory and research. This should be the student's own informed evaluation. The student should be able to convincingly support his or her position integrating material from different sources.

Critical Insight - The student should be able to go beyond knowledge and critical evaluation of the field such that he or she demonstrates the ability to make his or her own creative contribution. This can be demonstrated through creative insight (conceptually or empirically). This requirement should focus primarily on the written papers in the student's area of concentration.

For the student to pass the preliminary exam, he/she should demonstrate a broad and current knowledge of the field along with evidence of critical evaluation and contribution (creative insight).

Nature of Written Major and Research Methods Minor Examination. The written portion of the preliminary examination is divided into two parts, a one-day departmental exam followed by three written papers. Successful completion of parts one (departmental exam) and two (written papers) will be followed by an oral exam.

Departmental Exam. The departmental exam is common to all doctoral students in management, regardless of concentration. The eight-hour exam will consist of four questions, one each on: (a) organizational behavior, (b) organizational theory, (c) research methods, and (d) applied research methods.

The departmental exam will be the responsibility of the Doctoral Policy Committee (DPC). Faculty will be solicited for questions and the DPC will draw from faculty suggestions to construct the exam. Faculty will be asked to evaluate responses.

Grading will be based on the student's display of broad knowledge and critical evaluation. After faculty have evaluated student responses, the DPC will call an open meeting to discuss evaluations. Faculty who participated in grading will be encouraged to attend. In the meeting each exam will be discussed and an overall grade of pass or fail will be agreed upon. No grades given by individual faculty members will be known to the student, only the overall pass or fail result.

Students who fail the departmental exam will retake the exam. Failure of the departmental exam on the second attempt will result in the student's exit from the PhD program.

Written Papers. The goal of the written papers segment of the preliminary exams is to develop the student's creative insight. The written papers segment of the preliminary exams will be the responsibility of each student's advisory committee.

Upon completion of the departmental exam, the student will spend most of the following semester developing three integrative questions of particular interest to him or her. The semester can be conceived of as two parts, question development and paper writing.

• Question Development - Questions are submitted by students and must be agreed upon by committee members. As a general guideline, one of the three papers can focus tightly on the student's envisioned dissertation proposal. The other two questions should be broader in scope, although some relevance to the envisioned dissertation proposal is possible.

Although students will work closely with their committees on the development of questions, the students are also encouraged to speak to many people in the question development phase. Outlines and ideas may be discussed openly, and preliminary responses can be framed, but no manuscript is to be written during question development.

• Paper Writing - Once the questions are agreed upon, the committee is to notify the management faculty of the approved questions. This memo will signal the beginning of a 30 day period in which to produce the written manuscripts. At this point, the work is to be that of the student, and the student alone. No input from others is permitted during the paper writing phase.

The resulting manuscripts are made available to all interested faculty, and participation in evaluation is widely encouraged, but the ultimate grade is decided upon by the student's committee. In evaluating written papers, broad knowledge, critical evaluation, and creative insight are required for a passing grade.

Should the written papers be judged inadequate, the student has one semester to remedy them. If remediation fails, the student is asked to leave the PhD program.

Oral Examination. An oral examination is scheduled in a timely manner following the successful completion of both phases (departmental exam and papers) of the written exams. It must be scheduled within two weeks of completion of the papers.

Timing. The departmental exam will be administered after the management seminars are completed. Normally, seminars are completed in the spring of the second year, with preliminary exams to be administered in the following summer. The written papers will then be during the fall semester of the third year of study.

At the time of preliminary exams, the student should be within approximately six credit hours of completion of the formal course work, not counting MGMT 681 (Seminar), MGMT 690 (Theory of Research), or MGMT 691 (Research). No student can take preliminary exams unless his or her official grade point ratio is 3.00 or better and he or she has no outstanding grades of incomplete (I).

Graduate Council Representative. (note: as of 2003, the GCR is no longer required) The Graduate Council Representative (GCR) must attend the oral portion of the Preliminary Examination. After accepting the schedule of this examination, if the GCR should find that he/she will be unable to attend, he/she should take the responsibility for locating a member of the graduate faculty (preferably from his/her own department) who is willing to substitute and attend the scheduled oral examination. The substitution should be cleared with OGS as far in advance as possible and confirmed in writing by sending copies of the notice to the chair of the student's advisory committee and to OGS.

Procedures. Prior to each examination period, the departmental PhD Program Coordinator will issue a call for the identification of eligible students for that examination. The departmental PhD Program Coordinator will coordinate the activities of the preliminary examination with the chairperson of each student's advisory committee and with members of the DPC. Such activities include the solicitation of examination questions, scheduling of an examination room, evaluation format, and solicitation of reviewers.

The department exam portion of the preliminary examination covers the major field (management) and research methods. The part dealing with the discipline minor fields is conducted by the member of the student's advisory committee who represent the discipline minor. The oral portion of the preliminary examination is conducted by the student's advisory committee.

A form for reporting preliminary exam results can be found on OGS' Web site.

Finalize Advisory Committee

At this point in the program, the student may desire to change the composition of the advisory committee. The student may want to add or substitute committee members (including the advisory committee chair) to better reflect the primary interests of the student's proposed dissertation research.

Dissertation Proposal

The student shall prepare a dissertation proposal acceptable to the advisory committee. The general field of research to be used for the dissertation should be discussed by the student and the advisory committee as early in the program as possible. This discussion should be the basis for selecting the proper courses to support the proposed field of research. At a later stage, when the conceptualization of the research can be outlined in reasonable detail, the official forms for proposing the dissertation from OGS should be completed.

The narrative portion of the proposal submitted to OGS should not exceed ten pages. However, the proposal evaluated by the advisory committee should be of the length necessary to fully describe the proposed research. The detailed instructions regarding the written dissertation proposal to be submitted to OGS are under Proposal Title Page for Thesis, Dissertation, and Record of Study on OGS' Web site.

Oral Defense. An oral defense of the dissertation proposal is required. The proposal defense is open to the Mays graduate faculty, doctoral students, and other interested persons. Those attending the proposal defense are encouraged to provide the student with recommendations for improving or modifying the dissertation research design.

The purposes of having open proposal defenses are to obtain greater uniformity in the quality of proposals and to provide helpful suggestions to the student and the committee. The student's permanent advisory committee evaluates the student's proposal defense and the input of the interested graduate faculty and decides whether to approve the dissertation proposal.

The ability to perform independent research must be demonstrated by the dissertation. Although acceptance of the dissertation proposal is based primarily on the scholarly merit of the proposed research, the proposal must also exhibit creditable literary workmanship. Of course, the proposal presented is likely to be revised based on inputs received during the proposal defense. If approved by the advisory committee, the dissertation proposal is filed with OGS.

Announcement of Defense. The proposal defense must be announced to the Mays faculty and doctoral students at least two weeks prior to the scheduled date. A formal memo should be prepared for announcing the proposal defense and given to a secretary in each Mays department for distribution. Copies of the proposal should be made available to interested faculty and PhD students. Although not required, the chair of the advisory committee is encouraged to send a separate memo to OGS to indicate the scheduling of the proposal defense. An example memo scheduling the proposal defense is shown in Appendix B.

Approved Proposal. The approved dissertation proposal is to be signed by all members of the student's advisory committee, including the Graduate Council Representative (GCR), and the head of the department of management. This signed proposal should be submitted (one original proposal and title page only) to the director of OGS for final approval. This final approval should normally be secured before the commencement of data collection that involves field research.

Admission to Candidacy

To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, a student must have:

1. accumulative GPR and a degree plan GPR of at least 3.00

2. satisfy the residency requirement

3. completed the formal course work

4. passed the preliminary examination

5. filed the dissertation proposal approved by the student's advisory committee with the director of OGS

The student and the chair of the advisory committee should receive written notification from OGS certifying admission to candidacy. The student should be admitted to candidacy well in advance of the date when the degree is to be granted. The final examination will not be authorized for a student who has not been admitted to candidacy.

Dissertation Research

The doctoral dissertation must be original work by the student. The PhD is a research degree by definition. Thus, the dissertation must embody the results of research and show evidence of originality and independent investigation. The dissertation must show mastery of the literature and relevant research techniques, be written in creditable literary form, and represent a contribution to knowledge in the field. As the Council of Graduate Schools notes: "the doctoral dissertation should be a distinct contribution to knowledge, and of sufficient value to warrant its publication in a reputable journal, or as a book or monograph." In years past some universities required that the dissertation (or a substantial part) be published before the degree was officially awarded. Today, that requirement has virtually disappeared; instead the common criterion has become the phrase worthy of publication.

The format of the dissertation must comply exactly with the instructions and specifications of the Office of Graduate Studies. These guidelines are included in Instructions Concerning the Preparation of Theses, Dissertations, and Records of Study. This booklet may be purchased from the Texas A&M Bookstore or you may borrow a copy from the PhD coordinator's assistant.

Time Limits

Students are encouraged to complete all requirements for a degree before commencing employment at another organization. When students leave campus before finishing, experience indicates that the time to complete the degree is frequently extended, and subsequent career progress is diminished.

Four-Year Limit. After passing the required preliminary examination, the student must complete all remaining requirements for the degree within four calendar years. Otherwise, the student will be required to repeat the preliminary examination -- written and oral portions.

Ten-Year Limit. No student will be granted a doctoral degree from Texas A&M University unless all requirements for the degree are completed within a period of 10 consecutive calendar years. The student cannot receive graduate credit for any course work that is more than 10 calendar years old at the time of the final examination.

In-Absentia Registration. A doctoral student not in residence -- but who has completed all course work on the degree plan other than MGMT 691 (Research) -- must register in absentia continuously each regular semester or 10-week summer session for four semester credit hours of MGMT 691. This in absentia registration must continue until all requirements for the degree have been completed. A student who does not comply with this requirement will have future registrations blocked. The student will be allowed to register only after receiving a favorable recommendation from a departmental review committee (not the student's advisory committee), the endorsement of the department head, and the approval of the director of OGS.

Final Examination

Upon the recommendation of the student's advisory committee, a final examination (oral in nature) shall be given. The student's advisory committee, as finally constituted, will conduct this examination. The final examination is not to be administered until such time that the dissertation is available to the student's advisory committee (including the Graduate Council Representative) in substantially final form. This form would constitute, as a minimum, a typed version that is complete in content in all respects. Moreover, all members of the advisory committee should have had adequate time to review the document.

Scope of Examination. Although the final examination may cover the broad field of management, it is presumed that the major portion of the time will be devoted to the dissertation and closely allied topics.

Participation and Evaluation. The final examination is open to all members of the graduate faculty of Texas A&M University. Persons other than members of the graduate faculty may, with mutual consent of the candidate and the chair of the advisory committee, be invited to attend the final examination. However, only the advisory committee will be present for evaluating the student's performance on the final examination.

Deadlines and Announcement. The announcement of the final examination should be submitted to OGS at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled date. (The request for final examination form is available on OGS' Web site.) The approval to hold the defense is signified by receipt from OGS of the form for the final defense. This form is later used by the advisory committee to submit its recommendations to the director of OGS concerning the acceptability of the candidate for the doctoral degree.

The candidate for the PhD degree must pass a final examination by deadline dates announced in the Office of Graduate Studies calendar each semester or summer session for graduation in that semester. If the final examination is after the deadline, graduation is deferred until the following semester. In such instances, the student is considered graduation only, and can register for one semester credit hour of MGMT 691 instead of the four or more hours ordinarily required.

Conditions for Holding Exam. The final examination may be given only if the student meets the following conditions (in addition to satisfactory status of the dissertation research):

• Has completed all course work on the degree plan, with the exception of any MGMT 691 (Research) hours for which the student is registered (or any course for which permission from OGS has been granted to delete from the degree program)
  
  
• Has a 3.0 or better and has no unabsolved grades of D, F, or U for courses listed on the degree plan
  
  
• Has an approved research proposal on file with OGS
  
  
• Has been admitted to candidacy

PhD Degree Awarded

Formal Application. Formal application for the degree must be filed with OGS no later than ninety (90) days prior to the end of the semester, or thirty (30) days prior to the end of the summer term in which the student expects to complete requirements for graduation. A student must be formally registered in Texas A&M University for the semester or summer session in which the degree is to be conferred.

Five copies of Dissertation. By dates announced each semester or summer session in the Office of Graduate Studies calendar, the candidate must submit to the Office of the Thesis/Dissertation Clerk (University Library) three unbound copies of the dissertation in final form. The dissertation must include all suggestions and corrections of the members of the student's advisory committee and must bear the signatures of the department head and the student's advisory committee, with the exception of the Graduate Council Representative.

The student must submit a fourth unbound copy to the Graduate Council Representative (GCR). The GCR shall have one week, from the date of receipt of the dissertation, to certify to the director of OGS that the dissertation is satisfactory.

The fifth copy of the dissertation must be submitted in final bound form to the EAD.

Abstract. An abstract not exceeding 350 words and a vita page are included in the dissertation. Two additional copies of the abstract and title page must be submitted with the dissertation for microfilming.

Fees. In addition to a dissertation binding fee, all successful candidates for the doctorate are required to pay the Fiscal Department a dissertation microfilming fee. This fee is used to film doctoral dissertations in cooperation with University Microfilms. A receipt issued by the Fiscal Department showing payment of the required binding, collating and editing fee and the microfilming fee must be presented to the Thesis/Dissertation Clerk (University Library) before the dissertation or record of study can be accepted.