Ph.D. Admission

The applicant must hold at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. No specific undergraduate preparation in business is required.

The applicant must demonstrate competence as a scholar through a high level of previous academic performance and high percentile scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Scores may not be older than five years at the time of application. In addition, international applicants must present high scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or IELTS.

Finally, the applicant must demonstrate the ability for doctoral study in business, either by a record of achievement in previous professional or academic experience, including research and scholarship, or through letters of recommendation and a personal interview.

These requirements are intended only as suggestions for minimum admission standards. They should not be construed as a guarantee of admission to the Ph.D. program.

A $65 nonrefundable application fee for domestic students and $85 for international students, payable to the University of Kansas, must accompany all applications.

Submit your graduate application online.

Doctor of Philosophy in Business

The program is designed for students who wish to become tenure-track scholars and scholar-teachers. Our program is selective and rigorous, yet it provides a collegial, supportive, and intellectually stimulating atmosphere for original research and effective teaching by providing mastery of the knowledge in a particular field, a thorough understanding of research methodology, the ability to communicate effectively, and the motivation for continuing self-education. Students must specialize in a concentration and develop a broad knowledge of other areas of business and their interrelationships in the management function.

The program is limited in size so each student can work closely with faculty members to receive substantial individual attention.

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

By the end of the third semester of the aspirant’s program (excluding summer sessions), an aspirant must complete the following qualifier requirements. All aspirants must demonstrate some proficiency in doing original research of publishable quality and some proficiency in teaching.

These courses should be completed in the first 2 years of a student’s program. At or before the end of the aspirant’s third semester in the program, a qualifier assessment team, composed of five faculty members, holistically determines whether or not a student continues in the program.

The aspirant for the Ph.D. in business administration must have an area of concentration, supporting areas, and preparation in research methodology.

Concentration

Each aspirant, with the assistance of her or his faculty advisor and the area faculty, selects an area of concentration from the traditional business disciplines of accounting, analytics, information, and operations, finance, human resources management, marketing, organizational behavior, and strategic management. An aspirant also may propose an interdisciplinary concentration that is a combination of these disciplines or may include emphases such as international business, law, and economics. The aspirant must take at least five advanced courses in the concentration. These courses may include those offered outside the School of Business.

Supporting Areas

Coursework in the area of concentration is supplemented and strengthened by study in one or two supporting areas. A supporting area is one that supplements and complements the concentration. The aspirant satisfies the supporting area requirement by taking at least 4 advanced courses in the supporting areas (at least 2 courses in each of 2 supporting areas or at least 4 courses in 1 supporting area). Courses recommended for preparation for the qualifier assessment may not be included in satisfying the supporting area requirement.

Probation and Dismissal Guidelines

To be in good standing, a student must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average; if the grade-point average falls below 3.0, the student is placed on probation. This is followed by a letter to the student confirming the probation and explaining the student’s options.

A student is placed on probation for one academic semester. If the cumulative grade-point average has not risen to 3.0 in the next semester of enrollment (excluding summers), the student can either be dismissed or allowed to continue on probation. Continued probation requires the area director for the student’s concentration to write a letter to the Ph.D. Team explaining why the student should be allowed to continue.

A graduate student can be dismissed on the recommendation of the area director for the student’s concentration. Usually, a graduate student is dismissed because of a low grade-point average; however, failure of examinations or failure to make satisfactory progress toward the degree is also cause for dismissal. Academic dismissal should occur before a semester begins; but if a student is dismissed during the semester, the dismissal is effective only at the end of the semester in which the Ph.D. Team gives notification of dismissal.

Policy for KU School of Business Ph.D. Program on Academic Misconduct:

We believe that doctoral students should be held to a higher standard with regard to academic integrity than other students in the School given their future role in doing research and teaching in the university setting as well as enforcing such standards in their own classes.  To this end, the faculty of the KU School of Business provides a course, BUS 903 - Responsible Conduct in Research, that is required of each student in the Ph.D. program.

Consistent with USRR 2.5.1 and existing Graduate Studies Policies on "Good Academic Standing" and "Dismissed Enrollment," this document discusses the guidelines for probation and dismissal of doctoral students who commit academic misconduct.  The Ph.D. program administrators will regularly check with the Provost's office for any records of misconduct by business doctoral students in any class at KU (inside or outside of the School of Business).  For example, these checks will occur (but are not limited to): (a) at the end of the first year for use in the qualifying review process; (b) prior to start of any teaching responsibilities; (c) prior to comprehensive exams; (d) prior to the dissertation proposal defense.  Instances of misconduct will be shared with the members of the Ph.D. team, advisor, and deans of the School.

The first case of any academic misconduct in a class anywhere in the university may result in probation or dismissal of the student depending on the severity of the misconduct and the student's response.  It is expected that the advisor, Ph.D. team chair and team members, and Ph.D. program director will all be granted access to the details of a misconduct case by the professor involved.  If probation, the conditions for the probation are set by the Ph.D. team chair and Ph.D. program director in consultation with the advisor and Ph.D. team members.  The conditions may include (but are not limited to) such assignments as reviewing the literature on the area of the responsible conduct in research violated by the misconduct and/or reviewing the material covered in the target class.  These conditions and the choice of probation vs. dismissal will be based on the details of each individual case.  Importantly, if the student is not dismissed as a result of the first offense and if the conditions for the probation are not met in a timely manner, or if a second act of misconduct occurs, the student will likely be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.

Dissertations will also be reviewed by the advisor and program director for academic misconduct before being submitted to the Research and Graduate Studies Office.  Academic misconduct on a dissertation is grounds for dismissal from the program.  Academic misconduct on the dissertation that is not discovered until after graduation may be grounds for revoking the Ph.D. degree.  In summary, the Ph.D. program in the KU School of Business seeks to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity with this policy.

Research Methodology

When preparing for the qualifier assessment, area groups should ensure that the student’s program includes adequate preparation in research methodology.

Responsible Scholarship

Students in the first or second year must enroll in BUS 903 Responsible Conduct of Research. This course builds students’ abilities to analyze ethical issues and introduces students to various issues that may arise while engaging in the research endeavor.

Note: Contact your department or program for more information about research skills and responsible scholarship, and the current requirements for doctoral students. Current Lawrence and Edwards Campus policies on Doctoral Research Skills and Responsible Scholarship are listed in the KU Policy Library.

Teaching

Students enroll in BUS 902 Teaching Seminar during the first semester in which they teach independently. Before the completion of the Ph.D. program, all students also must have teaching experience equivalent to teaching at least 2 undergraduate courses independently in 2 different semesters.

Examinations

To advance to candidacy, the student must pass a written-oral comprehensive examination in the concentration. Finally, the student must pass an oral defense of the dissertation research proposal and the dissertation.