First Year Dossier:

At the end of the doctoral student’s first year, a dossier must be prepared which includes all significant work/papers written that year, a statement of learning specific to the program of doctoral study and a statement describing future plans: areas needing more course work and preliminary dissertation areas, if available. The dossier should include a list of all courses, grades received, and the name of the student’s advisor who may or may not chair ultimately the student’s dissertation committee. The dossier will be evaluated by the Graduate Program Director to assess the student’s progress in the program, and to determine if the student should proceed into the second year of doctoral study.

Open Seminar:

New doctoral students are required to attend the Open Seminar, which presents the different research areas in the IS department.

Minimum Course Requirements:

The student’s mentor can add more course requirements to the ones below depending on the student’s level of competence, research productivity, and progress.

• Doctoral students must complete the required two (2) methodology courses during their first year of study.
• In addition, doctoral students must take 5 area courses.
• All doctoral students must take two Independent Studies.

Comprehensive Examination:

The Comprehensive Examination is an integral component of the PhD Program. Through this examination a doctoral student demonstrates the requisite knowledge of the discipline as well as the competencies that are necessary to continue doctoral studies by conducting original research.

Dissertation:

While course work is required, it is important to understand that satisfactorily completing course work is not the goal of a doctoral program. A doctoral candidate is required to produce a publishable doctoral dissertation based upon the candidate’s original research. The dissertation must necessarily advance the body of scientific knowledge that underlies the discipline of Information Systems. A critical component of a doctoral candidate’s development is the dissemination of scientific information. Doctoral candidates are routinely expected to author by themselves or co-author with their professors and fellow students scholarly papers for submission to scientific journals and conference proceedings. Doctoral candidates should also be prepared to present these research results at various national and international conferences.