PhD Additional
Requirements

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Requirements

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College of Business Administration
Doctor of Philosophy

Additional Requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy degree is the mark of highest achievement in preparation for scholarship and research and as such requires continuous full-time enrollment. Only through exclusive commitment and interaction with faculty and other graduate students can the individual benefit from the Ph.D. experience.

| Advisory Committee | Degree Plan | Annual Review | Grade Point Average |
| Grades of Incomplete | Three-C Rule | Continuous Full-Time Program Enrollment |
| Residency Requirement | Program Time Limitation | Doctoral Program Coordination |
| Doctoral Information System | Teaching/Research Activity |
| Other Governing Documents |

Advisory Committee

Each student must select, with the approval of the Ph.D. program coordinator of the major field department, an advisory committee. Students who enter the program with the foundation course work requirements completed must appoint this committee during their first semester. If the committee has not been established before the end of the first semester, students will not be allowed to pay registration fees for the next semester. Students who enter the program with either partial or no credit toward the foundation requirements must form the advisory committee before the end of the semester that follows the one in which the students complete the three foundation courses in DISC and economics. The advisory committee must consist of at least two faculty members from the major field and at least one faculty member from the supporting field. The committee will advise students on course selection and other decisions that affect students before candidacy. Prior to the formation of an advisory committee, this responsibility rests with the Ph.D. program coordinator. The advisory committee is dissolved upon completion of the comprehensive examination.

Members of the advisory committee may be changed with the approval of either the doctoral program coordinator of the student's major field or the department chair.

Degree Plan

Each student must file a degree plan that outlines the schedule and timing of course work in the Ph.D. program. The degree plan must be filed with the Office of Student Services after being approved by the advisory committee and the Ph.D. program coordinator of the major field.

The degree plan must be filed within one semester of forming the advisory committee, or students will not be allowed to pay registration fees for the next semester.

The degree plan may be modified with the approval of the advisory committee and Ph.D. program coordinator; however, such changes must be approved and filed before students deviate from an existing degree plan.

Annual Review

Between May 1 and June 30 of each year, student progress will be evaluated in accordance with departmental policy. The evaluation will include one of four recommendations:

1. The student's progress is satisfactory in all regards, and the student should be retained in the program.
2. The student's progress has been unsatisfactory in some regards, and the student should be carefully counseled and monitored to eliminate these deficiencies.
3. The student's progress gives cause for serious concern, and the student should be placed on probation with a specified time for correcting the noted deficiencies.
4. The student's progress does not warrant continuation in the program, and the student should be dismissed from the Ph.D. program. The annual evaluation will be transmitted in writing to students with a copy to the associate dean for academic and research programs. If a student is to be dismissed, the associate dean will take that action.

The department, at its option, may evaluate student progress at additional times throughout the academic year.

Grade Point Average

Students must achieve a grade point average of 3.25 (A=4.00) in all work applied toward the foundation course work requirement. Moreover, students must achieve a grade point average of 3.25 (A=4.00) in all graduate work attempted at the University of Houston, excluding courses taken to satisfy the foundation course work requirement and excluding dissertation credit. The student must achieve a grade of B- or better in each of the three courses counting toward the supporting field. Moreover, the student must achieve an overall grade point average of 3.25 (A=4.00) in the supporting field. A grade of at least B- must be achieved in the dissertation hours of the student's graduating semester.

Grades of Incomplete

Courses taken by doctoral students, while rigorous and demanding in nature, are structured so that course requirements can be met within the allotted time. Accordingly, grades of incomplete are seldom awarded. A grade of incomplete (excluding dissertation) must be changed within one year or less, at the instructor's discretion, or the grade will automatically become an F.

Three-C Rule

Doctoral students who receive a grade of C+ or lower in three courses (nine semester hours), whether or not in repeated courses, are ineligible to continue in the program.

Continuous Full-Time Program Enrollment

Doctoral students must maintain continuous full-time enrollment. Full-time is defined as enrollment in 9 semester hours of course credit during both the fall and spring semesters. Full-time enrollment (a minimum of six hours) is also required during the summer if the student uses the university's resources at any time during the summer or if the student is on the college's financial support. Students should refer to the Graduate Student Policies for further information in regard to full-time enrollment.

Part-time enrollment is possible during the period in which students complete prerequisite or foundation course work; however, courses that a student takes during a semester in which he or she takes less than a full load cannot be used to satisfy any of the doctoral course requirements in the major field, the supporting field, and research activities. Moreover, after any course is taken to fulfill a requirement other than either a prerequisite or a foundation course, full-time enrollment is required in all subsequent semesters.

Candidates who have completed the requirement for enrollment in dissertation hours and who have lost in-state residency status for tuition purposes may satisfy the full-time enrollment requirement by registering for three hours of dissertation credit in each long semester.

Residency Requirement

Following either the completion of the three college foundation courses in DISC and economics or the completion of an accredited master's degree, at least one year of full-time course work at the University of Houston (including six hours of study during the summer) must be accomplished to be eligible to sit for the comprehensive examination.

Students may also fulfill the residency requirement through full-time enrollment in three consecutive long semesters.

Program Time Limitation

In addition to the requirement that the dissertation be completed within four years of the comprehensive examination, a limitation exists on the total length of study. Students who fail to successfully defend a dissertation within six years of completing the three college foundation courses (DISC and Economics) must retake the comprehensive examinations.

Doctoral Program Coordination

Each department will formalize a mechanism for administering the doctoral program. A Ph.D. program coordinator, appointed by the department chair, will act on behalf of the department in admissions, advising, comprehensive examinations, committee formation, and progress monitoring.

Doctoral Information System

The Office of Student Services maintains the official file that monitors the progress of each doctoral student. Upon completion of a milestone, students' advisory committee chair or dissertation committee chair (or, in the absence of a chair, the Ph.D. program coordinator) shall notify the Office of Student Services in writing that the milestone has been completed. Copies will be sent to students, all committee members, and the Ph.D. program coordinator for the major area.

Teaching/Research Activity

All doctoral students are required to participate in research and teaching activities as an integral part of this doctoral program. In order to participate in teaching-related activities that require oral communication with students in spoken English, international students for whom English is a second language must take the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Oral Interview and obtain a minimum score of 220 (or a renormed score of 50) on the TSE, or 17 (out of 25) on the FSI interview. Students who fail to satisfy this requirement will not be able to teach until it is satisfied.

Other Governing Documents

University policies take precedence over all policies contained in this document. Departments within the College of Business Administration provide students with written policies that govern the administration of comprehensive examinations within that department. This document may also contain policies that specify requirements in addition to those described here. In case of direct conflict, however, college policies take precedence over departmental policies. College policies on doctoral candidates are outlined in the "Graduate Student Policies for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree, College of Business Administration." This document is available in the Office of Student Services. Students are required to graduate under the degree provisions in effect at the time of first registration after having been admitted to the Ph.D. program. Two exceptions to this rule apply:

1. A student who is required to reapply to the program shall be governed by the appropriate degree provisions in effect at the time the student reenters the university.
2. In the event the degree provisions affecting the student are modified, the student may choose to meet the modified provisions; however, the student must select either the old or the new provisions in their entirety.