Curriculum
In most cases, it takes 4-5 years to complete the Ph.D. program. The coursework requirement is 42 credit hours, plus examinations and a dissertation.
First Year
During the first year, the students usually focus on coursework and start to participate in research, and of course, adjust to life as a Ph.D. student. The qualifying examinations are held during the summer of the first year.
Second Year
Although coursework continues into the second year, the focus starts to shift towards deeper involvement in research. The second year requirement includes a research paper under the supervision of a faculty advisor(s), and a presentation of the paper during the summer of the second year. That research project and its presentation constitute the comprehensive examination required by the Bauer College of Business.
Third Year and Beyond
Starting from the third year, each student is expected to conduct dissertation research and may undertake additional research projects when opportunities arise.
Coursework
Each student must file a Ph.D. degree plan that outlines the schedule and timing of coursework in the doctoral program. It should be constructed in light of the Ph.D. policies of the Marketing Department. Overall, the 42 credits hours of coursework is divided as follows:
- Marketing major field — 21 credit hours
- Research requirement — 12 credit hours
- Supporting field — 9 credit hours
Current college rules require students to register for nine hours (usually three courses) per Fall or Spring semester and six hours per Summer — if on campus. After passing the comprehensive exam, students register for nine hours of dissertation credit.
Marketing Doctoral Courses
| Course # | COURSE NAME (click for syllabus) |
Current Instructor |
|---|---|---|
| MARK 8335R | Marketing Models | Sam Hui |
| MARK 8336 | Marketing Research Methods | Ed Blair |
| MARK 8337R | Behavioral Constructs in Marketing | Vanessa Patrick |
| MARK 8338R | Marketing Management and Strategy | Michael Ahearne |
| MARK 8349 | Multivariate Methods in Marketing | James Hess |
| MARK 8379 | Modern Choice Modeling | James Hess |
| MARK 8397 | Academic Writing and Presenting | Betsy Gelb |
| MARK 8397 | Psychology of Decision Making | Partha Krishnamurthy |
R: Required for all marketing Ph.D. students
Grading and Evaluation
Each doctoral student is formally evaluated at least once per year, in summer (evaluations also may be made at other times). Please see the college policies for a description of the basis for evaluation and evaluation categories. The most important consideration in the evaluation is your ability to do research, now and in the future. An evaluation of less than fully satisfactory progress (including dismissal) can result from various causes, such as poor grades or inadequate effort, but we most strongly emphasize ability to formulate, design, and conduct research.
Other issues pertaining to the doctoral program are specified in Bauer College Ph.D. Policies and Marketing Ph.D. Policies.
Expectations and Duties
The doctoral program is more than a series of courses. The overall goal is for you to develop as rapidly as possible into someone who can succeed in a research-oriented academic environment; someone who can conduct and present publishable research and who can teach competently. The following points are associated with this overall goal.
You should begin reading papers in journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Marketing Science, to the best of your ability, and discuss material that puzzles or intrigues you with faculty members and fellow students.
You are expected to attend departmental programs: research seminars and symposia.
You are welcome to sit in any class, including those you are not taking for credit. If you wish to get a different professor’s point of view on a doctoral course you already have taken, or if you wish to see how some faculty member covers some topic in an undergraduate or master’s level course, just inform the faculty member that you would like to visit.
You are expected to show initiative in your coursework and in your duties as a research assistant. Your future career will require you to set your own goals, learn how to solve problems on your own without detailed instructions, and get work done without constant supervision or a syllabus. There is no time like the present to begin practicing these skills.
The research assistantship is an important part of your program because it should provide “on the job training,” a research apprenticeship. As mentioned above, you are expected to show initiative in research assistant duties.
A research assistantship involves ten (quarter assistantship) to twenty hours (half assistantship) of effort per week during the semester. The workload usually varies across the semester, though, so that some weeks require more time and some less. In general, the idea would be that a research assistant is less concerned with counting hours than with getting the job done, but also does not hesitate to inform the supervising faculty member about time constraints resulting from other obligations.
Teaching assistantships take two forms; grading assignments in which you help a faculty member grade a large class, and independent teaching assignments in which you teach the class. Most students will receive a grading assignment before receiving an independent teaching assignment.
As a grader, you are expected to attend classes, talk with the supervising instructor about his/her method and objectives of instruction, and generally prepare yourself for an independent assignment. Your work is unlikely to take more than 5 hours in most weeks, including time spent in class, but you must be prepared to work hard immediately after assignments are collected so they can be graded and returned quickly.
If you are given the opportunity to teach independently, our expectations are that you will strive to be a good teacher—and we will try to help you improve—and that you will be professional in your behavior. We expect you to prepare instructional notes for classes, not to miss classes, and to treat students courteously and with appropriate professional distance.