PhD Curriculum

In the first two years, students take 3-4 courses per semester for all three semesters (Fall, Spring, and Summer). Many students continue to take coursework throughout their entire program. Students also begin taking Ph.D. seminars during their first year. The seminars are substantial courses that typically demand more time than "regular" courses. See all courses offered by Department of Accounting & MIS.

The department offers the following five Ph.D. seminars in accounting and MIS: Interdisciplinary, Financial Empirical, Capital Markets, Econometric Issues in Accounting, and Analytical Managerial and Control. The department offers additional seminars as needed on topics such as experimentation, auditing and management information systems. Students are required to take each seminar once and often take seminars multiple times in their chosen area of interest.

The most common graduate minor areas for our students are Economics and Statistics. The outside department designs and offers the minors. Some departments have standard examination procedure for granting a minor. Other departments require satisfactory grades in a specific number of courses. Some potential graduate minors include:

• Economics
• Statistics
• Finance

The purpose of the Preliminary Examination is to allow the students to demonstrate they can be successful researchers in their chosen field. Several components are important to be successful. The examination is designed to provide information to the faculty and student on whether they have attained sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge.

The faculty has agreed that on the preliminary examination students are responsible for:

1. published research and working papers discussed in the Accounting & MIS PhD seminars taken by the student
2. published research in major areas of Accounting and MIS that was published during their time in the Ph.D. Program;
3. working papers that were presented in our weekly TJ Burns Colloquium Series during their time in the Ph.D. Program, including an ability to write a critical evaluation and suggest extensions;
4. an understanding of the major research methods used in Accounting and MIS.
   

The examination will include a common question to be answered by all students, whether their field is Accounting or MIS. The examination may include a take-home portion.

All students are required to present a paper Spring of their third year in order to be eligible to apply to take the Oral Candidacy Examination. This presentation may be the student's proposal or it may be joint work with faculty or other Ph.D. students. This presentation usually occurs as part of the TJ Burns Colloquium Series.

The Accounting & MIS Department administers the Candidacy Examination in association with the Graduate School. The student must circulate the written examination, which consists normally of his or her dissertation proposal, at least two weeks prior to the date of the oral exam. This means the student must have received permission from his or her advisor well in advance of the planned date, so that an examination committee can be formed. Accounting and MIS rules require unanimous approval of the oral examination in order for the student to become a candidate. There must be a minimum of one semester between the student’s candidacy examination and final dissertation defense. For example, if a student’s candidacy exam occurs in the fall semester, the earliest they can defend their dissertation is the following summer semester. Because of this rule, students typically schedule their candidacy exam during the spring, summer, or fall semester before going on the job market to ensure they can defend their dissertation prior to their first semester as a faculty member.

The Accounting & MIS Department administers the Dissertation Defense in association with the Graduate School. Rules for the defense are found in the Graduate School Handbook and AMIS Department handbook. Students typically defend their dissertation in the summer following the job market.