Doctoral Program - Graduate School of Business Administration

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Objectives

The Darden School offers an intellectually demanding doctoral program for a small, select group of high-potential applicants: men and women who already have a breadth of knowledge in the functional areas of business and who have a strong interest in academic research.

The program aims to be distinctive, not only by providing sound training in the theory and methodology of the student’s chosen field, but also by training students to perform advanced academic research. Graduates of the program are expected to be able to conduct rigorous research that contributes to the growth of knowledge in their domain of expertise and to deepening our understanding of business The program fosters an environment in which students are immersed in the research literature, pushed to think critically, cultivate their own ideas, and work with their peers and faculty colleagues to generate new insights. We also ask student to work closely with faculty on their research, including direct involvement in research projects of interest to faculty members as a way of building the capabilities of students and enhancing their research portfolio.

A doctoral student must specialize in a major field of study determined by the faculty.

Admission

Acceptance of an applicant as a student in the doctoral program is based on the following criteria:

Interest in, and capacity to learn, the craft of academic research and potential to become a thought-leader in their field of study;
Ability to manage your workload and meet the rigorous demands of the program, including the ability to be mentored and to develop your own research portfolio over the course of the program;
Ability to master a body of knowledge, formulate your own ideas on the forefront of research, and to work cooperatively with peers and faculty throughout the duration of the program;
Commitment to the program, your peers and completing all the requirements of the doctoral program within the specified time-frame.
Assurance that the applicant has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration or the equivalent

The Research, Course Development, and Doctoral Policy Committee is responsible for admission policies. Any policies and procedures approved by the committee, shall be executed by the Doctoral Operating Committee, the major advisers, and the director of the Doctoral Program.

The application can be found online: https://apply.darden.virginia.edu/apply/

Applicants are required to take either the GMAT or GRE.

The GMAT is offered only as a computer adaptive test in the United States. Pearson VUE administers the GMAT. Darden will also accept a GRE score in place of the GMAT. No approval is necessary — just apply with the GRE score. Please note that there is no advantage or disadvantage to taking one test over the other.

We do not require official test scores in order to process your application and get it to the committee for review. You may self-report the scores directly into your online application. If offered admission, you will need to send official documents. However, offers of admission are not binding until official scores are received. If discrepancies are found between self-reported and official scores, the offer of admission will be withdrawn.

To demonstrate English proficiency, international applicants must submit a TOEFL, IELTS or PTE score.

All applicants must also provide a curriculum vita, essay, recommendations, interview and transcripts.

Administration

The administration of the doctoral program has been assigned by the Darden School faculty to the Doctoral Operating Committee, a standing committee of the faculty. Each major field of doctoral study established by the faculty has a major field advisor who is a member of the doctoral committee. The general administration of the doctoral program is the responsibility of the director of the doctoral program.

Financial Assistance

Students offered admission to the doctoral program may also be offered a range of financial support. Many of our admitted students receive a generous scholarship, a tuition waiver, and a stipend. Students who are offered assistance may receive such support for the duration of the program (e.g. typically four years), but such decisions are made on a year-to-year basis and depend on the students’ satisfactory progress within the program and availability of resources.

Degree Requirements

Students in the program are required to complete two years of full-time coursework in the program. These courses include seminars taught at Darden and courses offered on Main-Grounds. Subject matter includes material specific to a major field of study, related topics in management. All students are REQUIRED to take doctoral-level courses in research methods, and a course in pedagogy. Students must also take and successfully complete comprehensive exams after completing their coursework. Students cannot pursue their dissertation unless they have passed their comprehensive exams. Finally, students are required to complete a dissertation – an extended piece of original research that is approved by a committee of faculty with whom they will work to finish their project.

The program is designed to be completed in four years: two years for course work and just under two years for dissertation (with comprehensive exams coming immediately after coursework and before the dissertation).

Comprehensive Exams

These examinations are normally taken at the end of the student’s second year of full-time course work. The exams are primarily concerned with a student’s knowledge and scholarly assessment of the management literature as well as an area of specialization. Each student should demonstrate doctoral-level skills and knowledge concerning the field’s fundamental problems, theories, and conceptual frameworks, and should show a well-developed capacity to reason logically, orally, and in writing.

Dissertation Research Proposal

Each student is required to prepare a dissertation research proposal and to pass a proposal examination before conducting research and writing the dissertation. The purpose of the proposal and examination is to obtain assurance, from the viewpoint of both the faculty and the student, that the research project is worthwhile and feasible.

Dissertation

Each student is required to present an acceptable dissertation based on an approved proposal. A reading committee, of which the dissertation supervisor is normally chair, will determine whether a dissertation is acceptable. The dissertation must contribute to knowledge in the field and constitute an original piece of research. Each student is expected to present a public oral defense of the dissertation as part of the requirements for the doctoral degree.

Residence Requirements and Program Length

University requirements for the doctoral degree are two continuous academic semesters of full-time graduate study (or the equivalent) in residence toward the doctoral degree, not including previous semesters in residence at the University of Virginia for the purpose of obtaining another degree. Experience suggests, however, that a minimum two years of full-time work in residence is usually needed to complete the formal requirements of the degree.

Academic Standards

Course Requirements

No course at the Darden School in which the student’s grade is not at least B (or equivalent) shall be counted toward the completion of the major field course requirements. Courses taken in other schools to fulfill degree requirements shall be counted for this purpose only if the student receives at least the minimum grade acceptable for credit toward a graduate degree in the schools within which the courses are taken. A student whose work in a major field course fails to meet these standards, and whose work is otherwise satisfactory, may arrange for remedial work with the course instructor or may take another course; any student whose work in more than two major field courses has not been acceptable shall have failed to meet the academic standards of the doctoral program.

Dissertation Proposal Examination

A student is ordinarily expected to pass the initial dissertation research proposal examination within six months following their comprehensive exams. A student whose initial examination is not scheduled within 12 months, or who fails the examination twice, shall have failed to meet the academic standards of the doctoral program. A student is welcome to petition the operating committee for approval to remain in the program.

Time to Complete Program

The maximum time a student is allowed to complete the program is 60 months, beginning with initial registration. Not completing the program within the 60 months will likely terminate the student’s enrollment in the program.

Failure of a student to meet the academic standards of the doctoral program will result in the termination of the student’s enrollment in the program. The doctoral program committee is authorized to act on behalf of the faculty in receiving and acting on petitions for readmission. In acting on these requests, the committee may establish such requirements and conditions for readmission as it considers appropriate. Students may appeal decisions to the Darden School faculty.

After the residence year has been completed, a student’s tuition is calculated according to the number of semester course credits for which the candidate is registered.