Return to: Darden Graduate School of Business Administration: Degree Programs
OBJECTIVES
The Darden School offers an intellectually demanding doctoral program for a small, select group of high-potential applicants with a breadth of knowledge in selected functional areas of business and who have a strong interest in academic research.
Darden’s doctoral program is designed to provide you with the learning experiences and methodological training needed to do academic work at the highest level. Our program is distinctive in its cross-disciplinary curriculum and our diverse cohort of students who have interests that span multiple areas within business and business management. We compliment a rigorous exploration of one’s focal area with a broader enterprise perspective on business and markets.
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 the workload and meet the rigorous demands of the program, including the ability to be mentored and to develop their own research portfolio over the course of the program
• Ability to master a body of knowledge, formulate their 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, their peers, and to completing all the requirements of the Doctoral Program within the specified time frame
• Confirmation that the applicant has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration or the equivalent
The 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.
DEGREE REQUIREMEMTS
Students in the program are required to complete two years of full-time coursework in the program. These courses include seminars taught at the Darden School and courses offered on Main Grounds. Subject matter includes material specific to a major field of study and related topics in management. All students are required to take doctoral-level courses in research methods and a course in pedagogy. Students must also 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 complete the project.
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 adviser 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.
ACADEMIC STANDARDS
a. Course Requirements
No course at the Darden School in which the student’s grade is not at least a B (or equivalent) shall be counted toward the completion of the major-field course requirements. Courses taken at 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 at 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.
b. Major Field
A major field is defined in terms of a basic discipline or teaching area in business administration such as accounting, finance, marketing, or operations management.
The selection of a major field by a student is restricted to those established and currently offered by the faculty at the time of application and acceptance. Applicants must designate their major field (one only) when applying for admission to the Doctoral Program. Students usually are not expected to switch from one major field to another during their period of study.
With the advice and concurrence of the director, the major-field adviser will develop a course-specific plan of study for each student in the adviser’s major field. Students should have an approved current plan of study well in advance of each semester’s registration date. Satisfactory fulfillment of the student’s program of study depends on their progress and performance in courses for which they have enrolled for credit, on satisfactory completion of non-course work, and on their passing a comprehensive examination, which may be both written and oral.
c. Comprehensive Exams
These examinations are normally taken at the end of the student’s second year of full- time coursework. 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 for logical reasoning both orally and in writing.
d. Dissertation 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.
Students are ordinarily expected to pass the initial dissertation research proposal examination within six months of completing 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.
e. 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.
f. Maximum Time to Complete the Program
The maximum time allowed to complete the doctoral program is set by current UVA GSAS policy: Time Limitation
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.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
Each of the active major fields may modify the field’s plan(s) of study to accommodate changes in the courses offered by the Darden School and by other parts of the University. The initial major-field requirements and any subsequent changes must be approved by the Doctoral Operating Committee; they must conform to the structural requirements of the programs; and they must be announced to the Darden School faculty and prospective students.
The program’s structure requires students to satisfactorily complete the following:
- Normally, a minimum of 48 semester hours of graduate courses while enrolled in the Doctoral Program at the University of Virginia
- One additional course in the students’ primary area of focus Three methods courses suited to the students’ program of study (must be approved by their adviser)
- One Pedagogy course
- Comprehensive examinations suitable to the field
- Twenty-four semester hours of doctoral research after successfully completing coursework and comprehensive exams
- An acceptable dissertation
CREDIT HOURS: THE REGULAR PHD DEGREE
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First & Second Year of the Program
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Credit Hours
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Doctoral-level Major-Field Courses
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12
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Pedagogy
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3
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Research Methodology
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9
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Other Customized Coursework
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24
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Total
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48
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CREDIT HOURS: THE DUAL MBA/PHD DEGREE
The dual MBA/PhD Program meets the requirements for the MBA degree and the structural requirements for the PhD degree. In addition, the program allows a student to complete both degrees in four years, saving one year over the typical required time to complete the two separate degree programs.
The MBA degree program requires 60 credit hours. Students must complete the FY Program. At least 22.5 hours must be elective credits (for dual-degree programs), and 1.5 credits must be in Leadership. The PhD program requires 48 credit hours of courses and must fit the requirements laid out above. By accepting the PhD-level courses as elective MBA credits, the MBA/PhD student can fulfill these requirements in three years of coursework, a total of 79.5 credit hours of coursework.
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MBA/PhD Program
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FY MBA
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30 credit hours
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Joint electives
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25.5 credit hours
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FY and SY summer
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Research Assistant
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Doctoral-level major-field courses
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12 credit hours
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Pedagogy
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3 credit hours
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Research methodology
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9 credit hours
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TOTAL
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79.5 credit hours
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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.
