1. Course Requirements:
Foundation Courses:
0-4 business courses
Four
foundational courses in Accounting, Finance, Management and Marketing are
needed.
These may
be waived based on prior coursework as described in the COBA PhD handbook.
Core courses:
A. The following
graduate IS courses are required for all graduating ISDS PhD students. This
requirement can be waived if a student has taken these or equivalent graduate
courses in a prior program.
(i) ISM 6124: Advanced Systems Analysis and
Design
(ii) ISM 6218: Advanced Database Management
(iii) ISM 6225: Distributed
Information Systems
B. Two graduate Economics
courses
See COBA
PhD handbook for the required economics courses and waiver conditions.
C. Three
quantitative courses, plus an additional research elective. The following three
courses will satisfy the three quantitative course requirement for ISDS
doctoral students:
(i) QMB 6375 Applied Linear Statistical Models
(ii) QMB 7566 Applied Multivariate Statistical
Methods
(iii) QMB 7565 Introduction to
Research Methods
D. Five courses
in the major field (at 6000 level or higher).
(i) ISM/QMB XXXX: Computational
Methods for Research. The course will be a new course based on the principles
of computing and search, and will present seminal methods in logic,
optimization, machine learning, simulation, agent-based modeling and game
theory. The course will first be offered as a special topics course under ISM
or QMB. For ISDS doctoral students this course cannot be used to count towards
the additional research elective course required under (C) above.
(ii) ISM 7910 Conceptual Foundations
(iii) ISM 7912 Seminar in IS
Organizational Research
(iv) ISM 7911 Seminar in MIS
Technical Research
(v) One additional ISM course at the 6000 level or higher. Note that any of
the three courses taken to satisfy (A) above can also satisfy this (fifth major
course) requirement.
Also note that QMB 7565
Introduction to Research Methods is also a key research methods course for ISDS
students, but this will count towards the “quantitative course” requirement
above, and hence cannot be included as part of the five courses required for
the major field.
E. Three courses
in a support area.
Can be any three graduate courses
taken in one or more related fields such as Economics, Computer Science,
Psychology, Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Accounting, Finance and
Management. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the advisor or
ISDS doctoral coordinator.
F. Other
course/credit requirements that must be satisfied prior to graduation:
(i) Need at least 21 hours enrolled
in dissertation credits. Note that students may register for dissertation hours
only after they are admitted to candidacy. Admission to candidacy normally
occurs after the student has passed all parts (written and oral) of the
comprehensive examinations. See the COBA doctoral handbook on rules pertaining
to admission to candidacy.
(ii) Need at least 90 graduate
semester hours after the undergraduate degree, at least 45 of which must be at
USF. In addition to courses, students can satisfy the 90 hour requirement by:
·
Registering for dissertation credits.
·
Registering for “Directed Research” (independent
study) courses in the department.
(iii) Continuous enrollment
requirement. Students who have not yet graduated are expected to be
continuously enrolled for a certain number of dissertation credits each semester
as noted in the COBA and USF graduate handbooks.
An adequate grade will be defined as a B grade or higher for
courses in which A through F letter grades are awarded, and as an S grade for
courses in which either an S or U are awarded. If a student does not receive an
adequate grade for a completed course, this will be considered making
“unsatisfactory progress” in the doctoral program. Students making
unsatisfactory progress will be evaluated by the doctoral committee as
described in this document.
2. Research Requirements Before Admission to Candidacy
Paper Requirements
Students are strongly encouraged to start early in their
pursuit of their research interests. To this end, students are required to
write two research papers in their first two years.
A. First-Year
Paper: The first research paper is expected to be co-authored with the
student's advisor(s). Evidence of
satisfactory completion of this requirement is made by the collaborating
faculty member to the Ph.D. coordinator. The paper has to be submitted to the
Ph.D. coordinator by September 1st of the student’s second year.
Students are encouraged to submit this paper to at least a conference during
their second year.
B. Second-Year
Paper: The second research paper is expected to be more independent with the
student being the lead author. The paper has to be submitted to the Ph.D.
coordinator by September 1st of the student’s third year and also
presented to the departmental faculty and doctoral students during early Fall
of the student’s third year. Evidence of
satisfactory completion of this requirement is made by via a positive
assessment by faculty that the student has completed this requirement.
Students who have not completed these research papers on
schedule will be considered making “unsatisfactory progress” in the doctoral
program.
Departmental Participation
Students are expected to attend all departmental activities
relevant to the doctoral program, as determined by the department chair and
Ph.D. coordinator. These activities typically
include invited speakers, research seminars and presentations, job talks by
faculty candidates, and meetings with potential doctoral students. Students who
fail to participate will be considered making “unsatisfactory progress” in the
doctoral program.
Research Assistantship
Each semester funded doctoral students are expected to work
as research assistants to assigned faculty members. Funded students are
encouraged to use these assignments to work closely with the faculty and
advance their research. Based on consultations with the appropriate faculty the
PhD coordinator will inform the department chair if any student’s performance
in these assignments was unsatisfactory. Students who receive such
unsatisfactory evaluations will be considered making “unsatisfactory progress”
in the doctoral program.
3. Teaching Requirements
Students funded by USF assistantships are expected to teach
one course per semester from their second year onwards. Evidence of satisfactory teaching performance
is made based on course evaluations and feedback by the course coordinator to
the department chair. Students may be asked to attend courses in the Teaching
Enhancement Program and/or observe the course coordinator’s classes and/or work
with the course coordinator on how to improve their teaching performance.
Receiving unsatisfactory evaluations or negative feedback will be considered
making “unsatisfactory progress” in the doctoral program.
4. Comprehensive Examinations
There are two parts to the comprehensive examinations: (i) a
written examination and (ii) an oral presentation and successful defense of the
second year research paper. Students will be considered to have passed the
comprehensive exam if they pass the written exam and successfully present and
defend their second year paper.
The written examination will have six parts. Five of these
parts will be based on the following five required courses: the two
departmental research methods courses (Introduction to Research Methods and
Computational Methods for Research), the Conceptual Foundations course and the
two departmental seminar courses (Seminar in IS Organizational Research and
Seminar in MIS Technical Research). In addition, the sixth part of the exam
will test IS domain knowledge and will typically be based on the three required
graduate IS courses listed previously in this document in section (A) under
“Course Requirements – Core Courses”.
By the end of the first (Fall/Spring) semester following the
completion of the required research methods and departmental coursework (and no
later than the end of the fourth year) students should have passed both parts
of the comprehensive examinations. For
funded doctoral students this will normally occur during the Fall semester of
their third year.
Qualifications
required to take the Comprehensive Examination
Students must have:
- Satisfactorily
completed all required department and research methods courses and
most/all of the supporting field and foundation courses,
- Submitted
the first and second year research papers, and
- Corrected
any problems as detailed in any unsatisfactory progress report letter.
RULES RELATED TO THE
WRITTEN EXAMINATION
The written examinations are normally offered two times a
year, in early Fall and early Spring each year. Any student who intends to take
this during a semester should inform the PhD coordinator in writing during the
first week of the semester in which he/she intends to take the exam.
First and Second
Sittings for the Written Comprehensive Examination
Students must take the examination as soon as they are
qualified. This will normally be in the
early fall of their third year. If they
do not meet the qualifications at that point, then they must complete their
qualifications in time to sit for the early-spring examinations. Failure to sit for the written examination
when the student is qualified to take the examination, without written
permission of the department chair, is considered a complete failure of the
first sitting. This student will also be considered as making “unsatisfactory
progress” in the doctoral program.
As noted previously the written exam will have six parts. If
a student receives satisfactory evaluations on all parts of the exam in the
first sitting the student will be considered to have passed the written exam.
In general we anticipate that students taking the written exams will pass in
the first sitting.
In the unlikely event that a student’s performance in one or
more parts in the first sitting is “unsatisfactory” then the student will be asked
to re-take those parts in a second sitting. The timing of such a second written
examination will be determined by the faculty examining committee but is
typically the earliest next time the written exams are scheduled. If the
student receives satisfactory evaluations on all parts of the exam that they
are required to take in the second sitting, the student will be considered to
have passed the written exam.
In case of unsatisfactory performance on any portion of the
partial or full exam on the second sitting the student will be asked to leave
the doctoral program, but can continue taking courses to obtain a Masters
degree in MIS. Failure to sit for this examination without written permission
from the department chair will also be considered a failure of the second
sitting.
RULES RELATED TO THE
PAPER PRESENTATION
As noted above, presentation and successful defense of the
second year paper will constitute the second part of the comprehensive examinations.
Students are expected to schedule a presentation in the early Fall of the third
year and present the paper to the faculty. The faculty will evaluate this
presentation based on the quality of the presentation and the responses to
questions during the presentation. In evaluating this paper and the
presentation, the ISDS doctoral committee will focus primarily on the
originality of the research and/or research plan, potential for current or
future publication, ability to think creatively, and communicate and carry out
research independently. A student will have satisfactorily completed this
requirement when the doctoral committee agrees that the research paper
satisfies these requirements. If a student passes the presentation then this
component of the comprehensive examination will be completed. If a student
receives an unsatisfactory evaluation of the presentation then the student will
be given the opportunity of presenting the research a second time. The timing
of such a second presentation will be determined by the doctoral committee. In
case of unsatisfactory performance on this second round the student will be
considered to have failed the comprehensive examinations and asked to leave the
doctoral program but can continue taking courses to obtain a Masters degree in
MIS.
5. After the Comprehensive Exams
Students will be “admitted to candidacy” after passing their
comprehensive examinations. At this point students will be expected to form a
dissertation committee and work on their dissertation proposal. After passing
their proposal defense students will work to complete the dissertation and
schedule a dissertation defense. According to university rules a doctoral student must satisfactorily
defend a dissertation within 4 years of candidacy.
AFTER THE FOURTH YEAR
After the Spring of the fourth year,
College
of
Business
and departmental financial support ends. In order to maintain active status in the doctoral program, students
must sign up for regular dissertation credit hours as required by the college
and university graduate policies.
6. Performance Evaluation
An annual progress report letter will be sent to each
doctoral student in the Spring of each year by the Ph.D. coordinator. Any
“unsatisfactory progress” assessment will be evaluated by the Doctoral
Committee for the ISDS Department. The committee may recommend one or more of
several corrective actions including but not restricted to:
- Additional
coursework.
- Additional
research assignments such as a paper and/or presentation requirement.
- Withdrawal
of funding.
·
Termination from the program. In cases where a
student is terminated from the doctoral program the student may be permitted to continue taking courses to
obtain a Masters degree.
