Responsibility for the administration of the PhD in Business with a concentration in Business Information Technology is shared by the Department of Business Information Technology, the Pamplin College of Business, and the Graduate School. General university graduate degree requirements, procedures, and policies, are available through the Graduate School's web site
http://graduateschool.vt.edu/.
Applicants to the PhD in Business with a concentration in Business Information Technology must complete and submit scores for the candidate’s choice of either the GRE exam or the GMAT exam. There is no minimum required GRE/GMAT score, but full GRE/GMAT exam results must be provided. However, entrance into this prestigious Ph.D program is highly competitive, and thus all other factors being equal, candidates should be in the upper 90th percentile or higher in these exams to be fully competitive. High grades from quality universities, academic references, and demonstrated potential for conducting academic research all weigh in heavily on admissions decisions.
All Ph.D. candidates must complete a minimum of 90 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate. This total must include a minimum of 60 semester hours of approved course work and no fewer than 30 hours of research and dissertation credits. A prior master’s degree or work experience are not required, but the most competitive applicants usually have at least one of these factors; it is thus extremely rare that a student with only an undergraduate degree would be admitted. At least 50 percent of all graduate course credits (excluding research and dissertation credits) must be earned at Virginia Tech. The program of study must also satisfy the following departmental requirements:
1. BIT Ph.D. students are required to take approximately 30 hours of Ph.D. seminars hosted by the department. Moreover, students will select a flexible methodology track, generally in one of three areas for 15–18 credits: (1) behavioral and organizational information systems and operations management methods; (2) econometric and financial methods; or (3) operations research/management science methods. Moreover, there are a large number of Ph.D. seminar electives and method courses students can add for further expertise in artificial intelligence/machine learning, security, human-computer interaction, big data analytics, computer science, disaster resilience, management, marketing, operations research/IE, and other areas.
2. At least two continuous years must be spent in residence on the Blacksburg campus as a full-time student. A minimum of 24 graduate-level semester credit hours must be earned during this period.
3. The BIT department only admits Ph.D. students on a full-time basis. Admitted students are funded with a generous stipend of $34,000 plus additional summer support of $6,000 the first two years. Full tuition waivers and other benefits are given. In return, all students work 20 hours a week during Fall and Spring semester as graduate assistants to help with grading, research, and administrative duties. Additional summer funding is available starting in the third year on a competitive basis. As needed, additional funding is available for software, data collection, travel to conferences, and the like. We aim to fully fund BIT Ph.D. students for four years, subject to their adequate performance. Exceptional students who are on track for completion in their fourth year plus publication in elites are eligible for a fifth year of funding, which provides substantial advantages for job placement at top business schools.
4. Per graduate school policies, the BIT Ph.D. is a full-time residential program, and students are expected to be in residence the entire year (including most of the summer, with the exception of Graduate School allowed vacation/leave). During the first two summers students are required to complete a summer research paper, which is rigorously evaluated and represents the each student’s screening exam for continuation in the program.
5. To prepare for academic employment, students will be asked to teach one carefully selected course later in their program (usually after third year), subject to departmental needs.
6. Each student's formal program of study is prepared during the second or third semester of study. This plan is developed by the student in conjunction with the Ph.D. advisory committee. Aside from finalizing the courses that a student will be contracted to complete for graduation, this is also when the student formally arranges for a Ph.D. advisor and Ph.D. committee. In formulating the program, attention is given to the student's prior academic preparation and career objectives.
7. There are multiple additional requirements such as completion of Pamplin College workshops in Ethical and Scholarly Research Practices, and Inclusion and Diversity, and participation in any department-hosted research series. Each student participates in and receives a formal annual evaluation to provide constructive feedback on their performance and details on any corrective action that is needed, if applicable.
8. Becoming a Ph.D. candidate is a formal process and designation, which requires that the student have successfully passed both of their summer papers, all of their coursework, and have a formal plan of study approved. Moreover, the final step in becoming a Ph.D. candidate will be to pass the formally scheduled “preliminary exam,” which tests the candidate’s knowledge of their research area and readiness to complete their dissertation, in terms of a formal dissertation proposal. Upon successful completion of the preliminary exam, the student is then cleared to use their remaining time in residence to complete their dissertation (during this time, coursework consists of pass/fail dissertation credits.
