Credit Requirements:
The Virginia Tech Ph.D. in Business requires a minimum of 90 credit hours. The program for the Executive Ph.D. in Business assumes prior graduate study in business or a related field from which a maximum of 30 relevant credits can be transferred to meet core credit requirements. Candidates without this preparation must complete an additional 30 credits of preparatory work.
The remainder (a minimum of 60 credits) will include at least 30 credits of graded coursework (disciplinary/interdisciplinary and methodology seminars) and a minimum of thirty research/dissertation credits.
Graded Coursework:
The graded coursework is tailored to the student’s primary disciplinary interest (corresponding to the six traditional concentrations offered at the Pamplin School: Accounting and Information Systems, Business Information Technology, Finance, Hospitality & Tourism, Management and Marketing). The first two disciplinary content seminars parallel those taken by traditional full-time Ph.D. students. The remaining (two or more) content seminars provide additional disciplinary depth or interdisciplinary content tuned to the student’s research interests.
These disciplinary seminars typically meet on weekday evenings or Friday afternoons. The methodology seminars typically meet on weekday evenings or Saturday mornings or afternoons. These meeting times (outside of normal work hours) allow Executive Ph.D. students to participate synchronously with traditional Ph.D. students in live discussion (either face-to-face or via Zoom technology). Students will have access to faculty/tutors in all methodology courses to support their academic work.
The microeconomics review and the business pedagogy course meet during the winter terms of the first and second year, respectively. The module on scholarly ethics, diversity and inclusion is completed during the Spring term of the first year.
The fall and spring terms during years 1 and 2 use a hybrid delivery format. Classes meet each week, with every other week being a residential session usually held at Virginia Tech’s extended campus in Northern Virginia. Typically, three of these residential sessions meet in Blacksburg. These mandatory residential sessions help the Executive Ph.D. student assimilate into the Pamplin community and facilitate face-to-face interactions with faculty, potential research mentors, student peers, and academic tutors who support coursework.
During Year 1, students should plan on attending approximately 23 residential sessions (Fall: 8; Winter: 2, Spring: 8, Summer: 5). In Year 2, there are 18 residencies (no summer residencies). In Year 3, when students are working on their dissertation proposals there are only four residencies (Fall: 2 and Spring: 2). No formal residencies are planned thereafter. However, students are always welcome and encouraged to attend in-person activities. During this period, students are strongly encouraged to communicate regularly and substantively with their Ph.D. Dissertation Committees.
The study plan for the program lays out the registration schedule for the research and dissertation (R&D) credits. In Year 1, students register for 3 R&D credits (the summer proposal). In Year 2, students register for 7 R&D credits to initiate work on research papers as well as their dissertation proposal. Students in Year 3 register for 20 R&D credits during which they work on their dissertation proposal (and defense). Thereafter, as they work on their dissertations, students register for only 3 R&D credits in each of the Fall and Spring semesters. A minimum of 30 R&D credits must be accumulated during the program.
Note that in Year 3, each student has an opportunity to obtain teaching experience. This may involve teaching an online or face-to-face graduate or undergraduate class in Pamplin. This experience is essential for gaining the pedagogical skills integral to a Ph.D. degree.
Research:
The emphasis on the creation and publication of high-quality scholarly research in the Executive Ph.D. in Business mirrors the heavy emphasis on research in our full-time Ph.D. programs. The program also stresses participation in research conferences as part of the student mentoring and career development process. Even as the disciplinary and methods seminars focus on the research literature, the following activities create an early and sustained emphasis on first-hand student involvement in the scholarly research process:
YEAR ONE
Each student must write a research proposal/ paper by the end of the first summer. Along with the disciplinary content seminar assignments, this paper aims to stimulate and test students’ ability to blend their formal academic training and business experience to develop a research proposal that addresses an important business problem. This proposal serves as the student’s qualifying examination and is evaluated by a three-member reading committee who provide feedback similar to a journal review.
YEAR TWO
In addition to the stipulated coursework, students work with their faculty advisory committee to develop the above proposal (or one or more other promising ideas) into a paper(s) for presentation at a research conference and/or submission for publication review to a quality journal. Often, this proposal is developed further as a basis for the student’s dissertation research. By the end of the summer term of their second year, students are expected to progress to the point where they can identify likely future mentors and form a Ph.D. Advisory Committee.
YEAR THREE
Students work closely with their Ph.D. Advisory Committee to develop the dissertation proposal. Students are expected to defend their respective dissertation proposals by the end of the summer of their third year in the program. The proposal defense meets the Graduate School’s requirement for student’s preliminary examination. Students who successfully defend their dissertation proposal move to complete their dissertation research under the guidance of their Ph.D. Dissertation Committee.
YEAR FOUR (AND BEYOND)
Students work closely with their Ph.D. Dissertation Committee to complete the dissertation research. The dissertation is defended orally in a final examination and the written dissertation document is filed with the Graduate School once the student has met the expectations of the Ph.D. Dissertation Committee. Regular and substantive communications with the committee (particularly the chair/co-chairs) is critical to timely completion of the dissertation. The dissertation defense meets the student’s final examination requirement for the VT Graduate School.
