Major milestones in the Ph.D. program are as follows:

1. Annual student progress report and faculty review of student progress.
2. Completion of required course work (normally at the end of 2nd year).
3. Comprehensive examination (normally during summer after 2nd year).
4. Mentored research paper (normally during 3rd year).
5. Completion of elective course work and teaching seminar.
6. Oral defense of dissertation proposal.
7. Defense of completed dissertation.

Except for the first milestone, which occurs annually, the steps must be completed in the order listed. Specifications for each milestone are outlined in the following sections.

Departmental faculty meet once per year in the spring (mid-to-late April) to discuss the progress of all Ph.D. students. Prior to the meeting, each student will be responsible for preparing a Progress Report concerning his or her: (a) progress on course work and examinations during the past year (e.g., courses taken and grades received; incompletes outstanding; qualifying exams and results); (b) research or teaching assistantship duties and accomplishments; (c) research progress (manuscripts written, presentations at professional meetings, publications); and (d) goals and plans for the following year. This report is due the first Monday in April.

Each student's advisor will be responsible for preparing advance comments about the student for presentation at the faculty meeting. During the meeting, input from all faculty members will be solicited with respect to the student's performance in course work, mentored research projects, and research or teaching assistantships. Following the meeting, the student's advisor will be responsible for developing a written performance assessment, which will be shared with the student and Ph.D. coordinator.

Although most students complete program requirements successfully, it is important to note that continuation in the Ph.D. program is contingent on satisfactory academic progress. Academic progress is assessed by grades received, performance in fulfilling the mentored research paper requirement, and qualifying exams—as well as faculty assessments of the student's overall performance in the program (including research and teaching assistantships). In cases where the overall assessment suggests problems are developing, these will be outlined in the advisor's performance assessment, as noted above. In some cases, the performance assessment may advise the student to begin considering other (non-program) options, in the event that performance does not improve sufficiently to justify continuation in the program.

Continued financial aid is similarly contingent on acceptable progress in the academic program, as well as on acceptable performance in previous research and/or teaching assistantships. It is possible that a student may be permitted to continue to take classes in the program, but be denied additional funding, based on faculty assessments of the student's previous RA or TA performance.

Required course work is normally completed during the first two years of a student's academic program. The following courses are required for all students:

Research Methods (18 semester hours)

6J:273	Measurement Theory and Methods (3 hours)
6J:269	Meta-Analysis (3 hours)
6J:270	Methods for Field Research (2 hours)
6J:xxx	Methods for Qualitative Research (2 hours)
6J:xxx	Methods for Experimental Research (2 hours)

Plus 6 additional hours tailored to the student's needs and interests. Most students will want course work in intermediate statistics and regression analyses. Potential courses include 7P:243 Intermediate Statistical Methods and 7P:244 Correlation and Regression.

Content Courses (19 semester hours)

6J:267	Organizational Theory (2 hours)
6J:272	Training and Careers (2 hours)
6J:274	Staffing Organizations (3 hours)
6J:275	Group Processes and Conflict (2 hours)
6J:276	Leadership (3 hours)
6J:277	Motivation and Attitudes (3 hours)
6J:278	Performance Evaluation (2 hours)
6J:xxx	Reward Systems (2 hours)

The comprehensive exam is completed in the summer between a student's 2nd and 3rd years in the program. It is expected that students will take the exam with their cohort of students who were admitted to the program at a common time. The Ph.D. coordinator is responsible for arranging a mutually satisfactory date for all involved students and faculty.

The comprehensive examination committee will consist of at least five faculty members from within the department. Normally these faculty members will the same individuals who have taught the Ph.D. seminars listed above as content courses. Questions will cover the content areas of the following courses: 6J:272, 6J:274, 6J:275, 6J:276, 6J:277, 6J:278, and 6J:xxx. Students are also expected to incorporate and show mastery of concepts and ideas covered in the research methods courses. Questions will require integration and analysis across courses. Students will be expected not only to have mastered specific course content readings, but also to be familiar with general research in the relevant area.

Comprehensive exams are administered on campus over two days. During the first day, students will have 6 hours to complete 3 questions. One of the questions will be mandatory and will include a research methods component. The other two questions will give students the opportunity to choose to answer one question from each of two sets of questions. During the second examination day, students will complete 2 questions in 4 hours. On the second day, both questions will provide opportunity for choice with students answering one question each from two sets of questions.

Students are expected to produce their answers in word-processed format. Students will be provided a private room, a computer (if necessary), and a storage device. Upon completion of the exam, the storage device with the saved file should be given to the departmental secretary who will print the students' answers and allow it to be checked prior to submission. Students with disabilities who need alternative arrangements should see the Ph.D. coordinator for any necessary accommodations.

Possible outcomes are Satisfactory, Satisfactory with Reservations, or Unsatisfactory. Two "Unsatisfactory" votes among the five members will make the committee report unsatisfactory. In the event of an unsatisfactory exam, the student must wait until the following exam date to retake the exam. Only one re-take is permitted. Failure on two examinations will result in dismissal from the program. Students are advanced to Ph.D. candidacy when they successfully complete the comprehensive exam.

The student is required to register each fall and spring semester after passing the comprehensive exam until the degree is awarded. If a student fails to register, he or she may not be readmitted to candidacy until the student has submitted an application which has been approved by the student's advisor, the DEO, and the Graduate College dean.

In the first academic year, each student begins working on a substantial research project of his or her choosing, in consultation with a faculty member. During the first two years of the program, students will be continuously enrolled in Mentored Research (6J:295). A major focus of this course will be identification of a topic and plan of action. During spring semester of the first two years, students will also be enrolled in the Research Project (6J:xxx) course, which will provide students with academic credit for their work on this project. The mentored research project is supervised by a faculty member who serves as the chair of the mentored research committee. The committee consists of the chair and two other faculty members from within the department. A timeline of deliverables for the project is as follows:

May of Year 1	Identification of topic and faculty advisor.
January of Year 2	Formation of committee; approval of topic.
October 1 of Year 3	Draft of paper given to committee members.
By December of Year 3	Present the paper to faculty and Ph.D. students.

In addition to the required course work listed above, students must complete 6 semester hours of elective course work. This is usually done during the student's 3rd year in the program. During the 3rd year, students must also complete a Teaching Foundation (6J:xxx) course that helps prepare students for a career in academic settings.

Following the completion of course work and comprehensive exams, the major remaining hurdles involve proposing, conducting, and defending the dissertation. The oral defense of the dissertation proposal is conducted at the point where the candidate has: (a) completed all course work, (b) passed the comprehensive exam, (c) convened a dissertation committee, and (d) submitted a formal dissertation proposal to the committee. Successful completion of the proposal defense will mean that the dissertation committee has approved the student's proposal and plan for the dissertation.

Advance approval of the Ph.D. coordinator is needed to conduct the oral defense of the proposal. At least three weeks prior to scheduling the oral exam, the student must go to the departmental secretary to get an Application for the Ph.D. Oral Proposal Defense. In order to complete this form, the student must convene a committee of at least five faculty members willing to serve on the dissertation committee. In general, faculty serving on the oral comprehensive committee will also be expected to serve on the final dissertation defense committee. At least three committee members must be from inside the M&O Department, and at least one committee member must be from outside the department. Every committee member must hold a Ph.D. degree. The remaining member can come from any department reporting to the Graduate College. It is possible, with the Graduate College's approval, to have committee members from outside the University. When turning in the application, the student must also submit a copy of his or her latest transcript and evidence of current registration. The student must request a time for the exam and confirm that all five committee members can attend at that time. A room will be reserved by the M&O departmental secretary.

The chair of the oral comprehensive committee is responsible for completing the Report on Oral Proposal Defense, initialed by all committee members, and notifying the student of the outcome. Possible outcomes are Satisfactory, Satisfactory with Reservations, or Unsatisfactory. Two "Unsatisfactory" votes among the five members will make the committee report unsatisfactory. In the event of a report with two or more votes of "Satisfactory with Reservations," the exact stipulations of the committee should be recorded with the report form. The statement must also specify the time allowed for satisfying the stipulations. In the case of an unsatisfactory examination, the committee may grant the candidate permission to present him or herself for reexamination, but not sooner than four months after the first exam. The examination may be repeated only once, at the option of the department.

The Department of Management faculty has a policy not to write letters of recommendation for students who have not completed their dissertation proposal. Unless the proposal is defended, we also will not provide funding for travel to conferences for the purpose of job search. In short, this means that a successful job search requires students to have dissertation proposals defended the summer before their final year. It is important to have dissertation proposals defended before the Academy of Management meetings held during the first part of August, and given that many faculty members are away during the summer months, it is usually best to have the proposal defended by the end of May.

Experience has shown that students may underestimate the time it takes to work through dissertation revisions. Most dissertation proposals require a number of revisions before they are ready to go to an entire committee. Faculty also need some time to review drafts and provide feedback. A best-case scenario will most likely require at least two revisions of an initial draft (it is not uncommon to see more iterations). Faculty will generally need at least 2 weeks to respond to a draft and provide feedback. We doubt that students will be able to respond to feedback in less than 2-3 weeks. A typically rushed process might be represented by the following timeline:

March 1	1st draft to dissertation chair
March 15	Feedback provided to student
March 31	2nd draft to dissertation chair
April 15	Feedback provided to student
April 30	3rd draft to dissertation chair
May 7	Feedback to student (if revisions are minimal)
May 14	Dissertation sent to committee
May 31	Proposal defense

Early in the semester in which a student intends to defend the dissertation, the following documents should be obtained: (1) Ph.D. Final Examination (Thesis Defense) and Graduation Procedures, from the Graduate College; and (2) Report of Examination: Advanced Degree, which the departmental secretary provides. The dissertation committee of at least five faculty members must include a chairperson and one outside member, and is normally the same committee as the Oral Comprehensive Committee. Following the examination, the committee will complete and submit the "Report of Final Examination: Advanced Degree" form. Dissertation defenses are open to all members of the department as well as to the general public. More detailed procedures for final dissertation examinations can be found in the Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College.