Ph.D. Plan of Study

The doctoral program consists of a minimum of 84 semester hours of graduate-level coursework beyond the bachelor's degree. Approved master’s degree-level coursework up to 30 hours beyond deficiency and prerequisite courses may be included. A minimum of 42 hours of doctoral coursework and 12 hours of dissertation credits are required to be taken at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus.

The 42 hours of doctoral coursework consists of three components:

• Basic program (12 hours): Three courses on research tools and techniques are required, with students able to elect from appropriate offerings in economics, behavioral science and quantitative methods.
• Area of concentration (15 hours): Four doctoral seminars and one additional graduate course in IS are required.
• Supporting coursework (15 hours): Additional graduate coursework includes two required supervised research project courses in IS, for a total of six hours, and other graduate course electives related to the student’s research interests, for a total of nine hours.

Required CIS doctoral seminars:

• Foundational Readings in IS Research
• Theory Building and Testing for Technology and E-Commerce Research
• Information Systems Theories
• Special Topics

Program Stages

Ph.D. Exam Readiness

Student readiness to write the Ph.D. exam is evaluated in early April each year. Students must be on track to submit a draft of their CIS 792 project paper by the end of the spring semester in Year 2, as validated by the faculty mentor who is guiding their project. Also, by no later than April 1, students must submit a research portfolio that includes (1) their current academic CV, (2) their CIS 790 paper (or any publication that arises from that work), (3) an extended abstract of their CIS 792 paper, and (4) one other item that indicates their readiness for research. For (4), students may submit any other completed conference or journal submission, another independent work developed in any doctoral course they have taken, experimental materials and methods for an ongoing project, a survey they are in the process of administering, modeling work they have done to examine a business technology problem, and so on. Students are encouraged to consult the Ph.D. Coordinator early on to determine the appropriateness of their planned portfolio contents. Students will be advised of their readiness to sit for the Ph.D. exam no later than April 8 so they have ample time to prepare or redirect their efforts to other aspects of their doctoral work.

Ph.D. Exam Administration

The Ph.D. in IS concentration requires a written examination that is taken by students during the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the spring semester in Year 2 of the program. The written exam has two parts:

• The common part is taken by all students who sit for the exam, and is given the first day. This part of the exam is designed to permit students to demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of IS theory and methods related to key topics in the central domains of IS research. The contents of the common part stems from the coverage of the four required doctoral seminars in Years 1 and 2.
• The individual part of the written exam focuses on research methods in IS and a student’s chosen area of research. It is administered on the second and third days of the exam period. This is intended to give students a chance to demonstrate their knowledge of a pre-doctoral proposal research topic that they have previously discussed with a faculty member.

Ph.D. exam evaluations are completed in May each year, just after the spring semester ends, and the results are communicated to students no later than May 31. If necessary, the Doctoral Committee will request an additional meeting with a student if there appears to be a need for further clarification of any issues regarding the written exam. 

Teaching

Faculty mentors work with Ph.D. students in the development of classroom teaching experience. Ph.D. students typically teach for two to four terms, or more as needed, so they can achieve a high competence level. Students are encouraged to develop specific teaching area competencies (e.g., e-commerce, accounting and IS, IT strategy) to support their candidacy in the academic job market.

Dissertation

Upon passing the Ph.D. exam, students begin to work with a personally selected faculty member or faculty committee to complete a research-based dissertation of an original and creative nature. The student should work closely with his or her dissertation chair and committee to develop a research proposal. When sufficient progress has been made, the student will propose his or her research to the committee and other interested faculty and students. If the proposal is successful, the student then advances to candidacy status to carry out the research. After advancing to candidacy status, students must enroll for a minimum of 12 hours of CIS 799 dissertation credits. A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation is mandatory and must be held on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University.

Graduation

The student is eligible for graduation when the Graduate College requirements have been met, the final oral examination in defense of the dissertation has been passed, and the dissertation has been approved by the student’s committee. It also must be accepted by the associate dean in the W. P. Carey School of Business and the dean of the Graduate College.