Doctoral Plan of Study

Program Requirements

Technically, the Ph.D. in MIS is a Ph.D. in Management with a concentration in MIS. However, we usually refer to it as the MIS Ph.D. program or an MIS Ph.D.

The MIS Ph. D. program starts with a solid foundation in research methodology. Building on this, it offers a unique synthesis of state of the art technologies and approaches from Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence , Economics, Operations Management, Psychology, and Sociology, to name a few.

There is a mix of hands-on and theoretical work: students learn how to implement, deploy and evaluate business information systems that are of interest to academia and industry alike. The MIS Ph.D. degree requires a major in MIS plus a minor in a related discipline from another department.

Major Requirements

The major course work consists of a set of core courses (18 units), statistical methods (6 units), quantitative and design science methods (6 units), specialization (6 units), and participation in the MIS research seminar (6 units). The table below lists the major requirements including the required courses.

Requirements	Courses
CORE (18 units required)	MIS 531: Enterprise Database Management MIS 541: Analysis and Design of Service-Oriented Systems MIS 543: Business Data Communications & Networking MIS 696A: Readings in MIS MIS 510: Web Computing and Mining MIS 611B: Behavioral Research Methodologies
STATISTICAL METHODS (6 units required)	Possible Courses: MGMT 582C - Univariate Analysis Management MGMT 582D - Multivariate Analysis Management (Other stats classes may be substituted with approval: one for univariate and another for multivariate.)
QUANTITATIVE & DESIGN SCIENCE METHODS (6 units required)	MIS 611A: Design Science Research Methodologies MIS 696D: Models for Quantitative Analysis
SPECIALIZATION (6 units required)	The student should consult his/her major advisor to select two courses that contain the basic knowledge in a chosen area of specialization such as Information Technology, Information Economics, Management and Organization, Quantitative Methods and Operations Management.
RESEARCH WORKSHOP (6 units required)	MIS699: Research Workshop

Minor Requirements

Students are required to take courses in one or more minor areas. The minor requirements are determined by the department that offers the minor. Students should consult the major advisor and the minor department for guidance. Some possibilities include cognitive science, communications, computer science, decision science, economics, industrial engineering, linguistics, management and organization, psychology, sociology, and statistics.

Students must have at least one supporting minor of nine or more units for the PhD. If a doctoral student chooses two supporting minor subjects, each minor must have at least six units of coursework.

Registration Requirements and Procedures

PhD students should let the program coordinator (Cinda Van Winkle) know which MIS courses you want to register for each semester. The program coordinator can register you for those courses. Other courses on campus might require special approval. It is up to you to investigate the requirements to register for graduate level courses in other departments.

Flexibity to Meet Your Needs

The MIS Doctoral program offers a high level of flexibility in terms of course work, which is determined by the student's chosen specialization in major and minor. As such, each individual student can work with his/her advisor to design a unique plan of study. The following table gives a sample plan of study to illustrate the basic timeline.

Sample Plan of Study

Semester	Plan of Study
Fall, Year 1	MIS 696A, MIS 531, MIS 541, MIS 543, MIS 699
Spring, Year 1	MIS 510, MIS 611B, MIS 699
May	Core Exam (Written)
Fall, Year 2	MIS 696D, MIS 699, Statistics course
Mid December	Submit proposal for a research paper
Spring, Year 2	MIS 611A, Minor Course 3, Minor Course 4, MIS 699
Mid October	Written Prelimnary Exam (Research paper and presentation)
Fall, Year 3	Second Statistics course and other courses, MIS 699
Spring, Year 3	MIS and/or minor electives, MIS 699
Anytime before the Comprehensive Exam	Minor Exam (Consult the minor department)
Early June *	Comprehensive Exam (oral exam with preliminary dissertation proposal)
Fall, Year 4	MIS and/or minor electives
Spring, Year 4	MIS and/or minor electives
Early June *	Dissertation Defense (Completed dissertation and oral exam)

This is a sample plan of study. Specific sequence of courses can vary depending on the schedule of courses being offered.

* These exam times are flexible, and students should consult the major advisor for guidance.

Program Checklist may be found here.

For additional information, please contact us.