Ph.D. Advice Please

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by LAQuestion, Mar 28, 2012.

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  1. LAQuestion

    LAQuestion New Member

    Part of my long-term plan is to position myself to one-day transition from industry into academics full time at a university. Currently I run a well-established family business and have over 17 years of management, operations, accounting, and leadership experience. My education includes a BS in Business Management and a Masters of Business Administration. In addition, I currently teach graduate level courses for University of Phoenix on ground and undergraduate course at a local university part time.

    My interest would be to teach management and entrepreneurship courses in the college of business. It seems that many of the full time positions advertised require a Ph.D. in management or a related field. I would like to pursue a Ph.D. for many reasons, but my professional obligations limited my ability to complete a traditional program. Because of this, I have evaluated the programs at Kennesaw State University (DBA), Georgia State (executive doctorate), Oklahoma State (executive Ph.D.), and University of Texas at Tyler (Ph.D. in HRD/ODC). Each program is offered in a flexible format that accommodates my professional schedule.

    I would like to have a Ph.D. in management with a concentration in family business. Kennesaw State offers that exact program, but it is rather expensive for my budget ($110,000). The University of Texas at Tyler offers a Ph.D. in Human Resource Development with a specialization in Organizational Development & Change. This program is well within my budget and allows me to drive to the campus each month to attend class. Both programs are housed in an AACSB accredited college of business, but at this time, neither is accredited at the doctoral level. I think Kennesaw State’s program will be accredited within the next two years, but UTTyler’s program is purposely excluded from upcoming AACSB maintenance reviews.

    Here are my questions:
    1) Is a Ph.D. required to teach full time at an AACSB accredited 4-year university (not R1 schools)?
    2) Would a Ph.D. from University of Texas at Tyler in HRD: Organizational Development & Change qualify me to teach management and entrepreneurship courses?
    3) Would it benefit me to pursue the Kennesaw program, which is scheduled for AACSB accreditation review?
    4) How valuable is real word management & leadership experience to a university when hiring?
    5) Is a Ph.D. worth it in my situation?

    I have asked these questions to college administrators at several universities and never get a clear answer. If you have experience hiring faculty at a university or have any knowledge that you can share with me regarding this information, please reply back.

    Thanks,
    LAQuestion
     
  2. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Hi LAQuestion, welcome to Degree Info.

    I neither hire for a university nor do I know specifically which program would be best for you, but I will offer what I do know. Your practical experience will be a huge benefit for you in landing a university job, in fact, I understand that it is one of the major factors in landing a job. That combined with your university teaching experience seems like it would make you a worthy consideration for employment at most universities. I don't know if your experience at UoP would be respected at traditional universities, I know that it is not that highly respected of a school, even though the education quality is actually quite good. I have a good friend who has a PhD and teaches at the Santa Ana UoP campus (Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, wherever it is). I am told that most AACSB schools want AACSB degree holders for professors.

    We have a few members here who actually are involved in the HR process at a few universities, hopefully you will get more information from one of them.

    About the timing of your posts appearing: http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/35100-new-users-ask-where-did-my-posts-go.html
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 28, 2012
  3. edowave

    edowave Active Member

    IMHO:
    1) No, but if you don't have one, you will find that you will have a tough time getting a full time gig. Competition is fierce.
    2) Probably. It really depends on the university you want to teach for.
    3) I've heard nothing but good things about Kennesaw, so it couldn't hurt.
    4) Valuable, but there are a lot of adjuncts out there to teach for peanuts that have "real world management & leadership experience." If full-time tenure track is what you are aiming for, than it comes down to your ability to pull in grant money. (Your research and publication records)
    5) That is something really only you can answer, but most people, I would say a PhD is not "worth" the time, money, and aggravation. Not financially worth it anyway.
     
  4. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    edowave is one of the members here who's advice I value greatly. I would add to #5 that a less expensive doctorate would be gambling less money. I don't know if it would open the same doors, it might in your case, but you would not be spending as much money to get one.
     
  5. StefanM

    StefanM New Member

    1) You will almost always need a PhD or DBA, unless you are a "big name" in industry. You might be able to swing a position if you were in senior management at a Fortune 500 company without a PhD, but otherwise I wouldn't expect it. If you are willing to teach at non-AACSB schools, it's much more likely.
    2) That would depend on the school's criteria, but it is likely.
    3) It might, but the $$$ would concern me. That is a LOT of money.
    4) It helps, but it's not going to get you hired by itself. As edowave states, publications and research are more important.
    5) I honestly wouldn't worry about it unless you have an all-consuming passion for research and teaching. You have a solid position right now.
     
  6. LAQuestion

    LAQuestion New Member

    Thanks for replying to my post! I received an acceptance letter from The University of Texas at Tyler for the fall 2012 semester. It is now time to make a decision!!

    To clarify my intentions, I would rather teach over research. I am a practitioner at heart, but would like the opportunity to mesh practice and theory together to help student better understand the concepts of business. Because of this, I see myself teaching at smaller state universities and possibly online programs. I do not expect to have a tenure-track position, but would like a full time gig with better pay than adjunct. The good thing is, because of my current situation, I have a lot of time to find the right fit within a local university. If it takes 5 – 10 years for that opportunity to arise, it’s ok. I’ll just continue to teach as an adjunct until then.

    If you have some free time and wouldn’t mind reviewing the UTT website, I would love to hear your feedback on the overall program and degree plan.

    The program website:
    Doctorate Human Resource Development Texas, PhD Human Resources Texas, HR Degree

    The program degree plan:
    http://www2.uttyler.edu/cbt/gradadvising/PHDhrddegreeplan.pdf

    Is it possible to tailor my research more to the management perspective of HRD, organizational development, and change management and publish in management journals? I would think this would make me more attractive to the business college and management department, maybe? How much latitude do I have in conducting research?

    Last question, based on your experience, how much time can I expect to dedicate to the Ph.D. program each month?


    Thanks again for your help.
    LAQuestion
     

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