Failed to defend diss at AACSB institution, what should I do next?

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by FailedToDefendDiss, Feb 28, 2019.

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  1. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    To answer the questions I neglected, my school is IACBE accredited, so I don't need an AACSB degree... but I do need A terminal degree and I would need to have it in hand before I go up for tenure... which is/was scheduled for next year. There is a one year "pause the tenure clock" option, but even that wouldn't give me much time to do anything. If I fail to get tenure, I can teach on contract, but only until they find a tenure track replacement, I think. I am kicking myself for not looking to get into a smaller program when I started there, but such is life. At the time, it didn't occur to me that I would be in this spot at the moment.

    At the risk of starting to give details that could starting making this identifiable, I'm in marketing.
     
  2. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    It sounds like you need more structure. Search for schools with "no-fear" dissertations. You work on each part of your dissertation course by course. There are also programs without dissertations/capstones/projects, but I haven't seen any that are in business administration. There's the Doctor of Behavioral Health at Arizona State University (18 months full-time) and the Doctor of Health Science at East Virginia Medical School (3 years).
     
  3. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    This is the most depressing thread I've read here in a long time.
    Seriously, pick yourself up and get moving. You can give yourself analysis paralysis- even the screen name you picked is depressing. Casing the approval of a such a narrowly defined measure of success means you'll most certainly never achieve it. Drop the failed dissertation identity and build a new path for yourself.
     
  4. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    I needed a lot more structure from a program, absolutely. And all in all, I was passionate about teaching, not about research. I'd rather do just about anything than have written a dissertation, which is why I am in this predicament.
     
  5. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    I'm sorry about that, I'm fairly bummed about the whole thing and I'm sure that's coming through in how I've written about it. I just always saw this getting done... somehow. And now that it's not, I'm having to face the fact that my life is going to go in a different direction. That is ok, but right now, like you said, I have fo work on redefining what I consider a success.
     
  6. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    To revisit that last comment, about this being depressing, I suppose, overall, what I was searching for was a bolt from the blue, a commenter who would tell me about a program or a way to get this done that was out of left field, some magical thing that doesn't exist, a part time AACSB accredited program just for me so I could finish.

    I think I need to go work for a little while, in industry, after next year. I need to do something different and get out of this mindset and just... be for a bit. Maybe someday, I'll get this thing done. Maybe I never will. I've got to be ok with both of those eventualities and just... move on.
     
  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Are you sure that's not enough time to do NCU's dissertation completion program?
     
  8. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Didn't someone point out that NCU's dissertation completion program is misleading? They only take about 15 or so transfer credits.

    Too bad the OP didn't study education. There are two or three ABD programs for that. I think Walden has a completion program for management, but they're for-profit.
     
  9. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Maybe you should look for a program that has an applied research project; it might be more interesting.

    I've seen a couple of Doctor of Arts programs that allow for a creative project as a culminating experience, but that only works if you're a writer or some other kind of artist. There's also a distance PhD in Creativity, but it's probably useless.
     
  10. Marcus Aurelius

    Marcus Aurelius Active Member

  11. FTFaculty

    FTFaculty Well-Known Member

    But there are part-time DL AACSB programs. Tons of them, mainly DBAs, but including PhDs. That list of DBA programs I added the link to are virtually all PT, most at a distance. There's a program that's AACSB that only requires two summer residencies at St. Mary's in Halifax, NS that's PT and pretty cheap, and basically structured for an academic to do during off time (residencies are May/June): https://www.smu.ca/academics/sobey/phd-management-program-overview.html

    There's also a program someone here mentioned recently at UNC-Greensboro: https://online.uncg.edu/phd-in-business-administration

    Are you looking for something other than this? Because seems to me you already have a research direction with a lit review you could roll with, you might be able to get credit for some coursework, and can do this all at a distance PT, which seems to me to be exactly what you're looking for. Several of these programs seem to be the magic bullet. Tell me what I'm missing.
     
  12. dlbb

    dlbb Active Member

    Some bizarre posts here suggesting you pursue health doctoral degrees.

    Work closely with your current school to see what can do. Restart the clock, maybe redo comps if need be, or look for another option with timing there. Finish the dissertation there, and move on. I imagine some of the dissertation could be of use, even the lit review. Restart fresh if need be. Schedule regular times with your chair to talk every couple weeks. Perhaps get a new chair.

    I think industry is a good option, but you are close to finishing the degree, so if at all possible, do what it takes and spend the next however long it takes you to finish it. It may not help with current workplace situation, but it could help you find a new job, or give you something more to show for if you move into industry.
     
  13. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Oh, that's too bad.
     
  14. JBjunior

    JBjunior Active Member

    Maybe already mentioned or discounted but I was looking at the Cal Southern DBA which is 60 credits with 30 credits allowed for transfer, seemed pretty generous. Not AACSB but is regionally accredited and ACSBP. At $545 a credit it is only $33K for the entire program and less than $17K if you go with the 30 credit option.

    https://www.calsouthern.edu/online-business-degree/dba-degree-programs
     
  15. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    They're basically health management degrees, and the ASU program is open to those with MBAs. The OP implied that he or she was open to getting something terminal, so I'm just mentioning options that don't require heavy research. Given that the OP has already failed to complete a dissertation proposal in time, there's a high chance that he or she will fail to finish in a self-guided program. There are few options for highly-structured dissertation courses.

    You have to be realistic with yourself. If you hate conducting research so much that you timed out before even defending the proposal, are you just going to waste more money in one of these dissertation-only programs in which your chair is overseas?
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2019
  16. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    First off, before I go through these and start responding, I wanted to say thank you to all of you. You've all very generously put in your own time to try to find solutions for a random person on the internet. I appreciate it more than I can put into words.
     
  17. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    I spoke with them yesterday, it is a 1 year, 9 month program to finish. If I'd switched over when I'd started or even a couple of years ago, I'd be good. Unfortunately, I won't have quite enough time to do it.
     
  18. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    This is absolutely worth looking into at that price for the 30 credit option, thank you for telling me about it.
     
  19. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    Keep in mind that there is high turnover at non-traditional schools, and your chair could leave at any time. You don't want to spend tens of thousands of dollars just to run into the same problems you have now. Figure out which issues you have now and how those can be resolved or avoided in a future program.

    Also, keep in mind that several of these online schools are being sued for lying about how long it will take to complete a doctorate. Capella and NCU are being sued. I believe Walden is about to be sued.
     
  20. FailedToDefendDiss

    FailedToDefendDiss New Member

    That's a very very good point. I am not likely to complete this without a bunch of hands on guidance, because if I was able to do it, I would have finished it already.

    Research is something that I just don't get for reasons having to do with my own interpretations of the philosophy of science. I had to sit through a seminar on Shelby Hunt when I started my Phd program and I will always remember the discussion about science having laws and us having "law-like generalizations." I always read that as "it might be there and you still won't find it. Oh, and none of this can be duplicated anyway." Ok, so why are we doing this again?

    Sorry for the rant, that's just my opinion.
     

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