Degree Requirements

Doctor of Philosophy and Degree administration.

The PhD in public administration and management is designed primarily for those interested in scholarly careers as researchers and teachers. The PhD program emphasizes research methods and theory to enable its graduates to become effective teachers and contribute to the generation and development of public administration knowledge.

The PhD program requires a minimum of 60 credits of course work, beyond the completion of the MPA degree or its equivalent. All students entering the PhD program must either: 1) have already completed courses required for the MPA degree, or 2) take appropriate courses, that demonstrate the mastery of core MPA competencies.

All students must remain in good standing with the program. The Department retains the authority to dismiss students at any time if they fail to maintain good standing in the program. Good standing is a function of academic performance, successful completion of program milestones, and student behavior. The determination of good standing will be made by the doctoral program coordinator with the advice and consent of a faculty review committee.

PROGRAM OF STUDY

The program of study requires the student to undertake advanced study in the major area of public administration and management, one of four minor fields, social science methods, and non-dissertation research hours. The first year of study provides the theoretical and methodological foundation for the second year study of a minor field and non-dissertation research. The third year of study includes a qualifying examination, paper defense, and dissertation proposal. The dissertation research should be defended by the end of the fourth year.

The Ph.D. program requires 60 credit hours of course work beyond that received in completing the MPA degree. The Ph.D. coordinator specifies the leveling courses after admission to the program.

1) Major Field/Core Requirements (12 credit hours): The Major Field/Core includes four doctoral seminars that are foundational to the study of public administration and management. The following courses are required and constitute the knowledge base for the major field component of the qualifying exam.

a. PADM 6010. Introduction to the Study of Public Administration

b. PADM 6015. Public Organization Theory and Research

c. PADM 6025. Institutional Context of Public Administration

d. PADM 6110. Public Management

2) Research Methods (12 credit hours): The doctoral program emphasizes the development of research skills that include statistical analysis and other methods appropriate for a student’s field of study. All students in the first-year cohort must take a methods exam in the Spring semester which covers social science methods and linear regression. The following courses are required as specified.

a. PADM 6035. Social Science Inquiry. (required of all students).

b. PADM 5510. Administrative Methods II. Graduates of UNT’s MPA program cannot use these hours on their degree plan. As a substitute, they must take two of the 5 electives from the list in Section 2e below.

c. One of the following courses in advanced regression: SOCI 6200 (Multivariate Regression), PSCI 6320, BUSI 6220, BUSI 6240, ECON 5640

d. Pass research tool exam taken at the end of the Spring semester during Year 1.

e. One of the following courses as a research tool elective.

i. Quantitative Methods (Statistics)

1. PSCI courses: 6340

2. SOCI courses: 6200 (Structural Equation Models)

3. BUSI courses: 6280

4. DSCI courses: 5220, 5230, 5250, 5310

5. ECON courses: 5645, 5650, 5655, 5660, 5670

ii. Qualitative Methods

1. PADM 6710 (Field Research Methods)

2. SOCI 6900 (Qualitative Research Methods)

3. SCBS 6170 at UNT-HSC.

4. JOUR 5260

5. ANTH 5031, 5110

iii. Geographic Methods: GEOG 5110, GEOG 5130, GEOG 5190

3) Minor field (15 credit hours): Four specializations or minor fields of study are available. Students are required to select one and only one minor field.

a. Emergency Management

i. Required courses

1.PADM 5610

2.PADM 5700 (Homeland Security)

3.PADM 6620 (Challenges of Disaster Response)

ii. Six (6) hours of electives to be determined in consultation with your major professor and advisory committee.

b. Financial Management

i. Required courses

1.PADM 5430

2.PADM 5700 (New Regionalism)

3.PADM 6400 (Public Financial Policy and Administration)

ii. Six (6) hours of electives to be determined in consultation with your major professor and advisory committee.

iii. Students with an insufficient background may be required to take PADM 5400/5420.

c. Nonprofit Management

i. Required courses

1.PADM 5040

2.PADM 5700 (Fund Development for NPOs)

3.PADM 5700 (Topics in Nonprofit Mgt)

ii. Six (6) hours of electives to be determined in consultation with your major professor and advisory committee.

d. Urban Management

i. Required courses

1. PADM 5100

2. PADM 5300

3. PADM 5310

ii. Six (6) hours of electives to be determined in consultation with your major professor and advisory committee.

4)Non-dissertation research (12 hours): These are applied research hours designed to produce publishable scholarly work, dissertation proposal, and grants.

a. PADM 6940-1. Research practicum in which students assist faculty research projects and complete professionalization activities.

b. PADM 6940-2. Research practicum in which students produce a defensible manuscript independently or in collaboration with faculty. It is expected that the student would be the first author or major contributor when manuscript is submitted for publication. Students will also complete professionalization activities.

c. PADM 6940-3. Research practicum in which students produce a dissertation proposal and grant proposal for research funding.

The program is designed to be completed in four years for students who have completed an MPA and no more than five years for those conditionally admitted. We strongly expect that students will finish within this time frame. First year courses are strictly cohorted. Second year courses depend upon course offering and are flexible so long as the student is schedule to maintain progress. A suggested curriculum is in the table below.