Management Science Major, PhD

Concentration (Optional)

Analytics

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• In addition to any other admission requirements for the Graduate School:
  • Submit online graduate application to the Office of Graduate Admissions.
  • Submit three recommendation forms.
  • Submit a GRE or GMAT score.
  • Submit candidate statement of purpose.

Academic Standards

• Prerequisites for Management Science Courses. The management science program is interdisciplinary and students in other degree programs are encouraged to enroll in management science courses. Course prerequisites are designed to indicate the level at which courses are taught. Interested students whose prior coursework does not match the prerequisites are encouraged to seek the instructor’s guidance and consent to enroll.

Credit Hours Required

• 72 graduate credit hours beyond a bachelor’s degree
• 48 graduate credit hours beyond a master’s degree

Required Courses

• Minimum Courses (12 credit hours)
• BZAN 615 - Statistical Learning
• BZAN 620 - Applied Optimization and Data Analytics for Business Research
• BZAN 643 - Data Science for Business Research
• BZAN 645 - Machine Learning for Business Research

•  

• Normally selected from ECON, INMT, FINC, MARK, etc. and in consultation with the major professor.
• For the Analytics Concentration, three courses are selected from the following for 12 credit hours.
• Applied Area (12 credit hours)
• BZAN 640 - Advanced Prescriptive Analytics
• BZAN 641 - Advanced Stochastic Analytics
• BZAN 642 - Advanced Topics in Supply Chain Analytics
• BZAN 646 - Modern Multivariate Techniques
• BZAN 647 - Customer Analytics
• BZAN 648 - Advanced Topics in Design of Experiments and Linear Models
• BZAN 649 - Observational Studies and Causal Models in Business Analytics
• BZAN 683 - Special Topics in Business Analytics

•  

• MGSC 600 - Doctoral Research and Dissertation (24 credit hours)
• This effort, which is beyond the minimum 48 credit hours of coursework, normally is completed in the third year of the program.

Additional Course Requirements

• A minimum of 48 credit hours of coursework taken for graduate credit (exclusive of thesis or dissertation) is required.
  • Some of the credit hours may be the coursework from a master’s program, although a master’s is not a prerequisite for the doctorate.
  • The candidate must complete a minimum of 24 credit hours of PhD coursework (work beyond the masters) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
  • At least 18 credit hours of the PhD coursework must be at the 600-level.
    • Above two requirements are exclusive of thesis or dissertation credit hours.
• Entering students who have completed graduate studies in applicable fields will be granted course credits for work that is equivalent to required courses in the program.

Non-Course Requirements

• Qualifying Examination
  • The student must demonstrate mastery of the core methodological foundation of data science by passing a written qualifying examination.
    • These requirements generally are completed by the end of the first year of the program.
• There is no foreign language requirement.
• Comprehensive Examination
  • Prior to admission to candidacy for the degree, and normally after completion of the second year of the program, the student must pass a written comprehensive examination covering the theory of data science as applied to their research focus.
    • Topics included in this examination are determined on an individual basis.
    • Students will be expected to demonstrate an integrative ability that goes beyond simple mastery of course content.
• A final oral examination is conducted over the dissertation and such other segments of the program that the faculty committee deems appropriate.