The Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte will begin offering a Ph.D. in business administration in the fall of 2006.
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors approved the program on January 13, making UNC Charlotte one of only three universities in North Carolina to offer degrees in business administration at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level. (Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill share the distinction.)
The new Ph.D. in Business Administration will initially offer one major, in finance; additional majors may be added as the program grows. Richard Buttimer, associate professor of finance and real estate, will serve as program director. Faculty from the departments of Finance and Business Law, Economics and Mathematics will teach in the program.
The Ph.D. in Business Administration will be research-oriented, designed to prepare graduates for academic teaching and research careers. “There is a genuine shortage of finance Ph.D.s in academia,” Buttimer said. “Demand has increased dramatically over the past twenty years, as business school enrollments have grown. As baby-boomer professors near retirement, the shortage will become more acute. Additionally, corporations and government agencies have increased their hiring of Ph.D.s as their business methods and techniques have become more complex.”
The program will includes core courses covering all business disciplines, combined with in-depth study in both theoretical and empirical aspects of finance. Students admitted to the finance program will minor in economics and will complete a research methods sequence in mathematics. Students also will teach undergraduate courses to receive training in pedagogy. Graduates will be qualified for tenure-track professor positions at both national and international teaching universities and other educational institutions.
Admission requirements and curriculum information for the Ph.D. program are available at www.belkcollege.uncc.edu/phd/.
“We will be able to offer prospective students a very attractive financial assistance package,” Buttimer said, “so we expect the admissions process to be quite competitive.” Buttimer expects to enroll five students in the first cohort this fall, with enrollment reaching 15 students within four years.
“This is a major milestone for the Belk College,” said Claude Lilly, dean of the college. “The new Ph.D. program will build upon the expertise and talents of our outstanding faculty, and will support UNC Charlotte’s goal of building the intellectual capital of the region.”
The Belk College offers four graduate programs – in business administration, accountancy, economics and mathematical finance – as well as undergraduate majors in a variety of disciplines. Additionally, Belk Collegeprofessors teach and advise students in the Ph.D. in Information Technology business track. The Belk College is accredited by AACSB International, the premier accrediting agency for academic programs in business administration and accounting.