Dreaming of earning a doctoral degree in international business? The University of Texas at Arlington College of Business will offer North Texas' first Executive Delivery Ph.D. with a planned start-date of January 2016. Accepted students will complete an initial boot camp in statistics followed by four-day weekend class sessions every six weeks over three years. Students will complete coursework and be in close communication with faculty in between each class session.

The Ph.D. curriculum and dissertation research will focus on international business. Class sessions are expected to be offered at DFW Airport for convenient access to those not in the North Texas area, and consistent with the international business focus. Several class sessions will take place in other parts of the world to further reinforce this theme. Asia, South America and Europe are being considered for international class meeting locations.

The program is aimed at C-level executives who are seeking additional education, research skill development and career enhancement. Some candidates may be seeking a career change, such as university teaching or launching a consulting practice based on their own intellectual property from their dissertation. Entrepreneurs who have grown or perhaps sold their businesses and are looking for a new challenge also may find the program attractive.

In addition to faculty teaching typical courses, this program includes a role for faculty "coaches" who are experienced research and statistical experts. They will work one-on-one with students throughout the program, and will help to support dissertation research.

"In business schools there is a shortage of Ph.D.-qualified faculty who have extensive, relevant business experience," said David Mack, associate dean of the College of Business. "Individuals who complete this program will be able to combine their theoretically based understanding with real-world experience in the classroom.

" Mack said a Ph.D. program requires the candidate to create new knowledge in the form of a dissertation, not simply to apply existing knowledge. Most business doctoral degrees targeted to practitioners are Doctor of Business Administration degrees, which do not include the research and knowledge-creation aspect of the Ph.D. "This degree will be more difficult to achieve than others on the market, but the successful candidate will have created their own intellectual property and will be in high demand for a variety of academic and non-academic positions," Mack said.

The Executive Ph.D. program will mirror the other executive programs in the College of Business, in that it will have one turnkey price that includes the course materials, meals and lodging. The program will likely begin accepting applications in Fall 2015, pending approval from Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

"I expect some of the graduates of this program to go into consulting, using the intellectual property they develop as part of their dissertation," Mack said. "Some will become instructors at either teaching-focused institutions or in Executive MBA programs at comprehensive, research-focused institutions. A few may even make the transition to tenure-track faculty positions at research-focused institutions, depending on their interest in continuing their research.

" Email Bill Crowder, program director and professor of economics at the College of Business, at [email protected], or Mack at [email protected] for information about the new Executive Delivery Ph.D. program.