First Year
Faculty Advisor: Each first-year student will be assigned a faculty advisor (typically, this is the doctoral coordinator). The role of the advisor is to assist with course selection and guidance about research and teaching assistantships and other matters as appropriate throughout the first year. The advisor, in consultation with the operations (and any other relevant) faculty, also provides information regarding the faculty’s expectations for performance in the program and feedback on the student’s performance.
Coursework: In the first year, students are expected to take 3 or 4 classes per term, in accordance with the guidelines described above. Students are expected to achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better by the end of the first year. A student who receives an “F” or does not attain a 3.0 average by the end of the first year may be subject to dismissal.
Outside the Classroom: First year students are expected to attend research seminars and begin exploring their research interests in the first year. Toward the end of the first year, students should begin discussing research opportunities with faculty to identify an advisor for their 2nd year paper. In the Spring term, first year students are expected to informally audit the Daytime MBA core Operations Management course to gain exposure to MBA teaching and prepare for teaching assistant positions in years 2 – 5.
Summer Proposal: At the end of the spring semester in the first year, students are expected to submit a brief (two page) proposal of their summer activities to the doctoral coordinator. This should include a proposed topic for their summer/2nd year research paper and an expected timeline for completion of the paper. In addition, if the student is pursuing a summer internship, a brief description of that internship and how it relates to the student’s overall doctoral plans should be included.
Second Year
Faculty Advisor: By the start of the second year, each student should select a faculty advisor to replace the advisor assigned in the first year. (The new faculty advisor and the first year advisor may be the same person, but they need not be; the important issue is that the new faculty advisor is selected by the student.) The second year faculty advisor serves a similar role to that played by the first-year faculty advisor.
Coursework: In the second year, students are expected to take 3 to 4 classes per term, in accordance with the guidelines described above. Students are expected to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better in the second year. A student who receives an “F” or does not attain a 3.0 average by the end of the second year may be subject to dismissal.
Outside the Classroom: As a part of their graduate fellowship, students are assigned as a teaching assistant (TA) to one or more courses beginning in the second year. In addition, during the second year, students begin research work in earnest, engaging in ongoing research projects with one or more faculty members.
Summer Proposal: At the end of the spring semester in the second year, students are expected to submit a brief (two page) proposal of their summer activities to the doctoral coordinator. This should include a proposed topic for the third year research paper and an expected timeline for completion of the paper. In addition, if the student is pursuing a summer internship, a brief description of that internship and how it relates to the student’s overall doctoral plans should be included.
Third Year and Thereafter
During the third year and beyond, research and teaching assistantships continue as in the second year. Students are expected to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better in any courses taken in the third year and thereafter.
How Students Spend Their Time
Being a doctoral student in the operations management Ph.D. program is considered a “full time job.” In particular, students are expected to be engaged in coursework, research, and teaching assistant activities throughout the year. As coursework ends in the second and third years, students transition to working on research and teaching assistant work full time.
It is also important for students to maintain face-to-face contact with faculty, other students, and other members of the Duke and Fuqua communities. As such, students are expected to maintain residency in Durham throughout the program, including summers, unless other arrangements have been made with the explicit approval of their research advisor.
Research Seminars & Student Presentations
Students must attend all operations management research seminars given by internal and outside speakers, including preliminary and final examination presentations given by their fellow students. The goal of these seminars is to expose students early in the program to the major research issues in operations. Students who have a class conflict with the scheduled seminar times should inform the doctoral coordinator.
Teaching
The program aims to provide students with teaching experience. This is done mainly by assigning students as teaching assistants to the operations faculty. All students serve as teaching assistants regularly beginning in their second year in the program, typically for 1-2 courses per year. Throughout this process, students learn how to design a course, write a syllabus, prepare homework and exam questions and grade them, give lectures, conduct class discussions and assign grades. Each summer, the doctoral coordinator, in consultation with the OM faculty, will assign TA positions to each student.
In addition, the Graduate School conducts various workshops on topics related to teaching; students are encouraged to participate in those activities.