Good Academic Standing

To remain in good academic standing, doctoral students are expected to maintain a B grade point average and complete each doctoral milestone by the date provided.

Teaching Requirement

Students must teach or assist with teaching in a formally offered course for one full academic term. This engagement should include, at least, 8 hours of front-of-class teaching and 16 hours of teaching preparation time. The requirement may be fulfilled by completing a teaching fellow or instructor assignment at a Harvard University.

Second Year Paper

Students are required to complete and present a publishable-quality paper by the end of their second year. Students are responsible for organizing a committee in consultation with their primary advisor, who will approve the paper. To be approved, the paper must show the student’s capability to produce publishable-quality research.

Special Field Exam

At the end of the second year, all students are required to pass the Special Field Exam, administered by their Special Field Exam Committee. For Operations Management-track students, the field exam will focus on empirical and modeling methods. For Innovation-track students, the field exam will focus on empirical methods and classical and special-field literatures.

Dissertation Proposal

By the end of their third year, all students are required to obtain approval of their dissertation proposal by their Dissertation Proposal Committee.

Dissertation Committee Meeting

All students are required to hold a meeting with their Dissertation Committee by May of their 4th year to discuss a clear path for the student to successfully defend their dissertation and provide feedback and advice on the job market process.

Dissertation

Students are required to write a dissertation, which typically takes the form of three publishable papers, to the satisfaction of their Dissertation Committee. The dissertation defense is oral and open to the public. Students are expected to defend their dissertation no later than April of their 5th year.