Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) In Sport Management

Admission Examination Requirements

1. TOEFL scores are required for all international students; this requirement is waived if the student has earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution. Students scoring 70 or higher on the Internet-based TOEFL Test, 193 or higher on the Computer-based Test, and a 523 or higher on the Paper-based TOEFL Test will be given full consideration for admission into the Doctoral Program.
2. Official scores from nationally standardized aptitude examinations, such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Miller’s Analogy Test (MAT), General Management Admissions Test (GMAT), or Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) must be submitted at the time of application. All entrance exams must have taken place within 5 years of submission to the program. Recommended scores are presented below.
   MAT =399 total score
   GMAT =540 total score (verbal and quantitative)
   LSAT =157-158 total score
   GRE =304 [Revised GRE (verbal and quantitative only)]
   OR 1000 or higher [non-revised GRE (verbal and quantitative score only)]
    
3. The applicant must submit the following materials to the Troy University Graduate School:
   1. Troy University Graduate School Application Form
   2. One official transcript per each institution of higher education ever attended.
   3. Three (3) Letters of Reference
      The letters of reference must address the applicant’s readiness to enroll in a doctoral program. It is recommended that such individuals be previous undergraduate or graduate professors, advisors or others who can substantiate the applicant’s academic preparation for admittance to a doctoral program.
   4. Statement of Intent.
      1. Include details of your rationale for pursuing a Ph.D. in Sport Management.
      2. Include details regarding your career and research interests.
      3. Identify 2-3 TROY Sport Management doctoral faculty members that you are interested in working with. A list of doctoral directive faculty members and their curriculum vitae indicating their research areas may be viewed at https://troy.edu/hstm.
   5. Writing Sample
      The goal of the writing sample is to measure the applicant’s ability to write clearly and succinctly in an academic fashion. The writing sample will assist the Doctoral Admissions Committee in evaluating the applicant’s research, writing, analytical and problem-solving skills. The writing sample may include a thesis completed by the student or a significant research paper, preferably written at the graduate level, and solely by the applicant. The paper must be double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font with 1 inch margins on all sides. It is recommended that the writing sample follow the American Psychological Association (APA) style. However, other writing styles, including but not limited to Chicago, Modern Language Association (MLA), AMA Manual or other accepted research writing styles, will be considered. The Doctoral Admissions Committee will evaluate the writing sample based on the following criteria: 1) Writing Development and Critical Thinking - ability to articulate the primary concept and inform the reader of its focus; 2) Organization and Structure - development of the topic to include fluid transitions; 3) Paragraph Development - use of transitions and language within each paragraph.; 4) Mechanics - appropriate spelling, grammar, and punctuation; and 5) Use of Writing Style - Although all classes and dissertation will employ the APA format, the Committee will review the sample for appropriate use of other acceptable academic research writing style such as cited in the previous paragraph. NOTE: The writing sample could also include accepted or published research that the applicant has been sole or co-author of a research project. The applicant must submit a pdf of the paper or a link as proof of publication.
   6. Resume or Curriculum Vitae

Conditions for Transfer Credit from another Sport Management doctoral program:

1. Students must complete the admissions application packet as described previously.
2. A maximum of 16 credits from another Sport Management doctoral program will be allowed to transfer to the Troy University Sport Management Sport doctoral program.
3. All transfer courses must be comparable to Troy University’s graduate courses and must be approved by the admissions committee.

Timeframe for the Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive exam is recommended to be taken in the last term of class enrollment but not any later than the end of three subsequent terms, unless extenuating circumstances arise and approved by the committee chair. For example, should students complete their final classwork during term 2, they may elect to take the comprehensive exam in term 2 but no later than the end of term 5 unless extenuating circumstances arise.

Applying for the Comprehensive Examination

Students must inform their Dissertation Committee Chair of their intent to take Comprehensive Exam in ample time to permit the development of the examination questions and for the preparation of the student for those questions. Students and their Dissertation Committee Chairs are responsible for organizing dates of the written and oral examinations, at least two weeks before the exam is given.

Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive exam is a collaborative process between the student and the comprehensive exam committee chair, with participation by two other selected members of the comprehensive exam committee. At least two persons (including the committee chair) must be from the School of Hospitality, Sport, and Tourism Management, and one member who must hold a full-time Graduate Faculty status may be selected from a different academic, yet related discipline. Students will meet with their respective Comprehensive Examination Committee Chair to discuss components of the exam and resources to assist them in responding to the questions. Contact by the student with other committee members is recommended. Each member, including the chair, of the examination committee will prepare and evaluate questions within the areas of their expertise, including at least one section for research and statistics.

Taking the Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination committee will determine the dates of the exam and the timeframe for the students to return their responses. Both the exam and response return dates will be provided to the student well in advance of taking the exam to minimize interference of external entities (i.e., jobs, family issues, etc.). The chair of the comprehensive examination will oversee the administration of the comprehensive exams including the distribution of the written exam to the student, collection of the responses, dissemination of the answers to the other members of the comprehensive examination committee and scheduling the oral examination.

Written Examination

The written portion of the comprehensive examination will evaluate a student’s mastery in the discipline of sport management. Students will be assessed in three areas: research/statistics, doctoral core, and the student’s cognate area. The student must return the exam to the committee chair by the assigned date and time. Unless the student notifies the committee chair of extenuating circumstances and such circumstances are approved by the committee, failure to do so may result in the student being terminated from the program.

Oral Examination

Once a student has completed the written portion of the comprehensive exam, an oral examination with the student’s Comprehensive Examination Committee will be scheduled. The oral examination must be conducted in such a manner (i.e., Skype, Jigsaw, or other acceptable technological means) that there is visualization between all involved parties. Performance on both the written and oral components of the exam must be acceptable to the comprehensive examination committee for the student to receive a passing grade.

Evaluating the Comprehensive Examination

The written examination will be read and evaluated by all members of the student’s comprehensive exam committee. Generally, after the written examination the comprehensive exam committee will meet with the student for an oral component of the exam. NOTE: each question must be scored by at least three members of the committee. Except for allowed substitutions, all members of the examination committee must be present with the student at the oral part. Performance on both the written and oral components of the exam must be acceptable to the comprehensive examination committee. At this time, the examination committee is responsible for deciding whether the student is qualified to be admitted to doctoral candidacy. After completing the written and oral examination, the committee will score the exam in the following manner:

Pass with Distinction: All of the committee members agree that the student responded to all parts of the examination in an outstanding manner.

Pass: The majority of the committee members agree student responded to the majority parts of the examination in an acceptable manner. However, in case of a tie, either the Dean or Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services will asked to read and evaluate the exam.

Fail Retake Permitted: At least three of the committee members agree that the student failed to respond in an acceptable manner to more than one of the sections asked and this is the first time the exam has been taken. Under such circumstances, the exam cannot be retaken until the next semester. The student will be required to be enrolled in at least one credit hour for the semester the exam will be taken for the second time. While the committee members will remain the same, the questions asked may be different. The student will not be allowed to propose a doctoral dissertation until the exam is passed. Additionally, if the committee members agree that the student failed to respond in an acceptable manner in the second exam, the student’s program will be terminated. Retaking the comprehensive final will be permitted only once.

Fail: All of the committee members agree that the student failed to respond in an acceptable manner to more than one of the parts asked, no retake will be permitted, and the student’s program is terminated.

Reporting Results of the Comprehensive Doctoral Examination

1. Only after the Committee reaches a decision on the results of the Comprehensive Exam should students be notified. Typically this should occur within about three weeks of the examination date.
2. The comprehensive examination committee chair will be responsible for notifying students of the examination results in a timely manner. Other Committee members should treat all exam information in the strictest confidence.
3. After a student successfully completes the written and oral components of the comprehensive examination, the comprehensive examination committee chair will be responsible for notifying the Troy University Dean of the Graduate School.

Admission to Doctoral Candidacy

Students seeking to enter Doctoral Candidacy must have:

1. Completed all coursework with a GPA of 3.0 or higher; and
2. Passed the comprehensive exams

Writing the Dissertation

The dissertation proposal indicates the student’s commitment to the dissertation advisory committee to complete the proposed project in a reasonable timeframe, generally a year or more. The most recent edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) will be the only writing style accepted in writing the dissertation. Additionally, a 12 point font Times New Roman font should be used consistently throughout the document. The student is encouraged to review the dissertation guidelines on the Troy University Graduate school website for further information.

The drafts of the dissertation will only be reviewed by all members of the dissertation committee. Feedback and suggestions from the dissertation committee members should be incorporated until the draft is considered acceptable by all members of the committee. The student should anticipate review by the dissertation committee and the incorporation of feedback to consume approximately two to three weeks.

Students must be continuously enrolled for a minimum of 1 credit hour in Dissertation (SM 8860) per term during and including the semester in which they successfully defend their dissertation. Dissertation credit hours may exceed but may not be less than the minimum of 18 term hours. For example, if students attain 18 dissertation credits but do not successfully defend their dissertation, they will be required to enroll in at least one credit hour of in Dissertation (SM 8860) until they successfully defend their dissertation. If a student fails to maintain the continuous enrollment requirement he or she may be required to undergo re-admittance into the Ph.D. program.

Dissertation Defense

The defense provides the candidate with an opportunity to address the components of the dissertation such as the introduction, importance of the study, methodology, results, and discussion/conclusion. The work must be of publishable quality using the Graduate School’s format requirements. To complete their degree, each doctoral candidate is required to prepare, present, and orally defend a dissertation that shows independent investigation. Upon completion of the dissertation, the student must successfully complete an oral defense pertaining to the dissertation research.

When the dissertation has been approved by all members of the Dissertation committee, the student with the approval of the Dissertation chair will determine the date, time, and site of the oral Dissertation defense. All members of the defense committee must receive a copy of the candidate’s dissertation at least two weeks prior to the scheduled defense. If the student does not pass the oral dissertation defense, a subsequent oral defense may be scheduled at the discretion of the Dissertation chair. Only after the student has successfully defended the dissertation will the members of the dissertation committee sign the Dissertation Acceptance Page(s). The dissertation chair will notify the Dean of the Graduate School at least one week in advance of the scheduled oral Dissertation defense. The oral Dissertation defense must occur at least four weeks before the intended date of graduation/commencement. Due to distance constraints, if the student cannot physically be on the Troy campus for the dissertation defense, the student is responsible to arrange technology such as Skype, WebEx or Jigsaw, per the dissertation committee approval, for the dissertation defense.

After Dissertation Defense

Dissertations must be written in English and must be acceptable in form and content to present to the Dissertation Committee and to the Graduate School. The work must be of publishable quality and must be in a form suitable for publication, using the Graduate Schools’ format requirements. The Dissertation must be reviewed by the Graduate School for adherence to Dissertation formatting requirements (Appendix C in the Dissertation Guidelines). The student must submit a flawless copy printed on regular paper to the Graduate School (Adams Administration Building, Room 231, Troy campus) for format review. The appropriate number of “Dissertation Acceptance Pages” and “Human and Animal Review Forms” printed on bonded paper with appropriate original signatures should be submitted along with Dissertation. The Dissertation and other required pages are to be submitted in a “10 x 13” heavy manila envelope with a copy of the title page adhered to the front of the manila envelope. The last date a fully approved Dissertation may be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School is three (3) full weeks prior to the date of graduation. THIS DEADLINE IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. The student is responsible for checking the University academic calendar for relevant deadlines for commencement for the semester in which he or she plans to graduate (troy.edu/records/graduation/graduationinformation.html).

Plagiarism

The awarding of a university degree attests that an individual has demonstrated mastery of a significant body of knowledge and skills of substantive value to society. Any type of dishonesty in securing those credentials therefore invites serious sanctions, up to and including suspension and expulsion (see Standard of Conduct in each TROY Catalog). Examples of dishonesty include actual or attempted cheating, plagiarism*, or knowingly furnishing false information to any university employee.

*Plagiarism is defined as submitting anything for credit in one course that has already been submitted for credit in another course, or copying any part of someone else’s intellectual work - their ideas and/or words - published or unpublished, including that of other students, and portraying it as one’s own. Proper quoting, using strict APA formatting, is required.

Plagiarism is a very serious offense that Troy University does not tolerate. Evidence of plagiarism may prevent granting of a degree.

Doctoral Core (15 sh)

• SM 8812 - Seminar in Sport Marketing
• SM 8814 - Seminar in Sport Finance
• SM 8816 - Seminar in Organizational Behavior and Leadership
• SM 8820 - Seminar in Legal Aspects of Sport
• SM 8822 - Seminar in Sport Management Pedagogy

Research and Statistics Requirements (15 sh)

• SM 8803 - Research Methods I
• SM 8805 - Research Methods II
• SM 8810 - Seminar in Applied Statistics in Sport Management
• SM 8835 - Seminar in Advanced Statistics in Sport Management
• The student, in consultation with the major advisor, must select a minimum of three hours of advisor approved electives of research courses

Cognate Area Requirements (12 sh)

The cognate area represents the area of specialization that the student wishes to pursue. In consultation and with approval of the major advisor, the student will select four graduate level classes to fulfill the 12 credit cognate area requirement. Cognate areas may include, but are not limited to, Sport Organization Behavior/Theory, Sport Marketing, Sport Finance, Legal Aspects of Sport, Athletic Administration, Sport Communication, or Sport Tourism.

Comprehensive Examination (0 sh)

Dissertation Requirements (18 sh)

Total Hours 60 semester hours