While the Ph.D. curriculum specifies the core areas of instruction and requires an advanced specialization field, considerable flexibility is afforded each student in designing a program of study leading to the Ph.D. degree.
Students pursue advanced specialization sequences in public policy analysis or management. The Doctoral Studies Committee monitors each student’s progress in completing an approved curriculum plan. There is an annual review of student progress in the program to ensure that each student completes a coherent, in-depth curriculum prior to undertaking the Ph.D. candidacy examination and is prepared to pursue the dissertation in a timely manner.
Credit Hours and Residence Requirements
A minimum of 120 graduate credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree is required to earn a doctoral degree. If a master’s degree has been earned by the student, then a minimum of 75 graduate credit hours beyond the master’s degree is required. A student must be registered for at least three credit hours during the quarters of the Candidacy Examination, the Final Oral Examination, and the quarter of expected graduation.
In addition, the following residence requirements must be met after earning a master’s degree or 45 hours of graduate credit:
● A minimum of 45 graduate credit hours must be completed at Ohio State;
● A minimum of three out of four consecutive quarters with an enrollment of at least 10 graduate credit hours per quarter must be completed while in residence at Ohio State; and
● A minimum of six graduate credit hours over a period of at least two quarters must be completed after admission to candidacy.
Course Load
The course load is determined by the nature of the courses taken, the student’s
academic record, and employment plans. Course loads for full-time students range
from 10 to 15 credit hours per quarter (usually 3 to 4 courses). A student may not enroll for more than 18 credit hours per quarter, exclusive of audit courses. Post-candidacy students register for 3 credit hours per quarter to maintain full-time status.
International students must have a minimum of 10 graduate credit hours, and fellowship students must have a minimum of 15 graduate credit hours (excluding audits) per quarter pre-candidacy. Graduate associates must have a minimum of 9 graduate credit hours (excluding audits) per quarter during the regular academic year and can enroll for a minimum of 7 graduate credit hours during the Summer Quarter.
Reasonable Progress
To ensure “reasonable progress” as mandated by the Graduate School, doctoral
candidates are reviewed annually by the Doctoral Studies Committee. This review
normally occurs during the Spring Quarter. Reasonable progress is defined as having successfully completed at least six courses in four consecutive quarters during the
course work phase of the program. These courses must be graduate level courses
and/or directly related to the student’s program of study.
Doctoral students must successfully complete the Candidacy Examination within four years of entering with a master’s degree in public administration or within five years of entering without a master’s degree in public administration. Students are admitted to candidacy upon successfully completing the Candidacy Examination. Once admitted to candidacy, students have five years to successfully defend their doctoral dissertation. Students are expected to make timely progress on their dissertation research. In this connection, an important milestone is the dissertation proposal. For full-time students, it is expected that the dissertation proposal will be presented and approved within three to six months of admission to candidacy. For part-time students, the time period is one year.
FOUNDATION SEMINARS
PUB AFRS 880P06 History and Current Directions of Public Administration Thought.
An orientation seminar to research in public policy and management, this course examines from three perspectives (historical, cultural, and analytic) the intellectual currents that undergird the theory and concepts of public policy analysis and management.
PUB AFRS 890 Logic of Inquiry for Policy and Management Science.
Introduces the advanced doctoral student to the nature of inquiry in social science generally and policy and management science particularly. Provides the basis for critical analysis and theory construction with an eye toward dissertation research.
PUB AFRS 880A06 Doctoral Research Colloquium.
A forum for presenting and discussing current faculty and student research projects.
POLICY ANALYSIS
PUB AFRS 801* Public Policy Formulation and Implementation.
A foundation course on the public policy-making process in the United States, the nature of decision making, bureaucratic behavior, and intergovernmental relations.
PUB AFRS 880K06 Seminar in Public Policy.
Critical assessment of scholarly literature on public policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.
Note: The prerequisite for this sequence is an undergraduate course in American government.
PUBLIC SECTOR ECONOMICS
PUB AFRS 880E02 Seminar in Public Sector Economics.
Applications of rational choice modeling to public policy analysis, organizational decision-making, and management science.
PUB AFRS 730* Public Finance.
A comprehensive survey and analysis of the principal fiscal activities of contemporary governments; logic of public sector activity, taxation principals and practice, fiscal federalism.
QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS
ECON 641 Applied Regression and Correlation Analysis.
Covers the general linear regression model; multiple correlation, path analysis, analysis of variance and test of significance.
ECON 642 Applied Economic Models and Forecasting.
Applications of statistical principles to economic problems.
PUB AFRS 880E05 Policy Modeling Seminar.
Oriented to formal model building and statistical analysis relevant to the dissertation research interests of advanced doctoral students.
ECON 642 is the second course in a two-quarter sequence in applied regression analysis involving mainly interval data. There are, however, alternative courses to ECON 642 available to students. For those more interested in applications of regression analysis to structural systems of equations, SOC 707 or PSYCH 830 may be a more appropriate follow-up to ECON 641. Students interested in applications of regression analysis to categorical variables may choose to follow up ECON 641 with either EDU P&L 925.60 or SOC 850. For these latter courses, a prerequisite course in ANOVA may be required.
ORGANIZATION THEORY AND BEHAVIOR
PUB AFRS 880H06 Problems in Public Organization Theory.
An advanced seminar on the nature of public sector organizations and their management, and opportunities for applied research on public organizations.
