REQUEST TO OFFER A JOINT DOCTORAL DEGREE IN BUSINESS Submitted By Baruch College The Graduate Center Of Of The City University of New York The City University of New York Zicklin School of Business PhD Program in Business PhD Program in Business Approved by Zicklin School Faculty Approved by the Graduate Council April 15, 2010 May 8, 2013 1 DRAFT Executive Summary We propose that Baruch College of The City University of New York (Baruch College) be authorized to award doctoral degrees, jointly with The Graduate Center of The City University of New York (Graduate Center) in the area of Business. This proposal calls for a change in the relationship between the Graduate Center, Baruch College and the Zicklin School of Business (Zicklin) with regards to its doctoral education in Business. (Baruch College appreciates the opportunity of having a joint PhD in Business.) As co-issuer of the degree, Baruch College foresees no change in the operations of the program and anticipates significant academic benefits for the future. This is a step in recognizing the significant role that Baruch College plays in doctoral education, and will minimize the confusion that exists among program applicants and employers in the academic marketplace as to whether Baruch College offers a PhD degree. The goal of this joint degree is to move the PhD program into Zicklin, so that the Business program would operate in a manner similar to other academic PhD programs at leading public universities in the United States and globally. The joint endeavor will add program identity to Zicklin, Baruch College and PhD studies in Business. Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business is one of the most respected in the United States. Our qualified faculty in the Doctoral Program in Business seek to educate a small and selective group of future researchers and teachers who will contribute to the development and dissemination of knowledge in the business disciplines ( See Appendix 1 for a partial list of faculty). Graduates are trained to work in academia and are typically placed at academic institutions upon completion of the program (See Appendix 2 for a list of recent student placements). With the formal recognition of the PhD program our graduating students will see a significant expansion in their opportunity set of Universities outside of the U.S. Northeast. This recognition extends to students applying to the PhD program in Business and they will no longer be confused when trying to ascertain the link between Zicklin and the Graduate Center. The proposed restructuring plan enables Baruch College to be officially recognized for the doctoral training that has been conducted on its campus since Manus Rabinowitz completed his dissertation on May 19, 1970. Putting the name of Baruch College formally on the degree will mitigate the confusion that exists in the marketplace as to the significant academic role Baruch plays in PhD education. Now Baruch will be categorized as a PhD granting institution by Forbes, Financial Times, U.S. News, Bloomberg-Business Week and other college guides and rating agencies. Our current academic operating style will be comparable with peer institutions. No longer will our PhD model of operations be compared to non-doctoral granting institutions. This change in title is not expected to be accompanied by any internal operational changes. The proposed agreements call for a simplification in the funding relationship between Baruch College and the Graduate Center. Baruch College contributes $176,000 in direct scholarship support through the Baruch College Endowment Fund, $750,000 though the adjunct teaching budget, $50,000 in private fund raising to support travel and internally absorbs the approximately $500,000 difference between the Graduate Center reimbursement and the actual faculty salaries paid in order to compete with Public AACSB business schools. With the new program, the funds previously transferred by the Graduate Center will be substantially reduced as Baruch College carries the higher burden of teaching costs. The 2 department chairs and the Dean are prepared to absorb the increase in staffing costs as part of their commitment to the PhD education mission of Baruch College. 3 Background The Zicklin School of Business (Zicklin) is routinely listed in the top 50 public university business programs and clearly deserves to be recognized as a doctoral granting institution. The PhD program will enhance Baruch College’s position when external classifications and rankings are made by such notable ratings groups as Forbes, Financial Times, U.S. News, Bloomberg-Business Week and other college guides and rating agencies. Baruch College will now be compared to other doctoral granting institutions as opposed to now being compared with masters granting institutions. In addition, it will improve Baruch College’s ability to attract, support, and retain doctoral-level faculty while supporting the strongest possible doctoral students. The placement record of Business graduates show that a majority graduate on a timely basis and are placed as tenure track, assistant professors at Colleges and Universities. The joint program will end the confusion that prevails with external accrediting agencies such as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and Middle States. Zicklin has consistently had to explain, that for educational purposes, the school conducts its academic affairs in a fashion similar to a large public university granting a doctoral degree in business. When Zicklin identifies its peer institutions, Zicklin identifies those public universities that offer PhD degrees and benchmarks its salaries and teaching loads against those schools it identifies. Outcome measures are set similar to those schools and yet Zicklin lacks the authority to offer the PhD through Baruch College. This lack of a formal degree leaves external evaluators, such as AACSB, perplexed since they remain unaware of an example of an academic model comparable to the CUNY consortia. A further confusion exists when our doctoral students present at conferences and go on the job market. The Zicklin brand name is very strong on a global basis. Confusion comes about when our students explain that their degree is not from Baruch College, but rather some entity whose profile is much higher in other disciplines than Business. As much as we modify the web page to reflect the current situation, students and external evaluators routinely inquire if Baruch College has a PhD program. The economic reality for the Zicklin School of Business is that in order to recruit and retain academic faculty comparable to other leading Public AACSB accredited universities, salaries of faculty who teach in the PhD program are much higher than the current Graduate Center reimbursement rate. Baruch College underwrites faculty salaries by approximately $500,000 more than is currently transferred from the Graduate Center. Zicklin also provides teaching and scholarship support of $750,000 from its internal adjunct budget and Baruch College’s Endowment Fund supplies approximately $176,000 in scholarships. Implications of the Change in Degree Status Governance The Business PhD program is governed by the rules, regulations and policies of the Graduate Center. The program is administered by an Executive Officer, appointed by the President of the Graduate Center (often in association with the senior members of Baruch College) and Executive Committee elected by the doctoral faculty in Business. The governance of and all joint appointments between Baruch College and the Graduate Center will remain intact. 4 The Executive Committee The Executive Committee oversees the Business Program. The election of faculty to the Committee is done in complete compliance with Graduate Center rules and regulations. One of their important roles is to evaluate CUNY faculty nominations to the Doctoral faculty. Under the proposed changes the Executive Committee will continue and all Doctoral appointments are to remain intact. Faculty The list of distinguished faculty is provided in Appendix 1. Over the past 10 years, all Business dissertations have been chaired by the Doctoral faculty at Baruch College. With few exceptions the remainder of these committees consist of Baruch faculty or faculty within CUNY. The courses in the program are almost entirely taught by Baruch College faculty with the notable exception of some first year economics classes that are delivered by the Graduate Center Economics Program. This academic strategy is consistent with the academic programs at other leading PhD programs in Business. The faculty running the program will continue to do so and all joint appointments between Baruch College and the Graduate Center will remain intact. Space There is no space allocated to the Business Program at the Graduate Center. The Executive Officer and the APO are provided with office space at Baruch College. In addition, a dedicated conference room and a computer laboratory for PhD students are also available at Baruch College. Each of the 75 students in residence has their own cubicle with a personal computer linked to print capabilities. Since all Business Doctoral students teach at Baruch College at some point, their entire computer allotted is part of the need to provide adjunct teaching faculty with an appropriate level of technology. Admissions The admissions committee consists of doctoral faculty who represent the five academic area specializations (accounting, finance, management, marketing