Program Overview
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The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree is a 48-credit online doctoral degree program with areas of study in Organizational Leadership, Human Resource Management, and General Management. The DBA degree is designed to enable business students and professionals to advance their careers toward becoming executive leaders, educators, and consultants. This program offers two-degree completion options, course work in preparation from higher educational instruction and general consultancy, and a final Scholar-Practitioner Field Project.
Program Highlights:
- Low-Cost Educational Resources: A portfolio of academic and applied course resources organized using a high-quality cost-effective blend of e-books, articles, and Open Educational Resources (OER).
- Unique Curriculum Design: Scholar-practitioner, interdisciplinary curriculum comprised of five unique content domains including: Critical Thought and Action, Integrated Topics in Business and Management; Area of Study, Teaching and Consultative Professional Practice, and Scholar-Practitioner Field Project. Learn from executives who are in the field today.
- Scholar-Practitioner Field Project: The degree culminates in a student selected, mentor-guided applied field project where students can apply what they have learned in their course work to the industry or field of interest. This project will result in a publication or conference presentation.
- Personalized Instructional Delivery: While our adult-centric and seminar-oriented cohort design is within a fully distance learning environment, students will have access to one-on-one mentorship from University leadership.
- Choose from two Specialization Areas; Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Management.
- Support Every Step of the Way: We partner with the degree program student throughout their doctoral experience, delivering highly responsive and focused attention, service, and guidance.
Download our Degree Program Profile Sheet for an overview of our DBA program.
Admissions Requirements:
Students are eligible for degree program admission and course enrollment using the following admissions criteria:
- Master’s degree in business, management, organizational-related studies, or closely related field earned from an institutionally accredited college or university recognized under the TESU Transfer Credit Policy and Guidelines
- Graduate GPA of 3.0 or above
- Assessment of prior academic course work and research methods
- Minimum of three years of organizational leadership, management, or equivalent professional experience
- Evaluation of graduate school application including undergraduate and master's academic transcripts, essay, and resume
- Transcripts should be sent to the Office of the Registrar; upload essays and/or resumes here.
- Applicant interview
- Applicants must complete two essays. Provide approximately 550 words for each essay.
- Required essay: Identify one research interest and how earning the DBA degree would advance the student's knowledge and contribute to the literature.
- Select one essay below:
- Why is earning the DBA degree now important and how will it influence your career goals?
- Which personal and/or professional experiences have prepared you for earning the DBA degree?
Credit Transfer
- A total of six doctoral level credits may be transferred to the DBA.
- Transfer credit accepted only through evaluation by the dean, School of Business and Management.
Program Progression
- Students admitted to the DBA degree program progress through the DBA curriculum with the cohort to which they were admitted.
- DBA students who earn a grade lower than a B in a course, withdraw from a DBA course, or who fail to enroll during a consecutive term will be assessed on an individual basis for their ability to remain in the DBA program.
- The program must be completed within seven years of admission into the program.
Graduation Requirements
- DBA students must earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and be in good standing at TESU to be certified for graduation.
- All program requirements must be successfully completed, including the final Scholar-Practitioner Field Project.
Getting Started
Once admitted to the program, follow the steps on our Getting Started page to create an account with Online Student Services, access your Academic Evaluation, and make an advising appointment.
Courses and Terms
Domain I: Inquiry Systems and Models: Critical Thought and Action in the Global Business Environment (6 Credits)
Term I
| DBA-8000 | Critical Thought and Informed Action: Models of Decision Making and Organization Achievement | 3 |
Term II
| DBA-8010 | The Global Business Context: Trends, Issues, and Markets | 3 |
Domain II: Integrated Topics in Business and Management (18 Credits)
Term III
| DBA-8020 | Seminar in Economics and Finance: Models and Matrices of Sustainability | 3 |
Term IV
| DBA-8030 | Seminar in Organizational Dynamics: Leadership, Culture, and Change | 3 |
Term V
| DBA-8040 | Seminar in Strategic Planning and Organizational Effectiveness | 3 |
Term VI
| DBA-8050 | Seminar in Marketing and Entrepreneurship | 3 |
Term VII
| DBA-8060 | Empirical Entrepreneurship: Data, Technology, and Business Intelligence | 3 |
Term VIII
| DBA-8070 | Seminar in Law, Ethics, and Global Society | 3 |
Domain III: Areas of Study (9 Credits)
Students complete 9 credits for the Human Resources Management, Organizational Leadership or Management area of study. Students enrolled in the Management area of study may select 6 credits from either Human Resources or Organizational Leadership area of study and complete
DBA-9050.
Term IX
Students select one of the following:
| HRM-8010 | Seminar in Global Human Resource Management | 3 |
| OML-8020 | Seminar in Leadership and Culture: Organizational and National Perspectives | 3 |
Term X
Students select one of the following:
| HRM-8030 | Seminar in Human Resource Leadership | 3 |
| OML-8030 | Seminar in Leading Change for Innovation, Sustainability, and Competitive Advantage | 3 |
Term XI
Required course for all areas of study:
| DBA-9050 | Seminar in Scholar-Practitioner Research | 3 |
Domain IV: Teaching and Consultative Professional Practice (6 Credits)
Term XII
| DBA-8080 | Teaching Adults: Archetypes, Tools, and Tactics - Andragogy Lab | 3 |
Term XIII
| DBA-8090 | Organizational Consulting: Process Consultation, Avocation, and Business Sustainability | 3 |
Domain V: Scholar-Practitioner Field Project - Field Research: Research Methods, Application, and Completion (9 Credits)
Term XIV
| DBA-9100 | Scholar-Practitioner Field Project I - Research Methods, Project Identification, Framing, and Site Preparation | 3 |
Term XV
| DBA-9200 | Scholar-Practitioner Field Project II - Research Methods Supervised Practicum: Data Collection and Analysis | 3 |
Term XVI
| DBA-9300 | Scholar-Practitioner Field Project III - Project Completion, Presentation, and Publishing | 3 |
Total Credit Hours: 48
NOTE:
Minimum of one course or 3 credits per term. Transfer credit accepted only through evaluation by the dean, School of Business and Management.
Careers Overview
The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree enables personal and professional growth. The degree can be transformative, enabling those who have earned it to occupy leadership positions in industry, higher education, and consultancy. If the degree uses a scholar-practitioner curriculum design, the interplay between theory informing practice and practice informing theory provides a competitive advantage more thoroughly integrating what students learn and how the learning is applied in the workplace.
The 21st century global market offers unprecedented career opportunities. As the world-of-work evolves, traditional job designs and organizational structure are rapidly morphing, resulting in the need for highly educated executives skilled in leading and managing organizations and their members through the tumultuous and discontinuous change that is characteristic of the first decades of this millennium.
Acquiring the adaptive and adoptive knowledge, competencies, and skills necessary to compete and succeed in contemporary global markets are frequently found in doctoral degree programs. For business and management professionals, the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is often the degree of choice. Professionals earning the DBA degree will be prepared to fill or create their next occupational role. The intentionality, discipline, and capabilities necessary to earn the DBA are a powerful professional differentiator enabling occupational competitive advantage.
Occupations aligned with earning the Thomas Edison State University DBA degree:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Human Resource Officer
- Vice President of Organizational Development
- Vice President of Training and Development
- Chief Human Capital Officer
- Vice President of Academic Affairs
- Dean and/or Professor in Higher Education
- Lead Consultant of Change Management
- Entrepreneur
Enable personal and professional growth…earn the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree.
Click here to learn more about Thomas Edison State University’s Doctor of Business Administration degree or email me directly at mwilliams@tesu.edu.
Dr. Michael Williams
Written by Dr. Michael Williams
Dr. Michael Williams is the Dean of the School of Business and Management and joined the University in 2012; he was named dean in March 2013. His professional background includes more than 25 years of higher education, executive-level development and coaching, consulting, and teaching. He is frequently sought as a keynote speaker and presenter, having led strategic initiatives for national and international corporations, including J.B. Hanauer & Co. (Royal Bank of Canada), and C3I, Inc. (Oracle). He earned a doctoral degree and master's degree from Fordham University, a master's degree from Rutgers University, an MBA from DeVry University, and a master's degree from Touro College.