Please note: Admissions to doctoral program suspended
The RCSC division does currently not admit new students into the RCSC doctoral program. Therefore, applications for Fall 2013 are not accepted.
What do RCSC doctoral students learn?
The RCSC doctoral program focuses on the procurement, distribution, marketing, and sale of products and services to consumers with an emphasis on the final link between the retailer and their customers. As such, students are exposed to methods, concepts, and theory from marketing, management, psychology, and economics. Research, teaching, and outreach within the RCSC are focused in retail management and consumer behavior.
What are the career prospects for RCSC doctoral students?
RCSC doctoral students train to be social and behavioral scientists for research, teaching, and other professional careers in academic, government, and the private sector.
What are the Ph.D. degree requirements?
Foundation Core (3 courses, each required)
RCSC 634 – Current Research Issues in Retail Management
MKTG 696d/696g – Consumer Behavior
RCSC 696f – Research Process and Academic Writing
Theory (3 courses from below list, each required)
RCSC 607 – Topics in Retailing and Consumer Sciences
RCSC 696a – Theoretical Perspectives in Global Consumption and Retailing
RCSC 696b – Theory and Research in Non-store and Multichannel Retailing
RCSC 696c – Theory and Research in Services Retailing
RCSC 696e – Qualitative Data Analysis: Theory, Method and Applications
RCSC 696g – Inter-organizational Issues
Research Methods and Statistics (5 courses, each required)
FSHD 507a – Research Methods in Family Studies and Human Development I
FSHD 537a – Introduction to Statistical Analysis of Family Studies and Human
FSHD 537b – Intermediate Statistical Analysis in Family Studies and Human
Two additional approved statistics courses from FSHD, ED P, SOC, PSY, or MGMT
Minor (3-4 courses, required)
Typical emphasis areas include MKTG, COMM, PSY, ED P, SOC, and MGMT. Students may also opt for a FCS Thematic Minor.
Professional Development (2 courses, required)
FSHD 696z (in the first year; 1 unit)
RCSC 799 – Independent Study (in the second or third year; 2 units)
Under the direction of a tenured or tenure-track faculty mentor, this course affords doctoral students the opportunity to take leadership for a research project. This type of research activity is differentiated from dissertation research in that it should be conducted prior to the student’s defense of a dissertation proposal and is structured as an independent study with one faculty mentor. As such, it should provide the student with an opportunity to publish a piece of research prior to the completion of their dissertation and to possibly work with faculty other than their major advisor.
Research (18 units with major professor, required)
RCSC 920 – Dissertation
See also the Graduate Program Handbook
What is the recommended timeline for the Ph.D. degree?
Year 1:
Identify research areas of interest
File Evaluation of Transfer Credit form with the Graduate College, if applicable
Identify an area of interest for minor (Spring semester)
Year 2:
File Doctoral Plan of Study form (Fall semester). Details can be obtained from the Graduate College (http://grad.arizona.edu/academics/degree-certification/dpos). Note that dissertation hours should not be listed on the plan of study. Transfer courses listed on the Plan of Study are assumed to count toward the major unless they are noted as counting toward the minor.
Complete pre-candidacy meeting (Spring semester)
Identify comprehensive examination committee, format, and content (Spring semester)
Year 3:
Pass written and oral comprehensive examination (Fall semester)
File Results of Oral Comprehensive Exam for Doctoral Candidacy form (partially completed prior to oral examination)
File Committee Appointment form (Spring semester)
Propose dissertation (Spring semester)
Year 4:
Complete dissertation
File Announcement of Final Oral Examination form with Graduate College (by one week before dissertation defense)
Pass final defense and submit dissertation to Graduate College by deadline for graduation term. For more information, see http://grad.arizona.edu/academics/degree-certification/deadlines-for-graduation.
What financial assistance is available to RCSC graduate students?
Financial assistance is awarded on a competitive basis in the form of tuition waivers, graduate fellowships, and graduate teaching and/or research assistantships. Students on teaching and research assistantships find that the experience they gain through their assignment with a faculty member becomes an important component of their graduate education. Graduate students on a quarter-time assistantship work an average of 10 hours per week; students on half-time assistantships work an average of 20 hours per week. Teaching assistantships usually involve weekly meetings with a faculty member, grading student assignments, holding office hours to answer student questions or assisting with study sessions, development of class materials and assignments, proctoring exams and other duties associated with leading an undergraduate course. Research assistantships usually involve assisting the faculty member with library work and literature reviews for current and new projects, coding and data input for empirical projects, report writing and editing, development of presentation materials or assembly of materials for grant proposals.
What are the admission requirements for the RCSC doctoral program?
The following are necessary to be considered for admission into the RCSC doctoral program:
• Personal Statement (including description of research and career interests)
• Personal Resume
• Official Transcripts
• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Minimum 3.00 GPA (based on most recent Bachelor’s or Master’s coursework)
• GRE (1200+ on verbal and quantitative) or GMAT (525+)
• TOEFL (only for international student applicants not recently enrolled in US academic program)
In order to fulfill the requirements for a Ph.D. degree, RCSC graduate students must have a Master’s degree. Students admitted into the doctoral program with only a Bachelor’s degree must, therefore, first complete a M.S. degree as they make progress towards their Ph.D. degree. To facilitate this process, all RCSC M.S. degree coursework counts towards the RCSC Ph.D. degree requirements.
Who are the current Graduate Students in the RCSC program?
See our current Graduate Students, see who they are working with, and their research interests.
How to apply to the RCSC doctoral program?
The RCSC division does currently not admit new students into the RCSC doctoral program. Therefore, applications for Fall 2013 are not accepted.
