Governance of the Doctoral Program in Information Technology
Passed by the faculty of Ph. D. It, Oct. 1998
(last change on October 3, 2001)
This document describes the governance structure and processes of the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in
Information Technology. Specifically, this document identifies the roles and responsibilities for the
following governing bodies:
The Information Technology Doctoral Faculty,
The Executive Committee,
The Program Coordinator, and
The Information Technology Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee
The University
At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the Dean of the Graduate School is the administrative
officer with primary responsibility for the supervision of graduate programs. The Dean is responsible for
the executive and administrative affairs of the Graduate School in accordance with the policies determined
by the UNC Charlotte Graduate Council, the Graduate faculty and the Faculty Council. The Graduate
School is responsible for monitoring the quality of graduate programs, the final admission of graduate
students, appointments to the Graduate faculty and supporting the enhancement of research activities
essential to the conduct of graduate programs. Consequently, the Dean of the Graduate School will have
primary responsibility for the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Information Technology. The Graduate
Dean acts in cooperation with the Dean of the College of Information Techology, and the Dean of the
College of Business. The Graduate Dean’s main duties include the following:
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Final admission of students
Appointment of dissertation and doctoral committees
Approval of programs of study
Admission of students to candidacy
Final approval of dissertation.
The Information Technology Doctoral Faculty
The Information Technology Doctoral Faculty will be composed of those members of the Graduate faculty
at UNC Charlotte who will be expected to participate in this doctoral program as research dissertation
advisors and instructors in component courses. It is expected that the credentials presented by a doctoral
program graduate faculty member will include a list of journal publications, externally funded research
grants and prior experience in supervising Master’s thesis and / or Ph.D. dissertations as well as a research
program relevant to the goals of the program. Appointment to the Information Technology Doctoral
Faculty will be made by the Dean of the Graduate School on recommendation by the Information
Technology Doctoral Committee. Appointments will be for 5 years terms with reappointment made
according to the guidelines established by the Information Technology Interdisciplinary Doctoral
Committee.
The Executive Committee and the Program Coordinator
The ultimate responsibility for administration of the program will rest with the Dean of the College of
Information Technology, along with the Chairs of the Department of Computer Science, Software and
Information Systems and, Information and Operations Management; however, the detailed administration
of the program will be the duty of the Program Coordinator who reports to the Dean of Information
Technology. The Dean of Information Technology, along with the chairs of the Computer Science
Department, Software and Information Systems and, the Information and Operations Management
Department, shall appoint, with input from the Doctoral Faculty, a three member Executive Committee,
chaired by the coordinator of the Ph.D. program. Members of the Executive Committee (including the
coordinator) will serve a three-year renewable term. Members of the Executive Committee shall come
from three academic departments.
Duties of the Executive Committee include:
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Oversee student recruitment efforts for the program
Recommend budget allocations for travel, equipment, communication, and supplies to the Dean of The
College of Information Technology and the Chairs of the Department of Computer Science and the
Department of Information and Operations Management.
Coordinates scheduling of courses among the cooperative departments.
Recommend teaching assistantships to the Dean of the College of Information Technology
Recommend tuition waivers to Graduate School.
Assign duties for teaching assistants.
Duties of the Program Coordinator include:
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Schedules dissertation defenses
Assures proper maintenance of the graduate student records
Communicates assessment of the program and personnel to the chairpersons of all participating
departments.
Recommending to the graduate school applicants for admission to the program, based on
recommendations of the Doctoral Committee.
Coordinates activities of the executive committee and the doctoral committee.
The
Information
Committee
Technology
Interdisciplinary
Doctoral
The Information Technology Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee will consist of seven members of the
Information Technology Doctoral Faculty. They shall be elected by the Information Technology Doctoral
Faculty and serve three year renewable terms. Members of the Information Technology Interdisciplinary
Doctoral Committee and the Executive Committee shall be mutually exclusive.
The Information Technology Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee is responsible for:
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Evaluating applicants for admission to the program.
Approving the student’s advisory committee and dissertation topic.
Assuring the written comprehensive exams are given appropriately.
Recommending course additions and alternations to the appropriate department’s faculty.
Recommending to the doctoral faculty changes in admission requirements, and degree requirements.
Recommending to the doctoral faculty changes in the governance of the Ph.D. program.
Recommending to the Executive Committee candidates for teaching assistantships and tuition waivers.
Approving faculty for participation in the degree program.
Providing input into the College of Information Technology budget allocations on matters that impact
the Ph.D. program
All policy decisions (e.g., course proposals, admission and degree requirements) must be approved by a
simple majority vote of Doctoral Faculty.
Voting
All elections and decisions requiring approval of the Doctoral Faculty must have a quorum of a simple
majority of the Doctoral Faculty members. Voting can be conducted either at a meeting, or via an electronic
mechanism.
Change of program Governance
The Information Technology Interdisciplinary Doctoral Committee must propose any modifications,
additions, and deletions to this governance document. A simple majority vote of the Information
Technology Doctoral Faculty, conducted in a manner described in this document, is required for approval.