THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
COMMITTEE:	Higher Education and Professional Practice
TITLE OF ITEM:	Master Plan Amendment: Polytechnic University, Ph.D. in Technology Management
DATE OF SUBMISSION:	January 28, 2004
PROPOSED HANDLING:	Approval (Consent)
RATIONALE FOR ITEM:	Master Plan Amendment is required when an institution offers its first doctoral degree program in a new discipline
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goals 2 and 4
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY:

 

Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, seeks Regents approval of an amendment of its master plan to authorize the University to offer a program in technology management leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree.  Master plan amendment is needed because this would be the University’s first doctoral degree program in the disciplinary area of business.

 

The Office of Higher Education has determined that the proposed program, if approved, would meet the standards for registration set forth in the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.

 

Recommendation:  I recommend that the Regents take the following action:

 

VOTED, that the master plan of Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, be amended, effective February 23, 2004, authorizing the University to offer a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in technology management.  This amendment will be effective until February 28, 2005, unless the Department registers the program prior to that date, in which case master plan amendment shall be without term.

 

Attachment

Polytechnic University

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Technology Management

 

Academic Review

 

Polytechnic University requests approval to offer a doctoral program, the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Technology Management, at its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. A master plan amendment is required because this would be the University’s first doctoral offering in the discipline area of business.

 

This program, if approved, would enable the University’s Department of Management to offer a full range of degree programs in the increasingly important and rapidly growing area of Technology Management. The University offers three master’s-level degree programs in this area and also offers a baccalaureate degree program in Technology and Information Management.

 

The department has 10 full-time faculty and is in the process of acquiring two to three more full-time faculty who will support the program by 2004-2005. All faculty members possess Ph.D. degrees from premier institutions and many also have extensive business and consulting experience.  One of the reviewers of the proposed program stated that:

 

The current faculty is knowledgeable and well regarded in their specific domain to jumpstart the proposed program.  The junior faculty members are active in research and are well trained in their advanced degrees to be able to train the next generation of scholars.  The recruitment of recent faculty – well trained in the substance and methodology of technology management research is a major factor in my assessment that the Department has the requisite expertise.

 

Another reviewer noted:

 

The faculty in the management department is ideally suited for the proposed PHD program.  There are some very senior professors with stellar academic credentials and quite a few younger members of the faculty that are well trained in their disciplines and bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the project…. It is apparent that they represent diverse academic disciplines (e.g., economics, engineering, marketing) but have a common binding interest in the development and management of technology.

 

The Technology Management Ph.D. curriculum consists of two major parts: coursework and dissertation research. The first part involves undertaking a specific core curriculum, consisting of 27 courses. The coursework is followed by a comprehensive qualifying examination consisting of two phases: one on the material covered in the master's-level core courses and second on the material covered in thematic electives and research courses. The second part of the curriculum involves dissertation research. The student first presents a research proposal to the student's dissertation committee in proposal defense. Upon approval of the proposal, the student conducts the research study and presents the findings in final defense.

 

While this overall structure of the Technology Management Ph.D. is similar to other Ph.D. programs, there are several unique characteristics that make it an innovative, niche-oriented research program.  First, it focuses on the growing and well-documented needs of our society for educators and researchers in the intersecting areas of technology and management. Second, it is an interdisciplinary program spanning various fields such as sub-disciplines of management (e.g., strategy, marketing, operations management, finance, information systems, human resources, etc.), electrical engineering, computer science, biology, chemistry and chemical engineering, manufacturing engineering, and aeronautics, depending on the students’ interest area. Third, the University is uniquely positioned to offer this program given its degree offerings in engineering, science, and management. Fourth, there is no other university offering a program like this in the Tri-State/New York metropolitan region.

 

Admission to the Technology Management Ph.D. program will require applicants to submit their scores on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE), transcripts from all previous educational institutions attended, three letters of recommendation, and a statement of purpose. International applicants, whose first language is not English, will be required to submit TOEFL scores as well. The complete application package will be reviewed and decided upon by an admissions committee consisting of the program academic director and at least one other faculty member.

 

The Technology Management Ph.D. is primarily targeted toward students in the Tri-State/New York metropolitan region. About half of the students will come from this area and will approximate the age, gender, and racial/ethnic profile of graduate students at the University. The remainder will come from other states and other countries.

 

The Technology Management Ph.D. is a full-time degree program.  It is expected that about three students will be admitted in each of the first two years of the program, with an increase to four students in each of the third, fourth, and fifth years.  The number of students admitted will be kept at a level such that full attention can be given to the research and mentoring needs of the students.

 

This program will be primarily based at the Polytechnic University’s MetroTech Campus in Brooklyn, although students may elect to take some courses at other campuses. The campus has classrooms equipped with wireless Internet access and audiovisual equipment for advanced teaching needs. In addition to general computer labs, special lab facilities for use in research projects are available in the areas of wireless communications, multimedia, local area networks, image processing, robotics, VLSI design, distributed computing, and microwaves. Ph.D. students will also have access to office space and computer equipment. The on-campus Dibner Library has an in-house collection of more than 190,000 books and journals in engineering, the sciences, management and other related fields, and access to major online research databases.

 

The Technology Management Ph.D. is designed for research-oriented students who are largely interested in research-based positions at academic and research institutions. Universities with undergraduate and graduate programs that emphasize the integration of technology and management will be the primary employers of Technology Management Ph.D. graduates. In addition, government research-funding agencies, non-profit research agencies, corporate research centers and some research-based consulting firms may also seek Technology Management Ph.D. graduates, given the unique research background of these candidates.  A reviewer of Polytechnic’s proposal indicated that:

 

There is an urgent need for scholars interested in the management of technology.  The need is especially high for management of technology scholars that also have more than a superficial understanding of the underlying technology that they are interested in studying.  With its long tradition of inter-disciplinary work and its strength in technological fields, Poly is well positioned to produce such scholars.

 

Planning Review

 

A statewide canvass of all colleges in the New York City region and all doctoral degree-granting institutions was conducted. Eight responses were received with all indicating no objection.