Information, Risk, and Operations Management
- Master of Science in Information, Risk, and Operations Management
- Doctor of Philosophy
Facilities for Graduate Work
Faculty members and graduate students in information, risk, and operations management are involved in the work of the Center for Business, Technology, and Law, the Center for Research in Electronic Commerce, the risk management and insurance program, and the Supply Chain Management Consortium. The McCombs School contains additional research centers that support graduate work, as well as the school’s physical facilities and computing systems.
Areas of Study
The program has three independent concentrations: information systems; risk analysis and decision making; and supply chain and operations management.
Graduate Studies Committee
The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 2006–2007.
- John R. Allison
- Edward G. Anderson
- Uttarayan Bagchi
- Mark B. Baker
- Anantaram Balakrishnan
- Anitesh Barua
- Patrick L. Brockett
- Alina Chircu
- William W. Cooper
- Frank B. Cross
- Paul Damien
- James S. Dyer
- Qi Feng
- Stephen M. Gilbert
- Betsy S. Greenberg
- Bin Gu
- Genaro J. Gutiérrez
- Dorothee Honhon
- Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa
- Jonathan Jay Koehler
- Prabhudev Konana
- Leon S. Lasdon
- Reuben R. McDaniel Jr.
- Douglas J. Morrice
- John R. Mote
- Paula C. Murray
- Robert A. Prentice
- Ramandeep Randhawa
- Gautam Ray
- Timothy W. Ruefli
- Maytal Saar-Tsechansky
- Thomas W. Sager
- Billy M. Shaw
- Thomas S. Shively
- David B. Spence
- Huseyin Tanriverdi
- Stathis Tompaidis
- Andrew B. Whinston
- Thaleia Zariphopoulou
Admission Requirements
Admission to the program is extremely competitive. The admission decision is based on the applicant’s academic record, test scores, personal statement, résumé, and letters of recommendation.
Students must enter the program in a fall semester.
Degree Requirements
Master of Science in Information, Risk, and Operations Management
The Master of Science in Information, Risk, and Operations Management is offered only to students who are enrolled in the doctoral program in information, risk, and operations management. This degree is offered in three options: with thesis, with report, and without thesis or report. The thesis option requires at least thirty semester hours of credit; the report option, at least thirty-three hours; and the option without thesis or report, at least thirty-six hours. All coursework must be logically related, and the student’s entire program must be approved by the student’s primary adviser and the graduate adviser. The Graduate Studies Committee’s approval is not required.
Doctor of Philosophy
Information Systems
To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, the student must (1) fulfill the core course requirements described on page 63; (2) submit a qualifying paper, which is reviewed by the student’s adviser and two other faculty members; (3) complete course requirements for two minor areas (three courses in the first area and two courses in the second area); (4) submit a candidacy paper, which must be accepted by the student’s dissertation committee; and (5) submit a dissertation proposal, if one is required by the student’s dissertation chair.
Core courses. During the fall semester of their first year of graduate study, all students must complete Economics 387L (Topic 1: Microeconomics I) and Management Information Systems 381N (Topic 2: Research in Information Systems: Organizational and Behavioral Perspectives) and 381N (Topic 4: Decision Support Systems). In the spring semester of their first year, students in the electronic commerce track must complete Economics 387L (Topic 3: Microeconomics II) and Management Information Systems 381N (Topic 15: Introduction to Electronic Commerce); those in the organizational track must complete Management Information Systems 381N (Topic 12: Advanced Information Systems Readings) and 382N (Topic 3: E-Business Application Development). All students must maintain a graduate grade point average of at least 3.33.
Qualifying paper. After completing the core courses, the student writes the qualifying paper, which surveys the field of information systems and identifies and examines issues for future research. The paper is evaluated by the student’s adviser and two other faculty members.
Candidacy paper. After satisfying the requirements above, and within thirty-six months of entering the program, the student must submit a candidacy paper, which focuses on his or her area of research and provides background for the dissertation. At this point, the student’s dissertation committee is organized. This committee reviews the candidacy paper to determine the suitability of the student’s research topic.
Dissertation proposal. The requirement of a dissertation proposal is at the discretion of the student’s dissertation chair. In the dissertation proposal, the student identifies an issue for dissertation research. The proposal should provide relevant background on the topic and should defend the originality and research contribution of the proposed work. It is reviewed by the student’s committee and evaluated during the proposal defense. The defense may be concurrent with the candidacy paper presentation.
Risk Analysis and Decision Making
To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, the student must (1) fulfill the core course requirements described below; (2) pass a written qualifying exam that covers the material in the first-year core courses; (3) complete the requirements of one of three tracks: decision analysis, quantitative finance, or risk management; and (4) fulfill the oral dissertation proposal defense requirement described below.
First-year core courses. During the first year of graduate study, the student must take five core courses: Economics 387L (Topic 1: Microeconomics I), Mathematics 384C, 384D, and 394C (Topic: Stochastic Processes and Applications), and Operations Management 380 (Topic 14: Optimization). The student must earn a grade of at least B in each course and a grade point average in the five courses of at least 3.50. A well-prepared student may seek to fulfill the core course requirement by earning satisfactory grades on the final examinations for some of these courses rather than by registering for them. In rare circumstances, a student may receive a waiver for a core course without taking the final exam. These circumstances are determined by the faculty for the concentration and the graduate adviser. In either case, the student does not receive graduate credit for the course, the grade is not counted toward the required average, and the subject matter of the course must be included in the qualifying exam.
Written qualifying examination. At the end of his or her second semester in the program, after satisfying the first-year core course requirements above, the student must pass a written qualifying exam that covers material from the five core courses. If the student does not pass the exam on the first attempt, he or she may take it again. The student may not take the exam more than twice.
Second-year core courses. During the second year of graduate study, the student must take the remaining four core courses: Economics 387L (Topic 27: Introduction to Game Theory), 392M (Topic 2: Econometrics I), Finance 395 (Topic 3: Asset Pricing Theory), and Risk Management 391 (Topic: Mathematics in Finance). The student must earn a grade of at least B in each course and a grade point average in the four courses of at least 3.50.
Track requirements. Students in the decision analysis or risk management track must complete three courses from a list approved by their adviser. Students in the quantitative finance track must complete five courses from such a list.
Oral dissertation proposal defense. After satisfying the requirements above, and within thirty-six months of entering the program, the student must pass an oral dissertation proposal defense. The proposal defense consists of a presentation before the student’s dissertation committee, followed by a question period. The presentation is open to all interested parties. The questions during this session are directed toward clarifying the presentation and determining whether the student has a solid grasp of the basic material needed for research in his or her specialization. The student passes the proposal defense by obtaining a positive vote from at least four of the five faculty members on the dissertation committee.
Supply Chain and Operations Management
To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree in this concentration, the student must (1) fulfill the core course requirements described below; (2) pass a written qualifying exam that covers the material from the first-year core courses; (3) fulfill the minor field requirement; and (4) pass the research paper and comprehensive exam requirement described below.
Core courses. The student must complete the following courses in the first two years. The student must earn a grade of at least B in each course and a grade point average in the required courses of at least 3.50.
- The following core methodology courses, to be completed in the first year of the program: Economics 387L (Topic 1: Microeconomics I), Operations Research and Industrial Engineering 390R (Topic 5: Applied Stochastic Processes), and 391Q (Topic 5: Linear Programming).
- Core contextual courses: At least three courses on the theory of supply chain and operations management, dealing with topics such as supply chain optimization models, supply chain economic models, stochastic models/inventory theory, and product development.
- At least three advanced graduate courses from the following fields: (a) optimization, including courses such as Operations Management 380C (Topic 3: Network Optimization), Operations Research and Industrial Engineering 391Q (Topic 1: Nonlinear Programming), 391Q (Topic 4: Integer Programming), and 391Q (Topic 10: Stochastic Optimization); (b) stochastic processes, including courses such as Operations Research and Industrial Engineering 390R (Topic 8: Queueing Theory) and 390R (Topic 11: Advanced Stochastic Processes); (c) economics, including courses such as Economics 387L (Topic 3: Microeconomics II), 387L (Topic 27: Introduction to Game Theory), and 393; and (d) statistics. At least one of the three advanced graduate courses must be from the statistics group.
Written qualifying examination. After completing the three first-year core methodology courses described above, the student must pass a written qualifying exam that covers material from these courses.
Minor field. Students are also required to take at least two courses in a minor field other than supply chain and operations management before entering candidacy.
Research paper and comprehensive examination. By the end of the second year, the student must complete a research paper under the guidance of an adviser and must pass written and oral comprehensive exams. The oral exam consists of the student’s presentation of his or her research, followed by questions from committee members.
For More Information
Campus address: College of Business Administration Building (CBA) 5.202, phone (512) 471-3322, fax (512) 471-0587; campus mail code: B6500
Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Program, Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management, 1 University Station B6500, Austin TX 78712
E-mail: iromphd@mccombs.utexas.edu