Graduate Programs Office
Business Leadership Building, Room 201

Mailing address:
1155 Union Circle #311160
Denton, TX 76203-5017
940-369-8977

E-mail: mbacob@unt.edu
Web site: www.cob.unt.edu/programs/masters

Marilyn Wiley, Dean

Terry Pohlen, Associate Dean
Tracy Dietz, Associate Dean
Audhesh Paswan, Associate Dean

Mission

To prepare global business leaders and scholars in an intellectually stimulating and engaging community through preeminent teaching, research, and service.

Vision

To be an agile institution and to transcend national and international standards of excellence in research and education.

The G. Brint Ryan College of Business offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Business Administration with a major in business administration and the Doctor of Philosophy with a major in business.

Departments in the college offer graduate programs leading to the Master of Science with majors in accounting, finance, business analytics and taxation.

Concentrations at the master’s level are available in business analytics, business studies, strategic management, health services management, organizational behavior and human resource management, marketing, marketing analytics, logistics and supply chain management, finance, information technology, and energy.

Concentrations at the doctoral level are available in accounting, business computer information systems, business information assurance, finance, logistics systems, management, marketing and management science.

The college is accredited by the AACSB International — The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (777 South Harbour Island Blvd., Suite 750, Tampa, FL 33602; 813-769-6500) at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The Department of Accounting holds professional accreditation by the AACSB International — The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Responding to a great demand by people employed in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Denton area, the College of Business inaugurated an evening schedule of graduate classes in 1960. Since that time, individuals employed on a full-time basis have been able to earn Master of Business Administration or Master of Science degrees by scheduling classes entirely in the evenings. Courses are also available in the afternoon and online. The college offers two programs, strategic management and organizational behavior and human resource management, that are offered 100 percent online in an accelerated 8-week format.

For further information about classes, contact the College of Business (CoB) Graduate Programs Office.

Admission requirements

Admission deadlines

Before being admitted to either a master’s or a doctoral program in the College of Business, the applicant must meet the requirements for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School.  U.S. citizens and permanent residents submit the application, application fee and official transcripts to the Toulouse Graduate School. International applicants submit materials to the Toulouse Graduate School.

All MBA/MS students seeking on-time registration must submit application materials according to the dates specified by the Toulouse Graduate School. PhD candidates must submit application materials by April 1 to be considered for the following fall.

• Fall – July 15
• Spring – November 15
• Summer (all sessions) – April 15

Criteria for admission to master’s degree programs

In the determination of an applicant’s eligibility for admission to the College of Business for the MBA/MS degree, the following measures are of critical importance.

1. Overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) or GPA on approximately the last 60 semester hours. (The academic record must meet minimum requirements of the Toulouse Graduate School.)
2. A satisfactory score on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Scores more than five years old at the time of application for admission will not be considered.
3. Applicants whose native language is not English must either present a score of at least 550 (paper version) or 213 (computer version) or 80 (Internet version) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language or be a graduate of a college or university in the United States.
4. Additional admission materials as specified in the next section and on our web site at
   www.cob.unt.edu/programs/masters/admission.

Procedure for applying

Students may enter the master’s degree programs at the beginning of any term/semester or summer sessions. Applicants should complete the requirements listed below and meet the deadlines set forth in “Admission Deadlines” above. Students applying to programs taught in an accelerated format may also apply for October or March start dates.

1. Obtain admission to the university and the Toulouse Graduate School by filing the following items with the Toulouse Graduate School:
   1. complete official transcripts of college and university credits;
   2. online application for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School; and
   3. results of the Graduate Management Admission Test or Graduate Records Examination (three to four weeks for the test to be received by the Graduate School).

Information about the GMAT/GRE may be obtained from the Toulouse Graduate School or the CoB Graduate Programs Office. Undergraduate students who intend to enter a master’s degree program in the College of Business should take the GMAT or GRE in the final term/semester of the senior year. Students who hold an undergraduate degree and intend to enter a master’s degree program in the College of Business must file a GMAT or GRE score in sufficient time for the graduate admission application to be considered prior to the term/semester/session of intended first enrollment.

A waiver of the GMAT/GRE will be considered for applicants who have an earned doctoral or professional doctoral degree from a regionally accredited institution, or its equivalent. A waiver of the GMAT/GRE will be considered for applicants who have an earned master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution, or its equivalent, with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher on the master’s degree. Certain programs may have departmental admission requirements mandating submission of additional materials including standardized test scores.

A waiver of the GMAT/GRE will be granted for the MBA for students with a bachelor’s degree from UNT with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

A waiver of the GMAT/GRE will be considered for UNT Honors College graduates with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

A waiver of the GMAT/GRE will be granted for the Master of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Taxation programs for students with a bachelor’s degree (Accounting BS/MS or Accounting BBA) from UNT with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher.

Students with an undergraduate degree with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher from an AACSB accredited institution will also be eligible for a GMAT/GRE waiver for the MBA, subject to the approval of the Graduate Programs Office.

For the Master of Science degree in Accounting and Master of Science degree in Taxation, students with undergraduate business degrees with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher from AACSB accredited institutions will also be eligible for a GMAT waiver; subject to the approval of the department.

2. The following additional admission materials are submitted to the CoB Graduate Programs Office:
   1. essay – please share with the admissions committee any unique events, life experiences, and qualifications that you feel distinguish your candidacy and will add value to the class;
   2. two letters of recommendation (professional, not personal); and
   3. resume (work/academic experience).

Applications forwarded by the Toulouse Graduate School cannot be considered until the above information is submitted.

Applications and supporting documentation will be reviewed using a holistic approach by the CoB admission committee. The Graduate Programs Office will notify applicants of their status once the information has been reviewed. Applicants may also check the status by visiting my.unt.edu.

Students admitted under the graduate non-degree (GNDE) classification may take up to 12 hours of 5000-level business courses prior to admission in the MBA or MS programs. The 12 hours chosen may consist of the background courses or the 36 hours required of the MBA/MS degree. No additional 5000-level business courses may be taken prior to admission to a graduate degree program. See the graduate academic advisor for further information.

Comprehensive examination

Candidates in all business MBA degree programs are required to complete BUSI 5190 - Administrative Strategy , with a minimum grade of C for the course and a minimum grade of B for the comprehensive experience. Candidates in the MS programs will take a capstone course specified by the major. These courses must be taken during the student’s last term/semester in order to meet the comprehensive examination requirement of the College of Business and the Toulouse Graduate School. MBA in business studies (FLEX) students will also be required to complete the ETS Major Field Test during the semester in which BUSI 5190  is taken.

The CoB Graduate Programs Office can furnish information concerning the comprehensive examination.

Minimum academic standards for master’s students

The master’s programs in the College of Business require that a student maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (B) or better. The master’s program committee of the College of Business will recommend dismissal of a student from the master’s program if the student receives two course grades below C (for purposes of this rule, the lowest grade received in a course is used).

Master’s students may not graduate with more than two C’s in their program requirements, although a course may be repeated to raise a grade of C or less.

Master’s students whose academic performance falls below a cumulative 3.0 GPA on all graduate work attempted will be notified by the CoB Graduate Programs Office that they have been placed on academic probation. Probationary students will be blocked for registration purposes and must meet with a Graduate Programs Office advisor to have the block removed. Students who register for courses other than those permitted by advisement will be administratively withdrawn from the courses.

The probation status is removed when the student’s cumulative GPA on all graduate work attempted has been raised to 3.0 or better.

Students will remain on probation and be allowed to re-enroll for a subsequent term/semester as long as they achieve a minimum 3.0 GPA on all graduate work attempted during the term/semester even if their overall graduate GPA remains under 3.0.

Students on probation who fail to make a 3.0 GPA in graduate work attempted during a term/semester (fall, spring or summer) will be notified by the CoB Graduate Programs Office that they have been placed on academic suspension for one term/semester (fall, spring or summer) during which the student may not enroll at UNT.

Probationary students who have previously been placed on suspension will be notified by the CoB Graduate Programs Office that they have been terminated from the program should they fail to make a 3.0 GPA on all graduate work attempted during an academic term/semester (fall, spring or summer). A suspended student may reapply to a College of Business master’s program after a period of three years from the date of suspension.

Course work taken at another university by a student on suspension cannot be applied toward the degree program. See www.cob.unt.edu for additional policies and procedures.

Changing major or concentration

College of Business MBA/MS students are restricted to changing majors/concentrations no more than two times within the College of Business. This excludes changing from graduate non-degree seeking status, or from a major outside the CoB to a CoB major/concentration.

Teaching fellowships

Departmental chairpersons assign teaching assistantships and fellowships based on departmental needs.

College of Business Computing Center

College of Business Information and Learning Technologies Center

Terry Pohlen, Associate Dean

The Information and Learning Technologies Center of the College of Business is housed in the newly opened Business Leadership Building and comprises the Associate Dean for Technology and Operations, an IT manager, a lab manager, four IT specialists and an administrative coordinator. A technical support team of part-time student assistants aids the full-time staff in installations, troubleshooting, web development, and working with faculty and staff when problems or questions arise concerning software and/or hardware. More than 300 Dell Core 2 Quad desktop systems in the Business Leadership Building are networked together with a multi-node, high-availability cluster using multi-core dual Xeon blade servers. Each node has at least 4 gigabytes of memory and 4.5 terabytes of available storage in an external storage area network (SAN) disk array. Each of the desktop systems is configured with 2.66 GHz Core 2 Quad CPU, 250 gigabyte hard drive, 4 gigabyte memory, 22-inch widescreen flat-panel LCD monitor, DVD-RW drive, USB 2.0 connections, and gigabit network interfaces.

The College of Business provides half of the above systems in student computer labs conveniently located on Level 1 of the Business Leadership Building. They are open over 100 hours per week and staffed by 24 student lab monitors. These labs are divided into two major areas. The General Access Lab consists of more than 60 computers and is designed for the general business student who is required to use computers but may also be used by all UNT students. As an extension of the General Access Lab, a number of public access kiosks are provided on Level 0 of the Business Leadership Building for walk-up e-mail access and general web browsing. The Business Lab consists of more than 68 desktop computers and is designed for and limited to students taking College of Business courses. This lab includes course-related software for such courses as Introduction to Database Applications; Distributed Systems and Teleprocessing; Data Communications and Networking; Information Resource Management; Decision Support Systems; Visual Display; and Fundamentals of Information Technology Security. For team and group work, students can use their own notebook computers or check-out mobile thin clients to take to the Biz Café adjacent to the labs, 15 study rooms available by reservation or informal seating areas around the Business Leadership Building to access the college’s “Virtual Lab.” This virtual desktop environment provides remote access to all major College of Business applications. There are also several “Virtual Classrooms” utilizing this same virtual desktop environment for hands-on instruction when needed.

Professional Development Institute

Scott Belshaw, Executive Director

Since 1973, the Professional Development Institute (PDI) has provided education, information and training. By attending PDI programs, more than 500,000 professionals, managers and salespeople have gained tools and ideas that increase individual and company performance. PDI works with a diverse network of leading experts from around the world to provide solution- and results-oriented programs.

Working closely with experts in a variety of industries, PDI understands the critical issues and defines the educational needs of professionals within an organization. PDI works directly with clients to further specify and define the needs particular to the customer’s organization. Once needs have been determined, PDI develops and designs educational tools and training and works in conjunction with leading industry, academic and governmental experts globally to provide targeted results.

PDI assists employees in being more efficient and effective. Instructors and staff are in constant contact to ensure that programs address issues and help create solutions. Programs enable employees to immediately utilize the information and positively impact the bottom line.

Institute of Petroleum Accounting

Harvey Zimmerman, Director

The Institute of Petroleum Accounting is a unique organization funded primarily by companies in the petroleum and mining industries. The institute began operations in September 1980, with three principal objectives:

1. to carry out research and encourage others to carry out research in accounting, finance, taxation and economic problems of the extractive industries;
2. to disseminate information about research activities of the institute and about current developments in accounting, finance, taxation and economic aspects of the extractive industries; and
3. to encourage universities and colleges to become actively involved in educational programs related to the extractive industries

Research fellowships, up to $20,000 per year, are available to students involved in research in the extractive industries.

Beta Gamma Sigma

This national honorary society of business administration students was founded in 1913. The UNT chapter was established in 1962. The primary objective of Beta Gamma Sigma is to encourage and honor high academic achievement by students of business and management through chapters in all American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business accredited schools. Membership is a signal honor and is limited to outstanding students who show promise of success in the field of business and who rank in the upper 10 percent of their junior, senior or graduate class. More information may be obtained from the dean’s office in the College of Business.