Cowboys and Indians (aka, The Decision)

Before the madness that is selecting a PhD program become a reality, I had grand visions of doing something really fun and creative to share my choice with everyone. My initial idea was to do a spin-off of Lebron James and “The Decision”. Unfortunately, Jeremy Schapp wouldn’t return my phone calls requesting that he host the event. Also, I was having trouble lining up sponsors for a one-hour special and couldn’t get a network interested in the idea of devoting prime air time to discuss where I would be taking my talents this Fall.

Then, the choice became really hard and I started devoting constant brain power to actually making the decision, with no thought whatsoever being spent on how to convey the news. So, you are stuck with a plain ole blog post and maybe a few witty comments.

***

If you’re good at picking up subtle messages, you may have noticed from the title (featuring the mascots of two of the four institutions) that the choice came down to Oklahoma State and Florida State. The brief flirtation from Texas A&M ended this morning with an email at 9:45 AM, officially rejecting me. While I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to visit with them and officially interview, making it to the handful of candidates under consideration was a great honor. Most of the sports world scoffs at the idea of “moral victories”, but I’ve learned that there is such a thing. In fact, in the spirit of March Madness I offer an NCAA tournament analogy: staying alive in the applicant pool to the end at places like Chapel Hill and A&M is (for me) the equivalent of a 6 seed making the Final Four. Those are good teams that just didn’t have all the pieces, but still made a nice run at the title. Similarly, my GMAT score was below my expectations, but I put what I had together and made a strong run. While I’m disappointed, I’m not disheartened. I quieted my self-doubt and showed myself that I belong.

Georgia State and Auburn truthfully fell to the wayside shortly after visits concluded. Both had some impressive things to offer and unique program elements, but the placements were more impressive at OSU and FSU. Georgia State’s small size was also a factor and I got along better with key faculty at OSU and FSU than I did at Auburn.

When I relayed this all to my best friend, he immediately shot back an email that said:

Well, have you thought whether you wanted to be a cowboy or indian?

An interesting dichotomy, to say the least. I thought about the psychological indicators of preferring the characteristics of one mascot over its rival (historical, not collegiate). Then, I remembered that I actually had to make a REAL decision, not a theoretical one and decided to move on to my analysis of actual characteristics.

I won’t rehash the entire back and forth between me and the inner circle and my mentors, but will attempt to hit the highlights of my thought process and then show you where I landed.

Placements

Where you get your doctorate matters a great deal. Despite the fact that the best candidates don’t always end up at the same handful of institutions, the job placement process has perpetuated this perception. That said, better placements lead to better students, and better students lead to even better placements. So, there is somewhat of a truth to the self-fulfilling prophesy. Oklahoma State has had its most recent placements at Clemson and University of Georgia. Florida State has had its most recent placements at West Virginia and University of Arkansas. Despite what you may think about the geographic and athletic make-ups of those schools, they all have very good Management departments and are considered strong placements for Assistant Professors. For the record, Arkansas is the top Organizational Behavior group of those schools and one of the fastest growing (in terms of reputation and productivity) departments in the country. Yeah, I was shocked, too.

Bottom line, either program should give me a strong opportunity for a good first job out of doctoral work.

Faculty

Who you work with is almost as important, if not equally as important, as where you attend. Faculty with stronger publication records, national prominence, and experience at other institutions can open a lot of doors for you. Unfortunately, you can’t determine who will be your advisor before you get there (usually) or who you will really click with during research projects. Campus visits and interviews give you an idea, but the data you have is so limited it would be like trying to select a spouse after a speed dating event.

Oklahoma State has a young, energetic, and largely un-tenured faculty in Organizational Behavior. I got along with all of them really well and did not meet anyone I thought would be a struggle to work with. The pros to this are that they are hungry and will be aggressively publishing in top journals to try to secure tenure. More projects gives doctoral students more opportunities. The cons are that younger faculty are less proven and lack the national acclaim to carry significant weight when you hit the job market. Also, if you want to stray outside of a traditional research area, faculty without tenure are less likely to take the risk with you.

Florida State has more senior Organizational Behavior faculty and have one of the most prolific publishers of the last generation. I have dubbed him Yoda (the Force is strong in that one). I got along with several FSU faculty very well, but a couple had quirks that may not make us the most compatible (the inverse is also true, I realize). The pros of senior faculty are that you know what you’re getting (you can see their record pretty easily) and you might be able to talk them into exploring new areas with you (tenure gives greater latitude for risk-taking). The cons are that you don’t know how long you’re going to have them. They could retire before you graduate and leave you with an unfinished dissertation without the sponsor you really want/need. We call that being up Poop Creek, sans paddle. Not a comfy place for a doctoral student.

Bottom line, it came down to potential versus experience. More on this later

Students

As mentioned discussing good placements, top students can be an indicator of increasingly prominent placements. Not a guaranteed predictor, but one that should not be ignored. Oklahoma State had good students. Florida State had better students.

Bottom line, it isn’t a determining factor, but I identified more (on intellectual and personality levels) with the FSU crowd.

Location

Neither city has the offerings of Atlanta, but Tallahassee provides significantly more to do than Stillwater. Pros are obvious; I wouldn’t be bored. Cons are also obvious; I might be more distracted. In truth, I was torn on this criterion as much as I was on the faculty. While it would be great to have more to do, I was really worried about being distracted and looking for a sabbatical of sorts over the next four years. Adding to the dynamic is the presence of family in the Sunshine State. To some, this would make the decision obvious, but not for me, the self-proclaimed Black Sheep in a number of areas. It may not surprise some of you to learn that I was ready be pack up the truck and head a 1,000 miles away, if only in the spirit of being different. Don’t judge me; it’s the part of me I wrestle with most.

Bottom line, my inner circle felt the need to remind me that the over 30 crowd in Stillwater might leave me bored to tears, forcing me deeper into my research and potentially causing burnout. This was the biggest source of external (to me) debate.

Facing My Fears

Not surprisingly, all this thought and analysis ended up with me creating scenarios and visions in my head based on my own perceptions, rather than reality. As I neared the end of the decision-making process, I realized I was about to base my decision on something that no one should ever place much weight on: assumptions.

I assumed that Yoda would retire soon. Complicating matters, he is married to another Organizational Behavior faculty member. If I lost him, I’d most likely lose her, too. That scared the crap out of me. I also assumed that I wouldn’t be able to follow my own research passions at FSU (part of this assumption was based on innuendo from other programs). As a “closet control freak” who likes to do things his way, that also scared the crap out of me. When I realized that these were going to be my determining factors, I decided I needed to clear the air surrounding the two fears. I set up a call with Yoda to ask him, point blank, when he planned to retire. I also set up a call with the program director and a fourth year student to ask about the ability to chase research rabbits in an area outside current faculty expertise (I wanted both sides of the story).

The results: Yoda and his wife plan to be there for at least 10 more years. He was not offended by my inquiry, was glad to hear how thoroughly I was thinking through the decision, and added:

“If you do decide to come here and are still in the program when I retire, you and I are going to need to have a SERIOUS discussion.”

~Yoda (not the real one)

The fourth year student assured me that, provided I could sufficiently ground my idea, I would be able to chase my mental rabbits. The program director echoed that sentiment and follow-up our call with an email of 8 recent dissertations outside the primary research areas of existing faculty.

The Choice

I took all of the above information and some other factors I haven’t discussed here and went through everything one more time. I made a tentative decision and decided to sleep on it. The next day, I woke up calm and was ready to declare the choice made.

FEAR THE SPEAR, BABY!

I would become an Indian.

In the end, the presence of Yoda, quality of life, challenge, and professional development swayed the decision. As much fun as it would have been to pack up and move across the country, I could not ignore the opportunity to learn from Yoda. On top of that, I realized what quality of life meant to me when I walked out of Fresh Market at the end of the decision process. I am sort of a food snob. I went home and Googled “Stillwater groceries”. Here are the top results:

1. Wal-Mart Supercenter

2. IGA

3. Git ‘n Galup

Yes, the third name in the list is the convenience store attached to a Texaco station. Probably not going to find quality sushi and fresh cuts of beef there.

Further pushing the needle to FSU was the caliber of the current students. I just felt I would be pushed harder there. The culture is the opposite of competitive, but even working with stronger people I know I will get better. The final straw was a reminder (from the fourth year student) of FSU’s professional development commitment. Research productivity is king, but the faculty there know that there are some little things that go a long way to creating success in a first job. So, they spend a lot of time making sure their graduates have more than the makings of a research program when they get hooded. As the fourth year put it,

“Socialization to academia can be difficult. FSU goes above and beyond making sure that we are ready to make the transition”.

Epilogue

I really can’t believe that this part of the process is over. At times over the past four months, it’s felt almost like chasing the sun as it sets on the horizon. I couldn’t imagine what I would feel like. It’s early yet, and I’ll revisit this again when things are settled, but for now I feel a great source of confidence. Some predicted relief, but it’s not really like that. Through the stress, I was able to see that God had given me the freedom to choose and that He would bless me wherever I wound up. Once I made that realization, I had the sense of relief I needed. Now, I just feel confident in my decision and am ready for the next part of the journey.

To that end, there is much more to be told in this story. Thanks to all of you for being a part of it up to now; I hope you’ll continue to keep following, because I don’t plan to stop writing any time soon.

III

So close, but…

I made a decision. Then, I talked myself out of my decision and did a 180. After a week of discussions, email exchanges, phone calls, prayer, and hand wringing, I made a different decision. Another 180. Right back to where I started. I sent an email to one of my mentors, summarizing my thoughts on each program and my pending decision. Then, everything really changed and now I’m sort of on hold.That’s the short version. If you’re into details, read on.

***

At the conclusion of all of my visits, I had a virtual tie between two programs. I was really leaning one way, but then started rationalizing and second-guessing and I changed my mind. At that point, I had enough explanation behind the decision to take it to my inner circle of advisors for outside comment. Their task was simple: listen to what I say and don’t say about where I am going and poke holes in it; challenge me based on what you know about me and what I’m setting out to do. So, they did.

This crew of five come from a variety of perspectives, including how they know me and what phases of my life they’ve been witness to. I can’t thank them enough for their place in this process. What I love most about this group is that they don’t hold back. They called me on every point they should have and were patient with me as a slogged through reasoning and gut feeling, followed up with more due diligence, and came out on the other side with yet another answer.

So, on Thursday evening I had my decision finalized. I sent one of my mentors a summary email with my program rankings and went to bed. The plan was to sit on the decision over the weekend, and pull the trigger on Monday or Tuesday, depending on how I felt.

At 3:30 AM, I woke up. It happens a lot, especially when something is on my mind. I’ll typically think for a bit, surf the internet on the iPhone, and work my way back to sleep. Unfortunately, when I picked up the phone this time I saw an email from aforementioned mentor. Turns out she was in the Crown Room of the Tokyo airport, en route to Singapore, with cell phone data service. Just my luck. Why? Because while I ranked the schools 1, 2, 3, and 4 she came back with “No, no, no. It’s 2, 3, 1, and 4.” That was not what I was counting on.

In addition to her reasoning, she suggested I speak to another faculty member at one institution before I finalized a decision and that I check in with another program before I committed to anything. That program was Texas A&M. They’ve been pretty high on my list from the beginning and it would be an honor to be considered for a spot there. Mentor (and several others) have insisted from the beginning that it was a great fit for me, even when I was higher on Michigan, Northwestern, and Chapel Hill. I’d been in contact with the director at A&M and received the following information:

Nice to hear from you.

We did make some initial offers already, but the process is far from over.

You are definitely one of those folks that caught the eye of our doctoral program committee.

I’ll let you know as soon as possible if we move in the direction of an interview/offer for you.

Take care,

While I had not been officially “wait-listed”, I got the feeling I had been virtually wait-listed. So, I conceded that my globe-trotting mentor was at least right about A&M and decided to reach out again before making the decision final. Crafting the email was a little stressful. I didn’t want to be “that guy” that pestered his way out of contention, but I needed to know where I stood. The clock was ticking on other offers. My email to the A&M director went out just after lunch on Friday. Then, I contacted the director of another program, letting him know my time line. I contacted the director of my (current) top choice to address some of the concerns that my mentor raised and to confirm some of my perceptions. I reached out to another faculty member at another school to ask him to objectively weigh in. I emailed a 4th year doctoral student. So much for my relaxing Friday.

I’ll spare you all the details of the various dialogues and cut to the chase. My last-minute surge of data gathering confirmed my choice of the current offers, but it also potentially placed Texas A&M squarely in the mix. A&M has two spots open in my dissertation area for this year. Two offers have been made. One has been accepted. The open offer is supposed to make a decision early this week. A&M has not said how many people would be competing for the spot, should it be declined; however, they have indicated that I am in the running for it. Given that time was running out on my other offers, this was a potential source of stress, except…

Apparently, there is a Council of Graduate schools that covers 95% of all doctoral granting institutions in the United States. All of my offering schools are members. Technically, this means that they have all agreed to a resolution that states they will not require a student to accept or decline an offer prior to April 15th. The intent is to allow candidates to entertain multiple offers without the added pressure of one institution attempting to secure an early decision with a little extra cash.

I like this resolution, but I also understand how it can hurt the second tier programs. Big 10, Ivy League schools, A&M, and Chapel Hill are going to get the top candidates, no matter what. The latent demand for spots there is incredible. After that tier, you have a whole lot of really good state schools that are now competing for top talent (that doesn’t get one for the handful of spots in the big leagues). So, it’s their rational goal to lock up their favorite candidates as soon as possible. Otherwise, should a top candidate string them along (even if they’re honest about it) and decline at the last minute, the remaining talent pool is likely to be far weaker, as a lot of the “left-over” top students could have accepted offers elsewhere during the process. Given that incoming cohorts range in size from two to four students, the change in the make-up of a class could vary wildly for these schools.

Given this knowledge, I plan to inform my top school that I am ready to decline all offers except theirs, but I am not ready to accept their offer until I see how things progress with A&M. If pushed, I have the resolution card to play, but that’s not my preferred method of starting the relationship with that school, should I not end up at A&M. If the conversation goes well, I will inform the remaining schools that I am declining their offer so that they can move on. If it doesn’t go well, I suppose my stress level will begin to rise. Again.

III

Auburn Vist Re-Cap

This post should have come before the Offers piece, but such has been my world of late. The day after my Georgia State interviews, I woke up early and headed down to the Plains to see my alma mater, see one of my favorite professors of all time, and see if Auburn would be a good fit for doctoral work.

LOCATION

As is the case with Atlanta and Georgia State, I am equally familiar with Auburn. Campus and the surrounding town have changed a lot in the past 9 years, but I can still find my way around and the familiarity of being there provides a nice sense of peace. Most of my favorite restaurants are there (and I managed to eat a pre-interview breakfast at one), and the people just could not be any more friendly. Spending another 4 years at Auburn would be akin to slipping on a favorite old pair of jeans. It just feels comfortable.

FACULTY

One of my favorite professors of all time, and the one who started my down the academic journey in the direction of management, is the department head at Auburn. I began the day with her and am thankful to them for allowing me to set the tone for the day by warming up with her. She gave me a little run-down on the folks I’d be meeting and we discussed some particulars of the program.

The rest of the faculty meetings really bounced back and forth between average and very good. The pair of professors that took me to lunch made me feel completely at home. We ate at 11:00 AM, by the way. These two are in their late 60s and are a riot. One of them wears a long sleeve t-shirt, shorts, and hiking shoes every day. Tenure is a wonderful thing.

As great as they were, some of the others were the opposite. One was in a hurry to get to a meeting and just grilled me with rapid fire questions with a very aggressive and somewhat condescending tone. Another tried to seem interested, but might suffer from an enthusiasm deficiency. But, as soon as I would get discouraged by meetings like these, the pendulum would swing to the other side and I would have a great discussion with another pair about research topics and get great advice on beginning the academic journey.

Overall, there are several faculty there who could make good research partners and mentors and there is a healthy mix of tenured and and younger folks in the mix. Also, the tenured folks seem to still be aggressively pursuing research projects. The faculty, as a whole, seem very productive.

 

STUDENTS

My student meetings were almost as mixed as their faculty counterparts. My first set included four candidates in their first and second years and this group made me feel extremely welcomed and energized about getting into a program and forming some bonds with aspiring academics. But, as good as that group was, the second set was quite the opposite. Three of the four in this second group were reserved and not forth-coming. I had to work to get them to open up and only one of them seemed genuinely interested in whether I would end up at Auburn and committed to providing me insightful information to aid in my decision-making process.

 

PROGRAM

Auburn’s program is very entrepreneurial in nature. Students are not assigned to a faculty member for research purposes. Instead, they are expected to seek out faculty members working on topics that interest them. Also, students are expected to generate research ideas, bring them to faculty, and get help developing appropriate methodology and finding related literature. This approach allows students to pursue the topics they are most passionate about and creates an environment where the bold are more likely to succeed. On the downside, the lack of assigned partnerships could create a scenario where a student is not exposed to a variety of topics and methodologies in an applied setting.

Another unique feature of Auburn’s program is the elimination of traditional comprehensive exams. For those of you unfamiliar with doctoral education, these exams typically come during the summer after the second year when students are finished with course work. They cover everything, and I mean everything, about the field, usually last for two full 8-hour days, are essay based, and allow no reference material. It’s been described to me as the worst thing I will ever go through and already has my stomach in knots. It is not uncommon for preparation for these exams to begin months in advance of the test dates.

Several years ago, Auburn faculty realized that their candidates were virtually worthless for six weeks after exams while trying to clear their heads from the comp experience. Combine that with six to eight weeks of preparation time and you get a total of two to three months of lost research time. This dead period was impacting the number of projects students were getting into publication and ultimately hurting graduates as they entered the job market. So, the Auburn faculty replaced the two test days with two empirical research papers. Each candidate would select two faculty members, develop a research topic, collect data, and generate an article suitable for publication. The faculty would act as guides and as primary reviewers, before the articles were sent to journals. There were three goals is mind. 1) Eliminate the dead period caused by comps with activities equivalent in rigor but more applicable to the life of a researcher. 2) Give the student the opportunity to work on a few papers that could lead into the dissertation, creating  a “head start” of sorts. 3) Provide the opportunity for the students to have increased opportunities for publication prior to graduation, ultimately making them more competitive when they enter the job market.

I’ve researched almost 30 programs during this process and have yet to find any other institution that has adopted this policy. I know that there is some benefit to traditional comps – the knowledge base developed by the intense study of the foundational literature in the field – but I really like the idea of being dedicated to constant productivity over  tradition and ritual. In some ways, it seems that comps have become more like hazing and similar rites of passage for fraternities and other groups.

SUMMARY

The comfort of the town and the institution are very attractive, as is the ability to chase my own ideas. The papers for comps approach is clearly a distinguishing factor. But, the mix of faculty and student vibes I received make it far form a slam dunk. Plus, knowing that I would like to have the option of becoming Auburn faculty one day means that I’m better suited to go elsewhere for doctoral studies. Thus, Auburn will need to be a clear favorite during the review process for me to forgo the opportunity to return to the Plains immediately after graduation.

III

Offers In (updated)

I apologize for post overload this weekend, but a week filled with travel and visits meant a lot of stuff to write and update on. Then, at the end of the week the offers started coming in and I want to try to show a view into the process by sharing what’s on the table prior to making the decision. So, if you’re tired of hearing from me, don’t worry. I’ll likely need a break from all the drama soon. Plus, come August I’ll be drowning in journal articles and will  have much less to share…or at least much less to share that is interesting to the general public.

My first offer for doctoral work arrived at 2:01 AM eastern time, Thursday night/Friday morning. I was somewhat shocked, expecting not to hear anything until Friday and was actually hoping to just take the day off from thinking PhD stuff. But, I woke up in the midst of an intense rainstorm and (like the addict that I am) rolled over to check my phone and discovered that Oklahoma State University had struck first. Less than 14 hours later, Georgia State took the the next shot, making their offer. Florida State’s offer came in on 3/2.

Here’s how things break down:

Oklahoma State

They have an average base stipend, but add in a summer teaching stipend, waive 15 of 18 credits per year, waive out of state tuition for the remaining credits, add health care coverage, and include a department-funded supplemental stipend. In my offer was the note that my supplemental stipend was the largest the department had ever awarded. I include this not to flash arrogance, but rather to display their commitment to me. It is clear from this move, and subsequent emails, that they really want me to be there. As analytical as I am, I am still susceptible to psychological triggers and I will admit that it makes me feel good to be wanted. Here are some fun quotes from the email exchange:

We seriously don’t want to lose you to a “peer institution.”  I understand if it’s UNC or Wisconsin.

We’re going to have a very strong group and it will be a research-focused environment where you’ll get a lot of faculty attention and deep training.  If there’s anything we can do to make you say yes, do not hesitate to ask.

If it comes down to personal preferences, there’s obviously nothing I can do.  But I would gladly join in a battle if it’s between some of those peer schools like Auburn or Florida State.

The only downside of the offer is their desire for me to make a decision within the week. I managed to secure a few extra days to allow other offers to arrive, and am not sure how my emotional stability will be this week. On the bright side, it appears that the deadline will prevent me from engaging in “paralysis by analysis” and working myself into too much of a frenzy.

Georgia State

They offer a stipend competitive to what Oklahoma State provides, minus the moving allowance. I also think their health care costs might be more, but again they offer the 5th year of funding without making a candidate jump through too many hoops. And, they waive all tuition, leaving me only responsible for the university fees.

The director was far less direct than her counterpart at Oklahoma State, but she made it clear that they wanted me there. Also, the speed at which they moved in the process seems to indicate that they wanted to act quickly to avoid missing an opportunity to get me there.

Interestingly, they also want a decision within the week. If you are looking for things to pray for, my sanity should be on that list. I’m likely to be uber-distracted this week so try to pray for those on the Atlanta-area roadways, too, in case I get overly spacey while behind the wheel.

Florida State

The base stipend is higher than both Oklahoma State and Georgia State. Not much higher, and likely not high enough that OSU wouldn’t match it. FSU doesn’t cover all of health care, but gives a health care subsidy that covers about 40% of the premium costs. There is no moving allowance, but a 5th year of funding is possible, depending on how research is progressing.

They were also very complimentary over the phone and were curious who the competing schools were. They also wanted to know how their funding package stacked up against the competition. They led me to believe that I was their first offer and that two more offers would be made (possibly another if I were to decline).

Auburn

They have not made an official offer, but they have made it very clear that they want me there. They have also passed word to me through the head of the management department that they are worried I won’t seriously consider them and are scrapping for extra funds from the dean to try to make the offer more competitive. When I left campus on Thursday, they told me to call them if I needed the offer before March 3rd.

Chapel Hill

I did not make the final 6 there, but am honored to have made it into the top 15. Had I received an offer here, it would have been nearly impossible to say no. Even the directors at other programs were telling me not to pass that opportunity. Given that, being strongly considered by UNC is a huge validation of my application package.

***

As much as Georgia State has surprised me, it’s really becoming a 2-horse race between Oklahoma State and Florida State. Stress level is high right now and I’m trying to cram extra due diligence in. I had a call with OSU faculty on Monday and have traded several emails with them and their students. I have a call set up with FSU faculty tomorrow and will be emailing their students as well.

I need Advil.

III

Georgia State Visit Recap

While enduring the “miracle” of modern air travel from Oklahoma to Atlanta via Chicago, I received a voice mail from Georgia State’s PhD director saying she’d like to discuss my application. She gave me her cell phone and suggested I could call her at any time, but I made the decision not to give her a ring during my 1:00 AM cab ride back to the north side. We did speak the following day and she managed to pull together a visit and interview session the following afternoon. What follows is the same framework for the previous to re-caps.

LOCATION

As much as I promised never to be considered an Atlantan, I am one. I’ve been here for 9 years, done professional tours of duty in the suburbs and in the city, done church inside and outside the perimeter, and did grad school deep within the concrete jungle at GSU from 2005 to 2007. So, I’m intimately familiar with the surroundings and staying here for doctoral work would present a different set of geographic questions. Mainly, do I stay put in my suburban home and take the train down every day or do I pick up and move in town where the rest of my life is.

There are also other things to consider: do I need to take this opportunity to go somewhere new, start over, and abandon distractions (especially those present in such a large city). On the other side, staying means an in tact network and support structure and less to get used to prior to putting my brain through the intensity of the next few years.

FACULTY

The faculty is small, but percentage-wise is actually very well known. One professor is actually referred to as a rock star (no joke) within our field, is constantly sought out at conferences, chairs a prestigious journal editorial board, and shows no signs of slowing down his research program. The department head has seen a slight drop in productivity during his administrative tenure (to be expected), but over a 10 year period before accepting that role he was the most-published academic in one of the top psychology journals. There are two other talented researchers who also happen to be very nice people, and the department has just scored a big hit by getting someone from Michigan State to come down to join the ranks.

The size of the faculty is somewhat deceiving, because this is the research portion of the faculty. Most of them focus the bulk of their time on research, mentoring doctoral students, and a few graduate classes. There is a much larger faculty contingent that handles the bulk of the department’s teaching load.

From a personality perspective, two of the four primary faculty in the organizational behavior section would be my preference to work with, and a third would be good from a subject matter standpoint but not the best personality match.

STUDENTS

Georgia State has a very small program, and I had lunch with all four current students. There were two others, but one dropped out and the other was asked to leave because of some integrity issues. The remaining students were very kind and open about the program, though two of them were international and definitely have difficulty with the English language. At times, I was unsure whether I couldn’t understand them or whether they had not understood the question I posed. Needless to say, I spent the bulk of the time interacting with the two American students.

Three of the four were just two days away from their comprehensive exams, so their brains were a little fried and the energy level may have been a little lacking. Still, they were very welcoming and seemed excited and ready to add a couple more students to their ranks.

PROGRAM

Similar to the culture of the other programs I’ve visited, GSU prefers to admit a very small number of students they think will be successful and collaborative. They demand a great deal from the candidates, but are also committed to investing in them and making them successful. They make it clear that the goal is not to wash out those that come in, but rather to use the learning crucible to produce the next generation of renowned scholars.

The methods and theory training are similar to that of most other programs, with the exception that they add a few courses along the way, making the likelihood of completion in four years unlikely. That said, they do not limit funding to four years, eliminating some pressure from the candidates.

The program has just been re-started/ramped up in the past few years and doesn’t have a lot to judge in terms of placements. The few that have graduated in recent years have landed positions at solid research institutions, and the reputation of the faculty is no doubt helpful when entering the job market. In fact, the “rock star” researcher has made it clear that having a PhD program at GSU was important to them because they are dedicated to mentoring and producing a generation of productive academics, not because they needed an ego boost or cheap labor.

SUMMARY

I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw and heard and am thankful that the opportunity to visit came together so quickly. There seems to be an opportunity to learn good solid research skills and to present and pursue ones own ideas, which is attractive. The small size is both a major plus and minus, though and I’m not sure what side of that fence I will fall on during the decision process.

III