• Description of Program
• Degree Requirements
• Special Opportunities
• Careers

Description of Program

The doctoral sport management program at Indiana University was founded in response to a growing demand for researchers and professors in sport management. This doctoral program has produced several scholars who are professors at universities across the United States and around the world from South Korea to Australia. The Ph.D. program is focused on developing in doctoral students the research, critical thinking, and teaching skills necessary for them to be successful in academia. Students in the doctoral program are generally interested in pursuing professorial or administrative careers in the academic field of sport management. The coursework in the Ph.D. program provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of sport management intended to build upon the each student’s interest and thorough foundation in sport. Through elective coursework and doctoral seminars taught by graduate sport management faculty members, the program allows flexibility for students to explore a wide variety of opportunities and interests within the field of sport management (i.e., business, communication, history). Admission into the program is highly competitive, and courses are research intensive. For more information about this program, please visit the program Webpage or contact the sport management doctoral program coordinator, Dr. Antonio Williams, at aw22@indiana.edu or the director of the sport management undergraduate and graduate programs, Dr. Paul M. Pedersen, at ppederse@indiana.edu.

Degree Requirements

Courses required for this degree are prescribed by an advisory committee for each individual student. Degree requirements include:

• A minimum of 90 graduate-level credits beyond the bachelor’s degree are required.
• A minimum 3.0 GPA is required for graduation.
• A minimum grade of C is required in each course used to satisfy the major, minor, and elective requirements of the course prescription.
• A minimum grade of B is required in each course used to satisfy the research skills requirement of the course prescription.

Common Prerequisite

All Ph.D. degree students in the School of Public Health-Bloomington are required to complete a basic, graduate-level statistics course, such as SPH-Q 501, Introduction to Statistics in Public Health (3 cr.). This course, or its equivalent from another Indiana University department or from another university, must be completed as a prerequisite to major course work. Credit for SPH-Q 501 or any statistics course at the same basic level, may not count toward a Ph.D. degree student’s 90 required credits. However, a student's faculty advisory committee may waive this prerequisite requirement upon successful completion of a more advanced, graduate-level, statistics course at Indiana University, or at another institution. At the discretion of the student's faculty advisory committee, credit for statistics courses, which are more advanced than SPH-Q 501, may count in the 90 required credits for the degree.

Common Requirements

All Ph.D. degree students in the School of Public Health-Bloomington are required to complete the following three requirements:

• SPH-X 590, Introduction to Research in Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation (3 cr.), or its equivalent. (Note: This course must be completed as a prerequisite to major course work.)
• SPH-X 505, Principles and Foundations of Public Health (3 cr.), or its equivalent. (Note: Students who have previously completed an MPH degree from an accredited school of public health, or accredited public health program, are exempt from this requirement. Students who are completing requirements concurrently for an M.P.H. degree and a Ph.D. degree are also exempt from this requirement.)
• SPH-E 651, Epidemiology (3 cr.), or its equivalent.

Common Course Prescription Components

The elements of the course prescription for all Ph.D. degree students in the School of Public Health are arranged as follows:

• Research Skills (9 credits minimum). A minimum of 9 credits of coursework providing required skills to conduct research, such as advanced courses in biostatistics. These credits count toward the 90 credits for the degree. Courses counted in this area require a minimum grade of B.
• Major Area of Study (30 credits minimum). A minimum of 30 credits in the major area of study. These courses must be taken within the School of Public Health-Bloomington. Courses transferred from previous graduate work outside the School of Public Health-Bloomington, if within the major area of study, can be used to fulfill the major areas of study requirement, contingent upon the committee’s approval.
• Minor Area of Study (9 credits minimum). A minimum of 9 credits of coursework in a designated area outside the department in which the major is being pursued.
• Electives (0 to 28 credits). Elective credits may range between 0 and 28. An optional second minor may be included in the elective credit hours.
• Dissertation (20 – 30 credits)

Special Opportunities

Doctoral students are selected to work on a myriad of ongoing research projects at the discretion of their program advisors. The doctoral students in the sport management program have a wide variety of interests and backgrounds (click on the "doctoral students" link to read more about the current students).

Careers

The Ph.D. in Sport Management prepares students for research and teaching careers in academia. Please click on this link to learn more about alumni of the program.