Doctor of
Aviation Business Administration

The Doctor of Aviation Business Administration within the O’Maley College of Business is a unique program designed in response to demand from the aviation and aerospace industries for a specialized terminal degree. The mission of the program is to provide thought leadership in the Business of Flight by educating and launching the next generation of exceptional doctoral graduates who are empowered to provide impactful and innovative intellectual contributions to society. This multi-disciplinary program reaches across the various business administration disciplines to combine the expertise required in addressing the diverse needs of the aviation society for applied research intended to solve real-world issues.

Program Format and Duration

The program is designed to serve professionals in the aviation and aerospace industry who want to pursue their doctoral degrees online. The online modality of the program expands access to doctoral education and allows for a more diverse group of domestic and international students to cultivate specialized knowledge and research skills that increase their opportunities for career success. The program follows the academic calendar of the Daytona Beach campus with the fall, spring and summer C semesters. The students are expected to take six credit hours per semester.

The program curriculum is a balanced mixture of courses covering advanced research skills in aviation and aerospace, business administration, and academic and scholarly communication skills. To facilitate learner-to-learner and learner-to-faculty interaction, the program includes multiple residencies encompassing a series of sessions covering topics including aviation research methods, professional development, training workshops, business ethics, along networking opportunities.

The expected time for completing the program is between three to four years. 

Curriculum

The Doctoral program requires the completion of 62 credit hours of graduate study. 

Doctoral Residency (2 Credit Hours)

The doctoral students shall complete two residency programs. The residencies are approximately one week long and are offered at the Daytona Beach campus location.

Foundations of Business Administration (12 Credit Hours)

All doctoral students shall complete the following business foundation courses.

Research Skills in Aviation & Aerospace (12 Credit Hours)

All doctoral students must complete all of the following courses. These courses help the students with the analytical skills necessary for their research.

Doctoral Seminars (12 Credit Hours)

All doctoral students shall take four elective doctoral seminars.

Dissertation (24 credits)

All students need to conduct aviation business-related research, supervised by their dissertation advisors, leading to an original contribution to the knowledge in their field. The program’s primary focus is on applied research in the aviation and aerospace industries, resulting in meaningful contributions to practice.

Qualifying Examinations

Students are required to take and pass written qualifying examinations to demonstrate their ability to pursue the doctoral degree. Qualifying examinations are designed to evaluate students’ mastery of the fundamentals of aviation business administration that support their research endeavors. Participation in the qualifying examination requires a GPA of 3.0 or above in the course work. It is recommended that students take the qualifying exam within two semesters after completing their course work. Passing the qualifying examination will require that the student achieves a satisfactory score on each section. A student must pass the qualifying examination in not more than two attempts. A student who fails to achieve acceptable scores in all trials will be dismissed from the program at the end of that semester.

The qualifying examinations are developed and administered by the Daytona Beach David B. O’Maley College of Business faculty with subject matter expertise drawn from appropriate sources. A doctoral student who passes the qualifying examination is eligible to register for dissertation research credit and is classified as a doctoral candidate. The doctoral candidates are required to work with the Doctoral Program Coordinator to select a qualified dissertation advisor(s) and form their committee before taking any dissertation research credit.

Dissertation Advisor and Committee

Upon entry into the Doctor of Aviation Business Administration Program, the Doctoral Program Coordinator advises students on course selection and developing a plan of study.  Upon completion of the qualifying examination and elevation to candidacy status, candidates must select a qualified dissertation advisor(s) from the faculty of the David B. O’Maley College of Business in Daytona Beach.

Any appropriately qualified tenured or tenure-track faculty of the David B. O’Maley College of Business with a relevant terminal (doctoral) degree and expertise in a research area closely related to the candidate’s area of interest may serve as the dissertation advisor(s) for a doctoral candidate. The Doctoral Program Coordinator provides administration of the Advisor Process and grants final approval for those selected to be doctoral dissertation advisors. A student must work with their dissertation advisor(s) to form a proposed calendar of program events, milestones, and a dissertation committee, all of which receive final approval from the Doctoral Program Coordinator. The dissertation committee is composed of three appropriately qualified faculty members from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

If a student is involved in collaborative research with an outside institution or company, one qualified member from these entities may serve on the dissertation committee, in addition to the faculty members from the university. The student’s dissertation advisor(s) typically serves as the chair of the dissertation committee.

The doctoral candidates are expected to meet with their dissertation advisor(s) and committees once a semester at a time convenient to all parties.

Proposal Examinations

The purpose of the proposal examinations is to evaluate students’ readiness for conducting their proposed research. The proposal examinations assess the students’ ability to use their knowledge to perform high-quality, independent and creative research and assure their potentials for successful completion of their dissertation. The examining committee is composed of the student’s dissertation committee and the Doctoral Program Coordinator or a representative from the Dean of the David B. O’Maley College of Business at Daytona Beach. Doctoral candidates must take the proposal examination within one year after starting their dissertation.

The proposal examination consists of a written research proposal and an oral presentation made to the examining committee.  At least two weeks before the preliminary examination, the student must provide written copies of the research proposal to each of the members of the examining committee. The purpose of this proposal is for the student, with the guidance of the dissertation advisor(s), to define the focus of the research and to enable the examining committee to offer maximum assistance and advice to the student. The proposal should contain a clear statement of the proposed topic of aviation business research; a review of the literature relating to the problem; and an outline of the proposed methodology for a solution to the problem. The proposal also should include an estimated cost of needed resources; and a schedule that identifies key milestones and events for measuring the progress of the intended effort. The proposal examination evaluates the student’s readiness for completing the dissertation research. Students who fail to meet the expectation of the committee will be informed of the areas of weakness and given one additional opportunity to amend and correct their proposal. Candidates who fail to show improvements in the research proposal in their second trial will be dismissed from the program at the end of that semester.

Dissertation Defense

The purpose of the defense examination is to evaluate the student’s overall research effort and written dissertation to determine whether or not the candidate is qualified to receive a doctoral degree in Aviation Business Administration. At least one month before the defense, the student must provide written copies of the final draft of the dissertation to each member of the examining committee. The dissertation defense is the candidate’s oral presentation of the final work of the dissertation. There may be an additional representative from the Daytona Beach Campus Chief Academic Officer’s (CAO) office or an external subject matter expert present in the defense. During the defense presentation, the results presented in the dissertation may be formally challenged by the examining committee. The defense is administered by the student’s examining committee in accordance with the guidelines of the Daytona Beach David B. O’Maley College of Business and the University. The major areas of emphasis of this examination are the quality and originality of the candidate’s research and his/her knowledge and understanding of the general areas of study related to the field. The candidate’s dissertation advisor(s) or the Doctoral Program Coordinator may invite other members from inside or outside ERAU to attend the defense. It is expected that the students, at the minimum, cite one peer-reviewed journal and one conference presentation as the lead author in their defense disseminated from their research work.

Students who fail to pass their defense can be asked to re-work part of their dissertation and to re-defend the results or may be dismissed from the program. The candidate’s dissertation advisor(s) will coordinate any needed remediation resulting from a failed defense.

Annual Progress Review

The students should maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all classwork and adhere to all the university’s academic policies. After passing the qualification exam, the candidates must provide an annual progress report to the Doctoral Program Coordinator. The progress report summarizes the main accomplishments and progress in the previous year and identifies the work plan for the future. The progress should be signed by the candidate and his/her dissertation advisor(s). The progress report should be submitted before the end of the second week in December each year. The Doctoral Program Coordinator will review the progress of the doctoral candidate once a year. The purpose of the review is to ensure that candidates continue to make satisfactory progress toward their degree objectives. All major recommendations from this annual review will be forwarded to the candidate with an assessment of achievements and of areas where improvements are expected.

Dismissal Policy

Based on the recommendation from the Doctoral Program Committee, a student will be dismissed from the program if the overall GPA is less than 3.0 for two successive semesters. Also, a student will be dismissed from the program if they twice fail the qualifying exam, fail the preliminary examinations, fails to pass the final dissertation defense (after remediation attempts), or if the seven-year program time limit is exceeded.