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Headlines Recruiting the Next Ph.D.s Worried about the doctoral shortage? Consider a low-cost but highly effective program that encourages students to think about an academic career while they're still undergradu- ates. That's the goal of the Ph.D. Prep Program at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management in Provo, Utah. Officially launched in 2002, the program has been grafted onto the integrated BS-MAcc pro- gram in BYU's School of Accoun- tancy. Juniors in the program choose whether to pursue a bachelor's or a master's degree—and if they choose the master's, they can further enroll in the Ph.D. Prep program. During their senior and graduate years, they fill their electives with classes such as calculus, statistical methods, and econometrics; they also take a class on accounting research. Meanwhile, they are given fre- quent insight into the job of an academician. "We invite them to faculty research seminars, and we bring them in as TAs," says Kevin D. Stocks, director and W. Steve Albrecht Professor at the School of Accountancy. "Every time we talk about careers, we discuss the aca- demic option." Since the program started, about 20 students have entered every year. An average of eight or nine have gone on to enroll at Ph.D. programs in other schools, since BYU's accounting school does not have its own Ph.D. program. The more compelling statistic is that, once enrolled in a doctoral pro- gram, none of the students have dropped out. "Typical Ph.D. programs have an attrition rate of about 50 per- 10 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2006 dents, either —they need the same number of credits as their peers, they pay the same tuition, and they need not take the GMAT to enroll in the prep course. Since the program was instituted, cent," says Stocks. "We have that, but the weeding out hap- pens before they go." Not only is the program successful, it costs very little to run. Because the math, statistics, and economics courses already existed in other departments, the only new class the School of Accountancy needed to design was the one on academic research. There is no cost to stu- Doctoral Prize With the goal of encouraging excellence in management research, the Central and Eastern European Management Development Association (CEEMAN) and Emerald Group Publishing Limited are sponsoring a new prize in doctoral research. The winning entry will receive a cash prize worth $1,500 (about $1,780 in U.S. dol- lars), a certificate, and the prospect of publication in an Emerald journal. In addition, a number of "highly commended" awards will be bestowed. To be eligible, authors must address accelerating and improving management development in Central and Eastern Europe and be from a CEEMAN member institution. They also must have satis- fied doctoral award requirements between June 1, 2004, and June 1, 2006. All papers must be submitted by July 1. For more information, contact Jim Bowden at jbowden@emeraldinsight.com or visit www.emeraldinsight.com/awards and www.ceeman.org. 36 BYU students have graduated or are about to graduate from Ph.D. programs. In the past two years, the school has invited them all back to participate in an accounting research symposium, which has created a great deal of synergy between fac- ulty and past and present students. "We have a vested self-interest in getting our faculty to write with these students," says Stocks. "If we can get them back to campus, so much the better." The prep program has been adopted by other departments at BYU, and Stocks believes it could be duplicated easily by any school that has a master's program. The keys are to start early and take every oppor- tunity to discuss academic careers. "Talk about the lifestyle of a pro- fessor, what you like about it, what you don't like," says Stocks. "Discuss