Defense Comptrollership Program Application
All DCP-selected students should download the Syracuse University application as an MS Word or PDF file. Follow steps 1-6 below for the complete application process.
Mail your completed application to:
Defense Programs (Brittany Taylor)
Whitman School of Management
721 University Avenue, Suite 420
Syracuse NY 13244-2450
If you have questions about the Syracuse University application for DCP enrollment, please contact Brittany Taylor, (315) 443-2898.
ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE DCP PROGRAM, YOU SHOULD BEGIN WORKING ON YOUR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY APPLICATION FOR ENROLLMENT. ALL APPLICATION MATERIAL WILL BE DUE Jan. 10, 2024, FOR CLASS 2025 APPLICANTS. (Please look below for detailed instructions to complete the application process).
If you have not been selected for the next DCP class, you should contact one of the following:
Civilian Personnel: See ASA(FM&C) Website
Active Military Personnel: Contact William Gregory, LTC
Reserve Personnel (USAR, ARNG); other Service Personnel; DOD and other federal employees: Contact your organization's comptroller.
Application Instructions
A complete application for graduate study at Syracuse University consists of the following:
1. Syracuse University Graduate Application Form. Please complete and scan and email it to the Defense Comptrollership Program. Your packet should include a signature on page 4. You must complete an Internal Admissions form for dual degree enrollment as part of the application process. Please put your name on line one and sign on line seven. We will fill in the remainder.
2. Official copies of your transcript will be sent electronically toBrittany Taylor. You can tell the school official to use an online service to send your official transcript directly to Brittany Taylor. If they cannot send them digitally, please request that they sign across the seal and mail it directly to the attention of Brittany Taylor/Defense Comptrollership Program at the address below. Transcripts should indicate the years of attendance; subjects studied each year and the grade earned in each.
3. Letters of Recommendation. At least two letters of recommendation are required for all Whitman School master's candidates. Recommendations should be obtained from those individuals who can speak to your qualifications for graduate study in management. While placement forms or personal letters are acceptable, they frequently provide less information than the committee desires. Please provide the email address of Brittany Taylor to the person making the recommendation. If they prefer to mail the recommendation letter please request they sign their signature across the seal and send it to Brittany Taylor at the address below.
4. GMAT Test. The result of your Graduate Management Admission Test is the only part of your application that you do not send directly to the Defense Comptrollership Program Office. Instead, you must request that the testing agency send it to the following:
Syracuse University
Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Defense Comptrollership Program/Suite 420
721 University Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13244-2450
Be sure to send your GMAT score to Defense Comptrollership Program code within Syracuse University's MBA choices.
If you have already taken your GMAT but still need to send the results to Syracuse University, call the testing agency and request the score be sent (a $25 processing fee applies after the examination date).
NOTE: A GMAT SCORE OF AT LEAST 500 IS REQUIRED. During the evaluation process, photocopies of the GMAT and college transcripts will be accepted; however, you must provide the original copies to be formally admitted into the program or school.
The GRE is now accepted as an alternative to the GMAT for admission to the Defense Comptrollership Program (see next paragraph).
To better prepare you for the GMAT test, several options appear at: http://www.mba.com/mba/thegmat.
GRE Test. If you take the GRE as an alternative to the GMAT, send your GRE score to Code 2823. The Department Code can be left blank. GRE scores will be reviewed and accepted based on an overall score, emphasizing Quantitative Reasoning.
5. Bio Request. The Defense Comptrollership Programs office will generate a class bio book for student/professor review.
6. Health Service Requirement. Syracuse University's Health Service Department requires all full-time enrolled students to provide proof of certain immunization records per New York State Law. Once officially admitted to Syracuse University and received your SUID number, you will need to upload your medical records to the University Health Services Patient Portal suhsportal.syr.edu.
**Military Students—your records do not usually show two MMR shots. You must show New York State that you have received two (often in records from childhood, high school, etc.).
The Defense Comptrollership Program (DCP) represents a unique cooperative endeavor between Syracuse University and the Department of Defense.
The passage of Public Law 216, as an amendment to the National Security Act of 1947, required that "comptrollers" serve throughout the Department of Defense (DOD). The basis for using comptrollers to institutionalize a "business approach" to DOD management resulted from a congressional review of the "unconscionable waste of money" during World War II. The Department of the Army was faced with defining the functions and responsibilities of comptrollers, plus determining the attributes, knowledge and skills necessary for those individuals who would subsequently serve as Army comptrollers. When the Army Comptrollership School was established at Syracuse University in 1952, an initial phase of the Army's implementation of Public Law 216 requirements had begun.
With an established reputation for providing quality education programs for business and government groups, Syracuse developed a unique graduate education program to meet the Army's comptrollership needs. The curriculum for the initial classes of the Army Comptrollership Program focused on developing the student's knowledge of industrial and military management techniques. Emphasis was placed on the components of comptrollership as they supported effective and economical allocation in the utilization of resources. Business and public administration foundations were provided in an academic environment, without undue regard to contemporary Army policy or influence.
HQDA Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) and Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs have developed a joint degree program to replace the current Army Comptrollership's MBA Program. The new program's goals are to provide students with the essential tools of private- and public-sector business practices and the ability to analyze and develop public policy. With the DOD's efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its business practices and processes, both skill sets are considered essential. It will provide essential educational skills for financial managers to assist the DOD's leadership in making the hard resource decisions to transition to a more efficient and effective organization.
The new curriculum is a 60-credit-hour program completed in 14 months. Graduates are awarded an MBA and an Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) degree. Students take 42 credits at the Whitman School and 18 credits at the Maxwell School. The program has also expanded the joint curriculum and the number of other Service/Defense Agency personnel attending. The name was changed from the Army Comptrollership Program (ACP) to the Defense Comptrollership Program (DCP) in 2006.
The Whitman School’s MBA program consists of the following courses: Economics, Data Analysis, Management Information Systems, Financial Accounting, Marketing Management, Supply Chain/Project Management, Operations Management, Activity Based Costing/Management Accounting, Business Strategy and Human Capital Management, Government Contracting, Entrepreneurship, and Defense Comptrollership. The Maxwell School's EMPA program consists of the following courses: Managerial Leadership, Dispute Resolution for Public Managers, Policy Analysis, Public Administration and Law, an elective and a master's project.
In addition to the academic program, all students will receive training to take and pass the Certified Defense Financial Manager examination. And, students will also be required to participate in 24 hours of community service.
The Honorable Sandra Pack, assistant secretary of the Army (financial management and comptroller), approved the new program on Jan. 28, 2002, and the new curriculum began in June 2002. The first class taking the new curriculum graduated in Aug. 2003. DCP cohorts that have graduated from the new program have had an average GPA of 3.71.
Over 1,600 graduates of the Defense Comptrollership Program have provided meaningful contributions in demanding management positions. Many graduates have reached the pinnacle of their profession, having served in the most senior comptroller positions in the Army, defense finance, accounting service and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Additionally, a wide range of successful contributions have subsequently been made by DCP graduates in other fields, including federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the business sector.
There are approximately 25 to 30 participants in each DCP class. Active and military reserve officers make up half to two-thirds of the class, and the others are civilian members of the comptroller profession from the Army, Defense agencies, and other services.
The Army selects officer students for attendance at Syracuse University under procedures established to meet graduate school education requirements. The number of officers sent to Syracuse for each class is based on validated requirements for comptroller-related MBAs, officer availability and individual officer qualifications.
The officer students usually are in the grade of major, and admissions is centrally handled through permanent change-of-station procedures. Upon completion of the program, the officer graduates are generally assigned to appropriate comptroller or resource management positions in Army, Joint or DOD organizations worldwide.
The officer program graduates must serve a three-year utilization tour in resource management unless deferred because of command or military schooling assignments. The lasting benefits of the program are premised on the conviction that a working knowledge of resource management is one of the basic skills required of a successful officer in all military assignments.
Information concerning applications for military officers to participate in advanced civil schooling in the Defense Comptrollership Program is available from the Comptroller assignments officer in the U.S. Army Human Resources Command or from the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve; the Office of the Director, Army National Guard; and other Service Assistant Secretaries of Financial Management.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) is the proponent for the requirements and procedures related to the nomination, selection, attendance and subsequent utilization of the Army civilian participants in the Defense Comptrollership Program. A single board selects these Army civilian students for both the long-term training opportunities of the DCP and their post-training operational assignments. Nominations are to identify those individuals who have performed outstandingly within the resource management field and demonstrated the highest potential for advancement to multidisciplinary positions. Especially encouraged are nominations of employees in under-represented groups within the resource management career community.
The target population is GS-11 through GS-14.
Similarly, the assistant secretaries for the financial management of the other military departments and the director of Defense Finance and Accounting Service, utilize a selection process to sponsor highly qualified individuals for attendance in the Defense Comptrollership Program.
There are four requirements for acceptance by the University into the Syracuse DCP Program; approval of the Department of the Army or defense agency/other Services as described above; the individual's undergraduate academic record; the Graduate Management Admission Test score (500 or greater) or the Graduate Record Examination with a score equivalent to a GMAT score 500 or greater; and letters of recommendation. The assistant dean reviews all applications, and the Whitman School associate dean for MBA and master's degree programs makes the final admission decision.
Applicants without an academic background in mathematics (advanced algebra and calculus), statistics or accounting are strongly recommended to attend undergraduate courses in these subjects prior to application/attendance.
Eligibility/Application Requirement:
Comptroller Proponency Office OASA (FM&C)
E-mail: annette.washington.civ@army.mil
Questions concerning the Defense Comptrollership Program, Syracuse University, and the Syracuse area should be referred to:
Defense Programs
Martin J. Whitman School of Management
Syracuse University
(315) 443-2898
E-mail: Brittany Taylor, btaylo13@syr.edu
