海角社区 is one of 33 institutions that recently received funding from the through the . A total of $420,000 was awarded to the LU College of Business making it possible for the college to launch a new Data Analytics Certification program for fall 2022.
Data analytics is the process of analyzing raw data to find trends and answer questions. It provides a clear picture to businesses about what happened in the past, what will happen in the future, and what they should do next.
“The U.S. has one-third of the worlds data so nearly 90% of employers indicate that their data analytics needs will increase in the future. We want to give students and professionals the opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and the skill in data analytics,” said Kakoli Bandyopadhyay, director of Graduate Studies in the LU College of Business and professor of management information systems. “So, we proposed a five-course undergraduate certificate in data analytics, which has been approved by the Board of Regents and we are launching it in fall. This data analytics certificate is completely stackable to the undergraduate degree and this journey only takes 24 weeks to complete.”
The program will focus on teaching students about storing data, finding hidden patterns, descriptive analytics and summarizing past data, and data analytics software including Tableau SAS, SAS Visual Analytics, SAP, Python and Oracle SQL. Students can complete the five-course, 15-credit program in under a year and may take courses 100% online or in a hybrid format, giving them the flexibility to complete their certificate around their schedule.
Courses also will prepare students to face a data centric world and build marketability for employers in any field. Bandyopadhyay said the best candidates for the program are students who are both passionate and curious about data. “The certification just gives you the access. If you have taken these courses, if you know the application software, if you know those tools and techniques, this is applicable across any industry –– music, healthcare, finance, education,” she said. “And the beauty of it is, you don't lose any of those courses, you can come back if you find it interesting enough, you can always come back for a degree and use all those five courses.”