The Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, will serve on a 15-member expert panel that will help EDUCAUSE define the opportunities, challenges and approaches that will inform and educate college and university leaders about the value analytics brings to higher education. According to EDUCAUSE’s President and CEO, Dr. Diana Oblinger, analytics will be a critical tool for analyzing, predicting, and making decisions in areas such as Continue reading “Director Serves on Analytics Expert Panel”
The Institute’s Dr. Aric LaBarr spoke today at the Best Practices Workshop for the National Professional Science Masters Association (NPSMA) in Niagra Falls, New York. His presentation focused on how the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) degree uniquely prepares professionals for the current needs of industry. The NPSMA is a collaborative of Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degree program directors, Continue reading “Professional Science Masters Workshop”
Today the University Space Committee, chaired by the Provost, approved the Institute’s request to lease approximately 6,000 additional square feet contiguous to its current facility beginning April 1, 2012. The matter will now be referred to the Council of State for its review.
The Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, spoke today at the Center for Design Innovation (CDI) in Winston-Salem. CDI is a multi-campus research center within the University of North Carolina system. Led by Dr. Carol Strohecker, its goal is to spur economic transformation of the state’s Piedmont area through design-focused activity based on advanced digital technologies. Dr. Rappa’s talk on surviving and thriving in the digital economy was part of the Center’s on-going Idea Exchange series of events, which are open to the public.
The Institute’s director, Dr. Michael Rappa, was interviewed today by Barry List as part of The Science of Better: “Crunching the Numbers” podcast. The topic of discussion was the Institute’s innovative degree program, the Master of Science in Analytics. The biweekly podcast series offers engaging in-depth conversations about analytics and operations research of interest to practitioners. The Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), the leading association for analytics professionals, is the sponsor.
Today the Institute hosted the Pharmaceutical Users Software Exchange (PhUSE) for a single day event on campus entitled Principles and Practices of Statistical Programming: Analysis and Reporting in a Regulated Environment. PhUSE is an independent, not-for-profit organization run by volunteers that provides a global platform for the discussion of topics encompassing the work of Data Managers, Biostatisticians, Statistical Programmers and eClinical IT professionals.
The Institute significantly increased its investment in information technologies to accommodate the escalating requirements of student practicum projects in the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) degree program. The practicum consists of teams of 4-5 students working on a challenging business problem with actual data from a sponsoring organization. Current projects typically involve 100’s of megabytes to 10’s of gigabytes of raw data—though the amount of data grows with each year. The new investments, Continue reading “Institute Increases Technology Investment”
The Institute is pleased to welcome Anthony Franklin to its staff as a graduate teaching assistant. Franklin is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Statistics at NC State University. He completed dual M.S. degrees in Financial Mathematics and Statistics from NC State in 2010, and graduated summa cum laude in Applied Mathematics from Coastal Carolina University in 2007. Franklin will work with MSA students individually and in small groups to help them improve their foundational knowledge of mathematics and statistics.
University Chancellor W. Randolph Woodson expressed his support today for the Institute’s proposal to expand enrollment of the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) program beginning in 2012. The proposal, which was put forth in February, called for a doubling of enrollment, from 40 to 80 students, and the additional staff and space needed to operate the program. Implementation of the plan is contingent on the Institute’s ability to secure adequate space to accommodate the larger cohort of students.
Today students celebrated the successful conclusion of the MSA summer boot camp with a presentation by guest speaker, Chuck Musciano. Mr. Musciano is Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Martin Marietta Material, a frequent speaker on IT-related topics including social media, and author of HTML & XHMTL: The Definitive Guide (O’Reilly). The MSA boot camp stretches across six weeks with daylong classes focused on learning foundational knowledge in statistics and analytics tool skills. Students also get their first exposure to a team project.
The Institute is pleased to announce that Dr. Carl Meyer and Dr. Sudipta Dasmohapatra have joined the Institute’s Faculty Steering Committee. Dr. Meyer is Professor of Mathematics at NC State who teaches linear and matrix algebra in the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) curriculum. Dr. Dasmohapatra is Assistant Professor in the Wood Products business area specializing in strategic marketing, distribution and value addition strategies and marketing research methods. She teaches customer analytics to MSA students. The two new members to the committee come with the recent retirement of Dr. Charles Jones, Edwin Gill Professor of Finance and a member of the committee since its inception in 2006.
The Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2012 began classes this week and thus commenced its 10-month immersion in the study of analytics methods and applications. The cohort of 40 students was selected from a pool of 184 applicants, with an acceptance ratio of just 25-percent. Seventy-three percent of the incoming class Continue reading “Institute Welcomes Class of 2012”
A new consulting report projects there will be a continuing severe shortage of analytics talent well into the decade: “By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.” The application of analytics Continue reading “Analytics Talent Shortage”
The Institute invites organizations interested in sponsoring a student team project as part of the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Practicum for 2011-12 to submit a proposal. Sponsors identify challenging business problems and provide data for their team to analyze. The proposal submission period is open through July. To learn more, see the guidelines for Practicum sponsorship.
The continuing surge in demand for analytics professionals has earned the Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2011 the distinction of being the Institute’s most sought-after cohort of graduates since its inception in 2007. Thirty-nine MSA students seeking employment logged a record-breaking 532 initial job interviews with 86 employers during the 90-day placement period preceding graduation—or 14 interviews per student—an increase of Continue reading “Employer Demand Hits Record Level”