The MSA Class of 2011 Analytics Practicum projects are now off and running. Students are paired into eight teams of 4 or 5 members, and will work over the next seven months on a challenging business problem with real data from our corporate sponsors. This year’s sponsors are all new to the MSA program. They include: Allscripts, Dex One, Quaero, M&T Bank, Sharefile, Tekelec, and Trident Marketing.
The Analytics Practicum is a core team-based component of the curriculum that gives students an opportunity to work together on real-world projects sponsored by industry. The practicum runs throughout the fall and spring semesters and serves as an integrative experience for the entire MSA curriculum. The practicum includes specialized instructional elements to help students with teamwork, project management, data cleaning and handling, communication, and presentation skills. The practicum culminates each year in April with team presentations to the sponsoring organizations. The practicum has a faculty “coaching staff” that serves as a resource to the project teams, and lecturers who speak on topics related to teamwork skills and team effectiveness.
Past sponsors include: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, CA, Constellation Energy, Deluxe, Hallmark, IBM, Lulu, Railinc, Travelocity and Wells Fargo.
More about this year’s sponsors:
- Allscripts – Nationwide, more than 160,000 physicians, 800 hospitals and thousands of other healthcare providers utilize Allscripts solutions to automate and connect their clinical and business operations. Allscripts is headquartered in Chicago and employs approximately 2,500 people in more than 20 locations.
- Dex One – A provider of online and mobile search solutions, print yellow pages directories, voice-search platforms and pay-per-click networks, Dex employs 3,400 people and has 400,000 customers and revenue of $2.2 billion. It markets in 28 states across the U.S., with corporate headquarters in Cary.
- Quaero (a division of CSG Solutions) – Using customer intelligence in real-time, multichannel customer interactions, Quaero blends strategy and analytics with performance management and technology to improve the customer experience while increasing overall customer value. Quaero is based in Charlotte.
- M&T Bank – One of the country’s most highly regarded regional banks, M&T was founded over 150 years ago and is now one of the 20 largest commercial bank holding companies headquartered in the U.S. M&T has 14,000 employees located along the Atlantic coast from New York to Virginia, with current assets of $68 billion.
- Sharefile – Based in Raleigh, ShareFile is a web-based application that allows small and medium businesses to securely exchange files with their clients. The company was founded in late 2005 and has 30 full-time employees and 11,000 customers.
- Tekelec – A broadband data management company, Tekelec enables billions of people and devices to surf, talk, and text. The company handles network complexity with a portfolio that manages and capitalizes on the exponential growth in data applications and traffic. Tekelec employs 1,200 people and has 25 offices worldwide, with revenues near $470 million.
- Trident Marketing – A multi-channel direct response company, Trident develops marketing and sales channels for leading consumer brands in the U.S. in home services and the travel industry. Trident employs 300 people in central North Carolina.