The Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) Class of 2014 is on the final leg of its journey, as seventeen practicum teams bring to culmination eight months of work pouring over large volumes of data and building models. Many of the teams are on the road this week traveling to destinations around North Carolina and as far away as Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago, and Washington, DC, to deliver the results of their practicum projects to their sponsors. Students conducted a wide array of studies, from reducing hospital re-admissions to improving customer retention to price optimization, and more.
“The practicum is at the core the of MSA learning experience,” says the Institute’s director Dr. Michael Rappa, “allowing our students to work on the kind of complex analytics problems organizations grapple with everyday. We’re grateful to the many individuals involved in sponsoring projects.” The Institute openly solicits practicum proposals from interested organizations each year. The projects are performed under confidentiality and with no sponsor fee. Proposals are now being solicited for the incoming MSA Class of 2015.
On the runway (left to right) Andrew Williams, Olivia Lippincott, Matthew Foreman, and Bright Small prepare to board a corporate jet for their trip to Orrville, Ohio and headquarters of The J.M. Smucker Co., to deliver their practicum report to company executives.