Curriculum

Course Descriptions

 

 

Business Data Analytics                                    

The Business Data Analytics major prepares students for a career in business data analysis. These professionals analyze data to support business decisions and strategy and to creatively solve business problems. Specific data analyst job descriptions depend on the responsibilities of the particular industry in which the data analyst is working. For example, a data analyst working in the health care sector will be expected to perform data analysis with respect to patient outcomes, customer and insurance payment patterns, drug interactions, infection rates, geographic health care service densities, and other types of health care data. Similarly, a data analyst working in customer relationship management will be expected to perform data analysis with respect to customer buying patterns, identifying the best and worst customers, identifying different customer types, detecting fraud, and identifying opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling. A data analyst responds to client or management requests for information and may have to develop methodologies and files for effective data management.

A data analyst is able to retrieve, manipulate, and analyze data from multiple sources. He or she works with data using a variety of tools, platforms, and techniques and interprets the results in a clear, understandable way. These professionals create and report actionable information in a professional manner. Through a strong understanding of software, database/data warehouse, and research tools, the Business Data Analyst combines an understanding of business functional requirements, information resources, and systems applications of a firm to create and manage meaningful business intelligence to achieve business strategic success.

Specific objectives of the program are to provide students who select the Business Data Analytics major with the following:

  1. Ability to use technology to manage and analyze data to create information to support business decisions and solve business problems.
  2. Overall communication skills in the context of determining information requirements and conveying business data analysis results to clients.
  3. Ability to think critically and reason effectively about the quality of data and data analysis procedures in the context of creating information to solve business problems.
  4. Ethical awareness and ethical decision-making framework in a business data analysis context.
  5. Ability to use foundation business knowledge in data analysis in a diverse, global environment.
The Business Data Analytics program course examination procedures include: case analysis, semester research papers/projects, practical computer skills proficiency projects, multiple choice/short answer/essay exams.

Dr. Stephen C. Jones
Associate Dean of the College of Business
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