Brandeis GPS Blog Articles in February, 2022

Month: February 2022

Faculty Spotlight: Khadijia Khartit

Faculty: Khadija Khartit

Program: Digital Innovation for FinTech

Course: RDFT 130 Launching FinTech Ventures

Expertise: Banking, Corporate Finance, Credit Cards, Cryptocurrency, Financial Planning, FinTech, General Business, Investing, Personal Finance

Education: Oklahoma State University, MBA and Boston College, MS

Bio: Khadija Khartit has 25 years of experience in management, investment banking, and startup advisory. Her investing and business background includes management in operating multinationals, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital raising, and tech startups’ advisory. Khadija worked on the fund-raising process as an advisor, an investor, and an entrepreneur. She worked on deals ranging from $100,000 to $500 million and on company sizes from green-field business plans to companies with $1 billion revenues and $100 million net income. Khadija is currently an executive advisor of KoreFusion, a global strategy consulting firm specialized in FinTech and payments. She is also the head of strategy at Sawi Exchange, a B2B FinTech based in Boston.

Why is this course important or valuable to a Digital Innovation for FinTech student?

In this course we tear down prominent cases in FinTech that are just getting bigger over the years (Stripe, Aunt Group, Bkash…). We link them to other cases rising and the changing landscape. Students learn from the real-world real-time moves of companies and what that means to be an effective worker, manager, intrapreneur, or entrepreneur.

Why do you enjoy teaching this course?

I find a safe space to think boldly, research with high vigor elements and arguments to enrich the discussion with students. My students are bright and as much as I inspire them to elevate the bar in their preparation to add to what their peers said, they also inspire me. We all set high standards to serve each other intellectually, and we grow together.

For more information on the Digital Innovation for FinTech or other online master’s degrees available at GPS, please visit brandeis.edu/gps.

Faculty Spotlight: Keishalee Shaw

February 24, 2022 / mtswanson / 0 Comments

Meet Keishalee Shaw

Program: Strategic Analytics

Spring Course: Business Intelligence

Bio: Keishalee Shaw, MS, MSc, MA has over ten years in the healthcare field. Currently, she is a Business Information Architect in the health insurance field working on projects around enterprise Integration strategies, enterprise target state along with focusing on data governance from an initiative perspective. Previously, Keishalee worked for New York State’s Bureau of Medicaid Statistics and Program Analysis and the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy.

She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in English and Literature with a minor in Political Science from the University of Maryland College Park; a Master’s of Science in Healthcare Administration Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus; a Masters in International Healthcare Management, Economics and Policy from Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy; a Masters in Strategic Analytics from Brandeis University and a Certificate in Public Sector Management from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Albany, New York.

Why is this course important or valuable to a Strategic Analytics student?

When it comes to decision making, data and analytics leaders play a big role in creating the organization’s strategic objectives. Today business leaders must treat data and analytics as a business asset. Through understanding your organization’s data you’re able to accelerate a company’s growth, pivot and change direction that best fits the organization’s needs and build/develop/or partner with 3rd parties that push your organization to deliver consistent business value.

Why do you enjoy teaching this course?

I love teaching this course because I can see the growth in the students’ understanding when it comes to BI and importance in the role they currently hold in their organizations or how they’d like to apply what they are learning to the projects they are working on. It’s amazing to see when things start to click, or when a student is able to identify what they study in class and bring it back to the workplace.

Anything else you would like to share with a prospective student?

The market’s appetite for tools that help companies visualize and interpret data is not slowing down. Teams that have a strong data-driven culture will continue to use business intelligence to integrate artificial intelligence and business analytics. Gartner says, “the analytics and business intelligence platform market is predicted to double in size by 2025 to $33 billion and will experience double-digit growth and a 16% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through that time” (Quinn, 2022). Making sense of your organization’s data to provide insight will always be vital

For more information on the Strategic Analytics program or other online master’s degrees available at GPS, please visit brandeis.edu/gps.

References: Quinn, e. (2022, February 10). Analytics and Business Intelligence Vendors Are Acquiring Augmented Analytics Vendors. Retrieved from Gartner.com: https://www.gartner.com/document/4011253?ref=solrAll&refval=316488282

Faculty Spotlight: Jing Qi

February 21, 2022 / mtswanson / 0 Comments

Meet Jing Qi

Program: Learning Experience Design

Spring Course: RIDT 180 Learning Analytics

Expertise: Text Mining, Data visualization, Statistical analysis, Application development and Evidence-centered design

Education: University of Vermont, Ed.D.

Bio: Jing Qi, Ed.D, is the Learning Analytic Lead and LMS Specialist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where she works with the Research ITC team, and applies technologies employed in advanced scientific research and web application development to support the core effort of ‘Learning Data Research.’ Combining her solid knowledge in computer science, extensive experience in data mining, and strong passion in data visualization, she integrates the core elements of data analysis and visualization in the exploration of Learning Analytics.

Learn more about the course-

Why is this course important or valuable to a Learning Experience Design student?

The fundamental principle of Learning Experience Design is learner-centered and goal-oriented to effectively engage students in learning. While Learning Analytics leverages student digital footprints and artifacts to provide insights about student learning processes, which is essential to make informed LED decisions.

Why do you enjoy teaching this course?

This course is designed to give students first-hand experience of applying LA theories into LED practices. For instance, I employed social network analysis and text mining techniques to analyze student online interaction data and the semantics of discussion threads, then provide students with rich timely feedback in the form of visualization. The visualizations help students understand their cognitive behaviors, which in retrospect, enhances the learning experience.

Anything else you would like to share with a prospective student.

The students enrolled in this program are usually highly self-motivated and have a rather diverse professional background, which fosters an enriched learning community.

For more information on the Learning Experience Design program or other online master’s degrees available at GPS, please visit brandeis.edu/gps.

Brandeis GPS Student Spotlight

February 15, 2022 / angelaself / 0 Comments

Student Spotlight

Adriana Dianderas ‘21

Wallington, New Jersey

Senior Designer, Healthfirst

Program: MS in Digital Marketing and Design

In her spare time, Adriana enjoys running long distance races, checking out new Broadway shows, traveling, and trying food from new places.

Get to know Adriana Dianderas!

Why did you choose Brandeis GPS?

From my first touch-point with Brandeis GPS, they were, and still are, extremely proactive in responding to my questions and inquiries promptly. I also felt that the course curriculum was a good mix between marketing strategies and user experience design which was what I was looking for in my Master’s program. I also like that they were flexible with full-time employees and provided different options to complete your degree at your own pace.

What inspired you to choose your field of study?

There were two factors that inspired me to pursue a degree in Digital Marketing and Design. When I graduated college with a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design, the industry was still driven by print advertising. Nowadays, the industry is driven by multichannel digital platforms. I decided to invest in my education and learn digital strategies and design principles to stay relevant in my field. The second factor was to expand my current design knowledge and combine it with strategic thinking. I believe that this combination of marketing & design will help me in future leadership roles.

How have you enjoyed your experience at Brandeis thus far?

It’s been great so far! Professors are easy to get in touch with and are very knowledgeable about their fields. You definitely get to cover key aspects of the digital advertising business, such as researching and implementing user experience principles, budget planning, tracking leads and conversions, writing for digital, personalizing and optimizing content for web, and managing cross-channel strategies to support your company’s goals.

What are your hopes and aspirations for the rest of your time at Brandeis?

For me, every semester is always an opportunity to learn something new! I have two more electives to take, for those in particular, I hope to focus on improving my project management and leadership skills.

What are your plans for after graduation?

I hope that after gaining in-depth knowledge of digital marketing and design at Brandeis, l will end up in an upper management role where I could make decisions from a creative and strategic point of view.

What advice would you give to incoming students?

To reserve time in the week to focus on school work. It is doable to go to school and work at the same time, but it requires time management and planning. I will also fully encourage incoming students to participate in the discussion forum and take advantage of all the assigned and recommended readings. There are tons of helpful tips and relevant information in those!

What has been your favorite class to-date?

That’s a tough one! I would say Writing for Digital Environments and Digital Marketing Strategy.