“Your academic achievements are made even more noteworthy because they were made in the midst of “real life”.  I want you to know that the entire University community has great respect for what you have accomplished and how you have done it.” – Dr. Lynne Rosansky, Vice President for the Rabb School of Continuing Studies, in her opening address.

The Rabb School of Continuing Studies honored 130 Graduate Professional Studies (GPS) graduates with an in-person celebration on May 22, 2022. Student speaker, Irina Gaziyeva, a graduate of the MS in Project and Program Management, addressed the Class of 2022 along with guest speaker, Michael Katz, Digital Marketing and Design advisory board member.

In her opening address, Rosansky congratulated graduates on their hard work and dedication during their master’s degree programs. 

“Each of you have persevered through many challenges, joys and disappointments as our world turned virtual,” she said. “Take a moment – reflect. Today is your day – the day to celebrate your success.”

Rosansky also honored User-Centered Design instructor David Lumerman as the recipient of this year’s Rabb School Outstanding Teacher Award. 

“Dave has a reputation for going “above and beyond” with respect to his responsiveness and attention to student needs,” she said. Instructors like Dave who show such dedication and passion shape the learning experience for GPS students.

“I am grateful that I was in school during these years because it allowed me to stay focused, self-motivated, and accountable, said Irina Gaziyeva, and she discussed the challenges of the past few years. “We faced these challenges together.”

Reflecting on her classes and the faculty, “I got to experience small classes and engaging discussions with my classmates. These discussions were the center of my grad school experience.”

Toward the end of her speech, Gaziyeva highlighted “Commencement means the beginning- A beginning of new adventures, new ideas, and new projects.”

Michael Katz, shared his professional journey and the struggles to find balance in life akin to a 3-legged stool “familial life, social life and professional life.” Emphasizing that “your professional passion is so important. Without professional passion, it’s hard to steady that stool leg.”

Katz encouraged graduates to find a company they want to work for. He added “You’re a Brandeis graduate after all, and you have so much to offer. The knowledge and experience you’ve gained throughout your graduate program will allow you the freedom and opportunities to be more selective and not settle.”

Diplomas awarded in each program as follows:

• Graduate Certificate in Learning Analytics (1 graduate)
• MS in Bioinformatics (10 graduates)
• MS in Digital Innovation for FinTech (3 graduate)
• MS in Digital Marketing and Design (29 graduates)
• MS in Health Informatics (4 graduates)
• MS in Health and Medical Informatics (5 graduates)
• MS in Information Security Leadership (7 graduates)
• MS in Instructional Design and Technology (1 graduate)
• MS in Learning Experience Design (4 graduates)
• MS in Project and Program Management (21 graduates)
• MS in Strategic Analytics (15 graduates)
• MS in Technology Management (10 graduates)
• MS in User-Centered Design (16 graduates)
• MS in Software Engineering (4 graduates)

The graduation ceremony will be viewed online. Congratulations to our graduates!

On Thursday, May 12th 2022 I gave a talk entitled User Onboarding: Retaining more users by nurturing first time experiences. Here is a quick synopsis of the presentation.

I asked the questions: What is user onboarding, why is it important and to whom, and how should organizations think about applying it to their digital products?

This is relevant right now in my field because we spend a lot of time and effort getting the core product experience “right” but often tack on onboarding flows as an afterthought. This is a contributing factor in user churn and retention. Currently, almost 75% of people who download an app will abandon it within one day, and about 90% within one week.

Key takeaways:

• Onboarding can be defined as the practice of optimizing a digital product for a user’s first-time experience with the goal of educating and orienting new users.

• Good onboarding can be instrumental to retaining new users by helping them get started and realize value with minimal friction.

• If possible, consider Gradual Engagement which is the practice of allowing users to try out some of your product before forcing registering.

• Try to align your onboarding path with a core feature that users find valuable – in other words, get early users to the “A-Ha moment”.

• Understand the core onboarding  patterns in use today: Instructional Tours, Wizards & Checklists, and Interactive Guidance to determine which is the right fit for your product. Note that some of the most effective onboarding employs a “learn by doing” approach.

• Consider Out-of-app cues such as welcome emails, text messages and notifications to draw the user back in to ideally take a meaningful action.

• Decide upon and implement onboarding decisions as a team. Measure and track metrics and activity related to user acquisition, early use, repeat use, and retention to see how your strategy is performing to retain the maximum amount of users.

Alex is an Advisory Board member for the User-Centered Design master’s degree program.

Join us next week for the Lunch & Learn series. For more information on the User-Centered Design MS or other online master’s degrees available at GPS, please visit brandeis.edu/gps.

Junayed Sarwar, Operational Specialist at SF Denim

Program: Project and Program Management MS

Graduation: May 2022

While working in the manufacturing plant as an operations specialist I felt I needed to enhance my managerial skills as I was assisting the firm’s management team to expand their production capacity and establish a new manufacturing plant to accommodate this growth. In 2020, when the pandemic started much of the world went into different variations of lockdown. At the time I was working in Bangladesh, the government had issued most companies to start working remotely except for export-oriented manufacturing firms to work remotely for 60% of the time and the remaining percentage from offices.  This allowed me to effectively utilize my time to enhance my skills so that I could improve my managerial skills. When researching online programs, I came upon Brandeis’s master’s degree in Project and Program Management. I liked how the program was designed for working individuals who were looking to further their skills in the field.  The program provided not just a fundamental understanding of project management but also its practical applications. 

The professors’ backgrounds were quite diverse and helped broaden my perspective and learn how to apply different tactics to better motivate and manage my team. For example, Professor Sean J. Milligan’s Challenges in Project Management class, further developed my skills in understanding the various challenges arising during the lifecycle. I learned how to anticipate and prevent/minimize challenges. As an experienced project manager, he was able to create a balanced learning environment of the fundamentals and practical implications. I feel lucky and privileged to complete a postgraduate degree from a renowned institute like Brandies. My master’s degree has not only enhanced my skills and further my career, it has also helped me grow as an individual. This experience has opened windows to opportunities both academically and in my career in the future.

Junayed is the Rabb School 2022 student marshal.

For more information on the Project and Program Management MS or other online master’s degrees available at GPS, please visit brandeis.edu/gps.

Irina Gaziyeva, Administrative Assistant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Program: Project and Program Management MS

Graduation: May 2022

Obtaining a Master’s degree was always in my mind, but I never knew what I wanted to pursue. In 2019, I decided to make some personal changes, focus on growth and self-improvement, enhance my self-awareness, and develop a new sense of direction and motivation. I knew that investing in education would boost my confidence and would allow me to make new connections and expand my knowledge. In the fall of that year, reflecting on my work and life experience, I decided that I wanted to pursue a project management degree. After extensive research, I stumbled upon the Brandeis Graduate Professional Studies program- it was a perfect fit for me. 

I found a program (Project and Program Management) that I was interested in, and I could still have a full-time job and have time to take classes. My life is like a project itself, and I am its manager. Like on a project, I set goals for myself and execute them. I consider all aspects and sometimes have to take risks to achieve a goal. I am not afraid to face my fears or the unknown because I will either grow through the process or become more resilient no matter what the outcome is. My desired result is to absorb all the possible information and knowledge from this program and apply them to my personal and professional goals. I will never stop challenging myself because it helps me become more assertive and wiser. I believe in my potential and my ability to turn that potential into success.

The past two years have been challenging for all of us. Pandemic, social injustice, and elections, to name a few. The pandemic has forced us to adapt to the new norm. I had to adjust to working from home and continue to take my classes and, at the same time, maintain sanity during these difficult times. I am grateful that I was in school during these two years because it allowed me to stay focused, self-motivated, and accountable. 

All ten courses that I had to take taught me so much, and I enjoyed every class, especially our weekly class discussions. They were engaging and full of compelling and unique ideas—the interactive dialogues among peers and the instructor. Every classmate brought their individual life and work experience to these discussions, and each instructor challenged us to think outside the box. I have met some fantastic people along the way and learned so much about the program and myself. 

My plan after graduation is to apply my newly gained knowledge in my career. I currently work in higher education and would like to continue working in academia to help students grow. My goal is to impact their lives and ensure that they are going to succeed in the real world. 

My advice to incoming students is not to be afraid to take chances, be open-minded and develop practical time management tips and strategies to balance life, work, and school.

Irina is the 2022 Rabb School diploma ceremony student speaker

For more information on the Project and Program Management MS or other online master’s degrees available at GPS, please visit brandeis.edu/gps.

Dean Hoffer, Data Scientist at Aromyx Corporation

Program: Bioinformatics MS

Graduation: May 2022

When I applied to the Brandeis Graduate Professional Studies, Bioinformatics MS program I was a Research Scientist in an immunotherapeutics lab and was unhappy with my day-to-day work. My background is in immunology as a flow cytometry specialist, and I spent the majority of my career researching and designing experimental therapeutics. Over time, I began to realize that my career was reaching the ceiling with only a BS and I needed to take the next steps to progress as a scientist. With my two months of self-taught, very basic Python, I was dreaming of transitioning out of the lab and into a fully remote, computational role. Without Brandeis and the GPS program that career change would have never been possible.

My time at Brandeis passed quicker than I could have imagined. The weekly structure of the courses was easy to manage with a full workload, and the courses and material were all very useful and pertinent to the current state of the bioinformatics field. However, it is impossible to teach all the material needed in a field, and I think the most important skill that I learned at Brandeis is how to self-teach new material on the job. I also wanted to mention that I think Professor Andrey Sivachenko deserves special recognition for his courses on R and statistical theory. While challenging, these classes were easily the most valuable and well-taught courses I have taken at Brandeis GPS.

In my two years in the Bioinformatics GPS program, I was able to gain a high level of competency in several programming languages and a very strong understanding of statistical theory, all while working full-time. Before even completing the MS, I had accepted two different Data Scientist positions at different companies. I currently do research as a Data Scientist at Aromyx to define the human perception of smell and taste, building machine learning models with cheminformatics, genomics, and proteomics. Brandeis GPS has been a huge success and has helped me transition careers into a higher impact, less stressful, more rewarding, and more fun role. I encourage anyone curious to try it out. The design of the program allows for flexibility, maintaining income, hobbies, and work-life balance. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back for a second MS in a few years!

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