Brandeis GPS Blog

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Tag: MS in Strategic Analytics (page 2 of 2)

Army Reservist shares his GPS experience in his own words

December 22, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Faces of GPS | Steve Boardman

In 2014, I was in pursuit of a career plan for the next 20 years of my life and chose to leverage my IT experience as a software developer to shift into consulting as a business intelligence and big data analytics expert. In search of a graduate program to help propel me into that evolving field, I spent more than 100 hours researching many data science and analytics degree options.Boardman Military - Brandeis GPS Online Education - Brandeis GPS Blog

I found the Master of Science in Strategic Analytics at Brandeis University Graduate Professional Studies (GPS) to be the best fit for my life situation for many reasons:

  • The core curriculum and available electives seemed to be a well-balanced mix of business application, management, and technical disciplines.
  • The industry-experienced GPS faculty was a benefit because it enhanced my learning based on my prior undergraduate experience.
  • As an Army Reservist, the ability to conduct coursework online is an essential benefit. Moreover, the 10-week terms with a significant break between them promote a good work, school, and life balance, enabling students to complete the program in only 2 and a half years,  taking one course at a time.
  • The tuition fees were lower than other competing schools, and would be covered by my Post-9/11 GI Bill® VA benefits by 90 percent.

Since I started the Strategic Analytics program with GPS in spring 2015, I have completed seven courses toward my degree thus far and plan to graduate in the summer of 2017. Much of the knowledge that I’ve gained from the coursework has been directly applicable to my current position as an archival data systems development consultant. From what I’ve learned, I’ve been able to conduct more focused data analysis and produce more meaningful results to management, which has helped me earn their confidence and trust. As a result, I was given the lead role in spearheading my client’s business intelligence and data management strategy for analytics in September 2015. My return on investment is being realized even before completing my degree requirements.

Boardman Military 2 - Brandeis GPS Online Education - Brandeis GPS BlogCharging through the academic rigors of the program’s coursework and research has been achievable without a major sacrifice from family time and other activities. Living and working in Charleston, SC, with my wife and five-year-old daughter, my evenings during the week and weekends are well-balanced. Not every evening is spent doing school work, which my wife is very happy about. While taking at least one course per term, I am able to work a challenging full-time IT job, lead a platoon size unit in the Army Reserve part-time, play drums in a professional local rock band, and spend plenty of quality time with my family. I am grateful to my employer who pays for my remaining 10 percent tuition out of pocket. Now that GPS offers a 15% discount on tuition for active military and veterans, that saves my employer and the VA around $500 per course. Choosing the MS in Strategic Analytics at GPS was one of my best decisions, as it has proven to better my quality of life.

Steve Boardman is a software development professional with over 20 years of experience providing leadership in developing IT solutions for a variety of industries. He specializes in Enterprise Architecture (EA), Business Intelligence (BI) Strategy, Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) Implementation, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Systems Integration, Application Development, and Legacy System Migration.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Faces of GPS is an occasional series that profiles Brandeis University Graduate Professional Studies students, faculty and staff. Find more Faces of GPS stories here.

Countdown to Commencement: Congratulations to the class of 2016!

May 20, 2016 / / 0 Comments

The Rabb School of Continuing Studies will award diplomas to nearly 100 GPS students at its 2016 commencement ceremony this Sunday, May 22. Approximately half of the graduating class is expected to attend the event, which will take place on campus from 8 to 9:30 a.m. EDT at the Faculty Club.

Given the online nature of GPS programs, many graduates are arriving from out-of-state and will be visiting the Brandeis campus for the first time. Some students are traveling as far as Israel, Canada and throughout the U.S., including Texas, Georgia, Missouri, Utah and Illinois. The university will stream the ceremony for those who cannot attend here.

The ceremony will feature remarks from Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, and Jay Caplan, a May graduate from the Master of Science in Strategic Analytics program. Caplan and his Strategic Analytics cohort are the first group of graduates from that program, which launched in the fall of 2014.commencement-photos2

Diplomas will be handed out from the following areas:

  • Master of Software Engineering (17 graduates)
  • MS in Bioinformatics (6 graduates)
  • MS in Health and Medical Informatics (12 graduates)
  • MS in Information Security Leadership (12 graduates)
  • MS in Technology Management (13 graduates)
  • MS in Project and Program Management (22 graduates)
  • MS in Strategic Analytics (11 graduates)
  • MS in Virtual Management (1 graduate)
  • Graduate Certificate in Project and Program Management (1)

Congratulations to our graduates!

Countdown to Commencement: Strategic Analytics #tbt

May 12, 2016 / / 0 Comments

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GPS students from across the country are convening their family members, booking travel, and preparing to descend on Waltham on May 22 for our 2016 commencement ceremony.

We are especially excited to welcome our first class of Strategic Analytics graduates. Launched in 2013 and with 100 students currently enrolled, the Master of Science in Strategic Analytics is one of our most popular and fastest-growing programs.

Strategic Analytics harnesses the proliferation of data in all aspects of business, providing students with the skills and tools to reduce risk and improve performance. It’s important to note that this program doesn’t just meet the needs of a specific field — you will find that it can be applied to most. Our Strategic Analytics students work in IT, marketing, finance, biotechnology, healthcare, research and development, and many other industries.

Filling a critical workforce gap

This year’s crop of Strategic Analytics graduates will find themselves in high demand as more and more corporations, governments, and institutions across the globe begin to recognize the need to collect and analyze large data sets. With the world facing a shortage of analysts capable of designing and executing complex data analysis, experts like GPS’ graduates in data collection, management and analysis are becoming increasingly integral to organizational success.

A study conducted by NewVantage shows that the majority of employers have either been challenged or somewhat challenged in finding Strategic Analytics workers. (Source: NewVantage Partners: “Big Data Executive Survey Themes & Trends”)

A study conducted by NewVantage shows that the majority of employers have either been challenged or somewhat challenged in finding Strategic Analytics workers. (Source: NewVantage Partners: “Big Data Executive Survey Themes & Trends”)

Strategic Analytics at Brandeis

The Strategic Analytics program is led by Steve Gentile, who has more than 25 years of IT project management experience in the financial services industry. To complete the comprehensive 30-credit program, students must take seven core courses and three electives. Diverse in nature and subject matter, the courses focus on collecting, storing, securing, mining and analyzing data, and using that data to inform organizational decision-making.

We are proud of our 2016 Strategic Analytics students who understand the strategic potential of big data and are equipped to translate analysis into effective action. We know they are all are poised to lead today’s organizations to new standards of efficiency and competitiveness. Congratulations to all our graduates!

Brandeis GPS students play key role in a new statewide data initiative

April 20, 2016 / / 0 Comments

By Stephen Gentile

With a vast network of start-ups and a haven of biotech and pharma companies, and dozens of institutions of higher learning it is no secret that Massachusetts is one of the most tech-advanced states in the country. According to Gov. Charlie Baker, we now must leverage the state’s technology and economic progress and increase its competitiveness.

Brandeis GPS is partnering with the Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC) in support of this cause. A coalition of pro-growth advocates is developing and launching a unique online resource that measures how the state ranks nationally among other states.

Why MATTERS matters

The new system, MATTERSTM (Massachusetts’ Technology, Talent, and Economic Reporting System), was developed by students and faculty from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), with assistance and guidance from an Advisory Board formed by MHTC. MATTERS creates profiles of each of the 50 states based on key parameters related to talent, tax, business climate and quality of life. It then compiles national rankings data and dozens of cost, economic and talent metrics to see how Massachusetts ranks in comparison to other states.

The data MATTERS generates helps Massachusetts private and public sectors identify and drive legislation that maximizes the state’s strengths (source).

MA state profile. Source: http://matters.mhtc.org

MATTERS MA state profile (source: http://matters.mhtc.org)

How Brandeis GPS fits in

In January 2016, as program chair of the Strategic Analytics program, I led a team of GPS students in a project to research, cleanse, and load MATTERS data. Each academic term, we will continue this process by building a MATTERS team, selecting participating students based on their previous academic performance in the program, professional experience, and leadership abilities. The GPS data curators conduct meetings with MHTC, WPI, and other stakeholders; define a scope of work for the course, and culminate their work on the project with a final proposal that outlines next steps and possible deliverables for the next GPS research team. The MATTERS team reviews and approves each proposal before the next term begins.

The inaugural GPS team spearheaded the following milestones:

  • Evaluating and taking inventory of all data sources
  • Compiling and transmitting updated data from all relevant sources; the WPI team used this data to test MATTERS version 2.0, which MHTC announced this spring.
  • Creating and documenting the methodology to maintain MATTERS data, including on-going processes, workflow among stakeholders, and data update schedules

Looking ahead

Our work has been essential in establishing processes and procedures that ensure MATTERS is working with high-quality data, but there is still much to do. Data curation goes beyond organizing and cleansing data — it can also set up a construct for the broader user community to access quality data in a reproducible manner, which guarantees its usefulness for future research. Additionally, data curation will facilitate a better collaboration between organizations as the source data will be improved “on the edge” before it enters the MATTERS clearinghouse.

Detailed plans for the summer 2016 MATTERS course are now underway, as we look to re-evaluate all data sources, document our methodology, and enhance the workflows and collaboration with WPI and the MHTC teams.

Stephen Gentile serves as Director, Project Management Office at Babson Capital Management LLC. He is also the chair of the Strategic Analytics program at Brandeis University Graduate Professional Studies and teachers courses in their Strategic Analytics and Project and Program Management programs.

Brandeis expands online course offerings with Learning Analytics graduate certificate

April 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

New fall program combines data analysis with the expanding field of online learning

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Brandeis University’s Graduate Professional Studies division (GPS) will launch a fully-online graduate certificate program in Learning Analytics in September 2015, the university announced today.

Designed to be completed in 1.5 years or less, the program is for professionals with strong backgrounds in education, instructional design, or institutional research. Cross-disciplinary in nature, the certificate will provide students with the foundational tool sets and theory of business intelligence and data analysis. These skillsets are necessary for evaluating the effectiveness of courses, programs and instruction, and prepare students to fill a highly in-demand skills gap in a burgeoning job market.

“As the learning analytics field continues to evolve, it is more important than ever before to use the technology and data we have available to us to understand and, ultimately, enhance the learning experience,” said Brian Salerno, director of Online Learning and Instructional Design at Brandeis GPS.

The five-course, 15-credit certificate program draws heavily from two existing Brandeis GPS master’s degrees: Instructional Design and Technology and Strategic Analytics. Applicants are expected to possess a post-graduate degree in a related field as well as three years of relevant work experience.

In addition to the new Learning Analytics certificate, Brandeis GPS offers eight fully online part-time master’s degrees, including Strategic Analytics, Bioinformatics, Health and Medical Informatics, Instructional Design & Technology, and Software Engineering. All Brandeis GPS programs are asynchronous, providing students with a flexible and convenient approach to completing their degree.

Students interested in applying to the Learning Analytics certificate program should complete their application by Aug. 11, 2015. Students also have the opportunity to take a course prior to applying for admission. Registration for the summer 2015 term opened on April 14, with courses beginning May 20. For more information about Brandeis GPS, please visit www.brandeis.edu/gps.

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Brandeis Launches MS in Strategic Analytics

October 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments

157523205_4Brandeis University’s division of Graduate Professional Studies announced today it has launched a new Master of Science degree in strategic analytics.

The online program is designed to harness the proliferation of data in all aspects of business using advanced analytic tools. With the advent of “big data,” businesses can reduce risk and improve performance through better-informed decision-making in areas such as revenue management, dynamic pricing and business modeling.

“At leading businesses, analytics is now core to driving strategy, and the demand for expertise in analytics is continuing to blossom,” said Eric Siegel, founder of Predictive Analytics World and author of “Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die.”

The new comprehensive program includes courses focusing on how data are collected, stored, secured, mined and analyzed, along with courses on how analyzed data can be translated into valuable business information to drive strategic decision-making. The program will provide the academic rigor needed to help business leaders and analysts understand how to collect, deploy, analyze and implement data-based decision-making in all phases of their business.

Seven core courses and three electives are required (a total of 30 graduate credits). Students may enroll in up to two courses before officially applying for admission.

“Strategic analytics are critical to the strategic management of any business or organization,” said Leanne Bateman, who chairs the new program. “The management, analysis and use of large data sets at the foundation of any business drive the strategic decisions that increase revenue and reduce costs for the organization.”

Program graduates will be able to:

  • Evaluate and apply analytic tools and techniques to manage large sets of data, distributed data, and cloud-based data
  • Integrate leadership and communication skills with information technology, information management, and data science to maximize business intelligence and decision-making
  • Design innovative, cross-functional data analytics solutions for applied business strategies
  • Identify and assess the opportunities, needs and constraints for data collection, measurement, tracking, analysis, reporting and overall management within a strategic organizational context
  • Identify ways in which data can be analyzed, interpreted, reported and applied to solve or prevent existing or emerging business problems
  • Communicate the value of strategic analytics as it relates to an organization’s bottom line through both revenue increase and expense reduction
  • Bridge the gap between data and the business by effectively communicating analysis results to drive strategic decisions and direction
  • Lead analytics teams and projects

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