New data analytics major addresses strongly-articulated workforce need

Ohio State introduces a new interdisciplinary undergraduate major in data analytics autumn semester—the first of its kind in the country offered by a major research institution—designed to address a growing need for data analytics professionals.

The new major was approved by the Council on Academic Affairs in November 2013; and by the Ohio Board of Regents in January 2014.

The Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering are partnering to deliver the core courses in computer sciences, mathematics and statistics. Majors will receive a BS in data analytics from the College of Arts and Sciences.

A degree in data analytics will open the door to nearly limitless career opportunities for its graduates. The Harvard Business Review has referred to data science and analytics as the “sexiest job in the twenty-first century.”

Sexy or not, the need is obvious. Companies are seeking employees with the skills to build and query large data sets and understand how to ask the right questions to extract critical, useable knowledge.

“This has been a whole-institutional response to a strongly-articulated workforce need,” said Peter March, mathematics professor and dean of the natural and mathematical sciences in Arts and Sciences.

“Expertise in data analytics will be in demand in virtually all areas of human enterprise. Issues of ‘big data’ engender partnerships with diverse business enterprises. Name any major industry—banking, insurance, healthcare, retail, oil and gas, logistics—and there are analytics issues,” March said.

Christopher Hans, associate professor of statistics; and Srinivasan Parthasarathy, professor, computer and engineering science, are program co-directors.

The core curriculum will provide solid foundational footing; students will learn principles of data representation and big data management, software design and programming, and statistical modeling and analysis. Next, students will select courses in an area of specialization that will prepare them for experiential learning opportunities through partnerships with businesses.

“The important thing about the program is that it is a striking balance between technical ability and business acumen,” March said. “We wanted to build-in a structure to develop both highly technical skill sets and the ability to function in solutions-oriented teams.

“Our core courses coupled with a specialization in business, medicine, social and behavioral science or any unit, on campus that can identify a workforce need that meshes with the major, will strengthen the students’ ability to function in the marketplace.”

Each student in the major chooses an area of specialization to learn how data analytics is applied in a particular field.

Right now, the specializations available in the major are:

• Biomedical Informatics—introduces students to the core sub-disciplines of biomedical informatics that play a role in data analysis and discovery in biological and medical information systems
• Business Analytics—familiarizes students with how to practice data analytics in business focusing on applications in finance, accounting, customer insights and operations and logistics
• Computational Analytics—allows students to explore and specialize in in the areas of large-scale data analytics and architectures from theory to practice with a computational focus

Each specialization includes a capstone or integrative experiential component.

data-analytics.osu.edu

The major is aligned with Ohio State’s Discovery Themes Initiative, a ten-year, multi-million dollar investment designed to make Ohio State a leader in critical research on enormous global problems that pose great challenges —Energy and Environment; Food Production and Security; and Health and Wellness. The Discovery Themes Faculty Advisory Boards unanimously agreed that data analytics was the foundational tool for tackling these challenges. Therefore, the first of the Discovery Themes investments will be in data analytics.