This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 3, Issue 3 (Summer 2013)
As Connecticut expands vital educational programs in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math), UConn’s Master of Science in Business Analytics and Project Management (MSBAPM) plays an important role as the only STEM-designated program in the School of Business. Launched in Fall 2011, the founding class consisted of 30 students. Currently, 21 students have graduated from the MSBAPM program, with rapid expansion on the horizon: approximately 160 students are expected for Fall 2013.
Filling the Talent Gap
An important initiative in the State of Connecticut, STEM skills are in high demand by employers. The MSBAPM program provides critical skills necessary for the next generational marketplace, which, according to statistics from reputable sources, is demanding skills in high capacity computing, big data, and deep analytics.
According to research by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) and McKinsey’s Business Technology Office, “There will be a shortage of talent necessary for organizations to take advantage of big data. By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills, as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.”
MSBAPM has seen 100% placement among graduates, and expects to see high placement rates continue. UConn’s MSBAPM provides tangible and concrete skills in these areas of critical need. The program has gained national attention in InformationWeek’s “Big Data Analytics Master’s Degrees: 20 Top Programs,” a list of well-known and emerging masters programs specifically targeting the big data analytics talent gap.
A key benefit of this STEM-designated program is the ability for international students to extend their OPT (optional practical training), allowing them more time to apply their skills on the job and gain experience. The 17-month extension is in addition to the 12-month maximum allotted with traditional OPT.
A Practical Degree
Housed in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) department, “UConn’s MS in Business Analytics and Project Management is designed to meet the growing demand for professionals to discover, analyze, organize and manage high value business solutions in today’s complex business environments,” says Jose Cruz, associate professor and MSBAPM program director.
A practical degree, the MSBAPM equips students with project management and data analytics skills that are not specific to one job, region, or industry. The skills cut across all disciplines, enabling MSBAPM graduates to bring value to employers regardless of their background.
“The MSBAPM program has taken me from a scientist working in business to a businessman working as a scientist. The business problem comes first over the technical challenge,” says Craig A. Calvert ’08 Ph.D., NRCC-CHO, a current MSBAPM student.
Calvert adds, “Having earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry, I was looking for a program that would provide me with an understanding of how to solve real problems in the business world to complement my science background. The MSBAPM program at UConn has provided those skills and I was able to immediately apply them to my job. The project management classes provided skills to more efficiently complete projects and quantitative ways to analyze their potential risks. The analytical classes I have taken so far have focused on real applications and using the data to solve business problems. The return on investment has already been significant. I was able to change jobs with a higher salary during one of the toughest job markets for chemists.”
Cruz adds that “students pursue the degree for its unique combination of business analytics and project management education. Our program also delivers a high quality educational program in only 33 credits, and allows for scheduling flexibility with broad choices of elective courses to enhance complementary competencies.” The relatively small credit requirement as compared to some other graduate programs enables those seeking to make a career transition to do so in less time.
The MSBAPM curriculum is designed and delivered by UConn faculty, with helpful input from leading analytics solutions provider SAS Institute and the Project Management Institute (PMI). SAS provides the program and students with access to all of their software free of charge, delivers workshops and presents cutting-edge new analytics software to the program. The program is also working with IBM in a similar fashion.
To enhance pedagogical quality and scheduling flexibility, many of the courses utilize a hybrid of traditional face-to-face meetings and online delivery. The program also provides students with unparalleled opportunities to engage in high-value, strategic real world projects through the school’s experiential learning accelerator centers along with various internships with partner corporations.
Corporate Involvement
The MSBAPM Corporate Advisory Board supports the mission of the program by providing feedback on the curriculum, mentoring students, and building a bridge between the program and the business community. The board is comprised of senior executives from leading world-class corporations such as IBM, The Hartford, Aetna, United Technologies Corporation, and (m)Phasize.
Support from companies in the business analytics and project management space has helped MSBAPM administrators to enhance the curriculum, host valuable networking events, enrich the capstone course, and to provide scholarships to some of our most academically talented students.
“During this academic year we worked with many companies to secure live projects for students to complete as part of their capstone course experience,” says Sudip Bhattacharjee, associate professor. LIMRA, the sponsor company for this year’s capstone course, was represented by Marianne Purushotham, corporate vice president, and John Wilson ’13 MSBAPM, senior data research analyst and project management portfolio coordinator. The enthusiastic supporters provided the students with live data to: 1) predict customers who will buy life insurance; and 2) forecast the growth of the life insurance market.
Using the skill sets of predictive modeling, data management, process models, and data mining techniques, student teams investigated real problems through data analytics, and used their project management skills to complete their projects within time and budget constraints. LIMRA is planning to implement some of the results within their organization immediately.
In order to expand beyond the classroom to the corporate community, the MSBAPM program hosts a number of networking events involving students, faculty, and business leaders from the industry. These events consist of keynote addresses by senior company executives, tutorials, Q/A sessions, and networking.
Corporate support has also been illustrated in the form of scholarships. Eight students have been awarded $1,000 scholarships based on their performance in the program. Of the eight scholarships, five were sponsored by VLink Inc., an IT consulting and systems integration services company with a location in South Windsor, Connecticut.
Corporate Training
Given the demand for analytic capabilities to help the company make better decisions, MSBAPM faculty have delivered the graduate level course “Predictive Modeling” to Travelers’ employees in two separate offerings, and have been invited to teach the course again in Fall 2013. The course is specifically tailored and designed to introduce Travelers’ business leaders to advanced data analytics techniques.
A Unique Combination
“We are the only program in the country and probably in the world that offers the combination of business analytics and project management,” says Professor Ram Gopal, OPIM department head. “This unique combination, delivered by world-ranked faculty and using cutting-edge new technology and tools, makes the program very desirable.”
