Analytics

The Analytics Initiative is a multi-departmental effort to evolve the existing Decision Science program into program which will focus on study of the field of Analytics. Academics in Decision Science, Operations Research, Information Systems, and many other fields of study are collaborating in order to develop a multidisciplinary curriculum for a new Masters Degree program. This program will be designed to give its graduates necessary tools to extract the most value from an organization's data as well as ensure that the correct data is collected and stored in a manner in which promotes the use of analytics.

In order to ensure that the new program will be on the cutting edge of this developing field, the Analytics Initiative has sought the input from numerous companies who are leaders in practicing analytics. The Analytics Initiative has received valuable input from leaders in the Logistics, Insurance, Banking, and numerous other industries.This input has been incorporated into a new curriculum which will give our graduates the tools they will need to excel in the field of Analytics.

While the main goal of the initiative is to evolve the Decision Science program, the initiative is also seeking research opportunities, collaborative opportunities with industry, as well as creating other educational opportunities for those who are interested in further professional development. Many of these efforts will be centralized around a proposed entity called the VCU Center for Analysis Science. Details can be found on the VCU Center for Analysis Science page.

The mission of the Analytics Initiative is to provide:

•High quality education in business analysis to our graduate and undergraduate students. This includes the development of new courses in business analytics; enhancements to current courses or degree programs; the use of real-world data in the classroom to give students experience in business analytics; and teamwork among faculty across the university in cross-disciplinary educational approaches.

•Opportunities for the advancement of academic research via partnerships within the University and with key University partner organizations.

•Mutually beneficial collaboration between the analytics faculty and the business community to provide consulting services and corporate training opportunities, internships and job placement for students, and research ideas and data for the faculty.