BS Data science program mission

"The ability to take data—to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it—that's going to be a hugely important skill in the next decades."

— Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google

The mission of the program for a BS in Data Science is to equip our students with the necessary digital skills of gathering, analyzing, visualizing, and utilizing data for decision making by providing multidisciplinary, collaborative, active experiences to undergraduate students and professionals.

program goals and outcomes

Student Learning Goals and Student Learning Outcomes

Student Learning Goals	Student Learning Outcomes
SLG 1: Students will describe problems that data can solve.	SLO 1.1: Students will identify knowledge gaps that analysis of data can fill.
	SLO 1.2 Students will formulate questions that data can answer.
SLG 2: Students will describe characteristics of data collection.	SLO 2.1: Students will describe settings where primary data are collected.
	SLO 2.2: Students will describe various types of data.
	SLO 2.3: Students describe tools utilized to collect data.
SLG 3: Students will process data.	SLG 3.1: Students will gather existing data from data sources.
	SLO 3.2: Students will prepare data for analysis.
	SLG 3.3: Students will apply statistical methods to support analysis of data.
	SLG 3.4: Students will create visualizations to foster analysis of data.
SLG 4: Students will solve problems using data.	SLO 4.1: Students will interpret answers to questions guiding a study based on data analysis results.
	SLO 4.2: Students will identify limitations of data analysis results.
SLG 5: Students will communicate data to stakeholders.	SLO 5.1: Students will develop materials for communicating data analysis results to others.
	SLO 5.2: Students will explain data analysis results to others.
SLG 6: Students will use data to make informed decisions based on data analysis results.	SLO 6.1: Students will identify decisions that may be informed by data analysis findings.
	SLG 6.2: Students will describe cautions for making decisions based on data analysis findings.

Bachelor of Science with a major in Data Science

Required Core
CSCI 111	Introductory Programming and Big Data	4
or CSCI 160	Computer Science I
MATH 146	Applied Calculus	3
or MATH 165 & MATH 166	Calculus I and Calculus II
MATH 208	Discrete Mathematics I	4
DATA 211	Data Analysis and Visualization	4
BIT 220	Management Information Systems	3
DATA 240	Programming for Data Science	4
BOTE 247	Spreadsheet Applications * May test out	3
BIT 347	Data Analytics for Business	3
CSCI 331	Social Implications	4
CSCI 356	Database Management I	4
or BIT 454	Data and Information Management
DATA 350	Project Design and Techniques (Project Design)	3
MATH 445	Probability and Statistics I	4
MATH 446	Probability and Statistics II	4
CSCI 456	Database Management II	4
DATA 491	Data Science Capstone I	2
DATA 494	Data Science Capstone II	2
General Education and Electives**		65
Complete your major with general education courses and combinations of minors, certificates, and/or concentrations. **Up to 69 hours may be needed to reach the 120 total hours required to earn a degree.
Total Hours		120

Data science is its own integrated, multidisciplinary, professional field. The Data Science Major program is an effort to equip our students with the necessary digital skills of gathering, analyzing, visualizing, and utilizing data that can enhance not only traditional students’ careers, but careers of professionals who want to update or move into this vital and growing area of knowledge. Our program offers a cross-disciplined approach, meeting industry demand with program flexibility. By working with other departments to develop a complementary program, the Data Science Major provides opportunities to gain marketable skills in other areas of industry.  

Data Science Minor

CSCI 111	Introductory Programming and Big Data	4
or CSCI 160	Computer Science I
DATA 211	Data Analysis and Visualization	4
DATA 240	Programming for Data Science	4
BIT 347	Data Analytics for Business	3
CSCI 356	Database Management I	4
or BIT 454	Data and Information Management
Total Hours		19

Data science is its own integrated, multidisciplinary, professional field. The Data Science Minor program is an effort to equip our students with the necessary digital skills of gathering, analyzing, visualizing, and utilizing data that can enhance not only traditional students’ careers, but careers of professionals who want to update or move into this vital and growing area of knowledge.

Certificate Program in Data Analytics

CSCI 111	Introductory Programming and Big Data	4
DATA 211	Data Analysis and Visualization	4
BIT 347	Data Analytics for Business	3
Total Hours		11

The Data Analytics Program Certificate is an effort to equip our students with the necessary digital skills of gathering, analyzing, and utilizing data that can enhance not only traditional students’ careers, but careers of professionals who want to update or move into this vital and growing area of knowledge.  

Certificate Program in Data Science

CSCI 111	Introductory Programming and Big Data	4
or CSCI 160	Computer Science I
DATA 211	Data Analysis and Visualization	4
DATA 240	Programming for Data Science	4
CSCI 356	Database Management I	4
or BIT 454	Data and Information Management
Total Hours		16

The Data Science Program Certificate is an effort to equip our students with the necessary digital skills of gathering, analyzing, and utilizing data that can enhance not only traditional students’ careers, but careers of professionals who want to update or move into this vital and growing area of knowledge.