By Shandana Mufti

Intro

CCIS has announced three new degree programs for its undergraduate and graduate students. The programs – BS in Data Science, MS in Data Science and MS in Health Data Analytics – were developed in response to industry trends, and will prepare students for success in their chosen field of specialization.

BS in Data Science

The BS in Data Science degree was created in response to two major industry trends: the ability to collect, store, process and share massive amounts of data in the cloud, and the convergence of programming, statistics, artificial intelligence and visualization as tools that help analyze and understand data. Students enrolled in the major will study data collection manipulation, storage, retrieval and analysis. The program’s integrated curriculum draws on computer and information science, mathematics, statistics and probability theory to prepare students for careers or graduate studies in big data.

MS in Data Science

The MS in Data Science is an interdisciplinary program offered by CCIS and the College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Students working toward the degree will develop a comprehensive understanding of data through an extensive core curriculum that explores data collection, storage, retrieval, integration, analysis, modeling and visualization. Electives will allow students to develop expertise in important contextual areas or complex technical applications. Graduates will find success in the big data industry or in doctoral degree programs.

MS in Health Data Analytics

As healthcare systems have become increasingly digitized and individuals have begun storing personal health and activity data on trackers and smartphones, an opportunity has emerged to use data to revolutionize healthcare with a new approach that focuses on personalized care and precision medicine. This new field calls for intersectional expertise in health informatics, data science and computation modeling – topics that students enrolled in this degree program will explore and master. The interdisciplinary curriculum – with classes from CCIS and Bouvé College of Health Science and a capstone project – requires students to have technical skills and contextual knowledge of healthcare.

Two tracks, a standard one and a research-based one, will be available. The standard track will prepare students for careers in healthcare and industry. Students will choose at least two electives to customize their degrees to best fit their career goals. The research-based tracks offers two options: Personal Health Informatics and Population Health. Both feature curricula that will prepare students for successful research careers, and will allow students to enter PhD programs upon completion of the MS program.

All students who successfully earn a MS in Health Data Analytics will be prepared to become Certified Health Data Analysts, which is the only data analysis credential in healthcare through the American Health Information Management Association.