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2019 - 2020 Academic Catalog

Data Analytics

The Data Analytics concentration at Lasell has a professional focus, rooted in Connected Learning, that prepares students to understand data and create actionable insights. Organizations across industries have the increasing need for skilled analysts who can collect, analyze, and produce actionable insights for their teams to generate more revenue, increase customer base, and develop products.

  • Students learn techniques and tools to set-up, retrieve, aggregate, and process large data sets - from a traditional data store to Big Data insights.  
  • Students also learn methods of data analysis and visualization using software to create charts, dashboards and reports.
  • The Data Analytics concentration allows students to earn certifications and badges in: Google Analytics, Tableau, IBM Watson Analytics, and SAS Visual Analytics.

Students will complete a minimum of one industry-relevant internship and will come out of the program ready to create actionable insights in industries including health care, finance, engineering and retail, who all hire data analytics professionals to analyze their organization, customer and competitor data to generate actionable insights. Through a multidisciplinary approach, students majoring in Information Technology with a Data Analytics concentration gain the expertise, commitment, and skills for management positions in this expanding industry through a comprehensive background in the business world including accounting, human resources, organizational behavior, technology, and marketing.    By planning early in consultation with an academic advisor, students may be able to reduce the time it takes to complete a bachelor's degree in Information Technology to 3 or 3½ years.   

BUSS104X - Professional Development in Business

For freshman only. This is a comprehensive course that introduces students to the skills they need to develop themselves professionally. It cultivates and hones the skills necessary for students to communicate effectively and professionally in a business environment. This course provides students with the skills necessary to engage in field experience, internship and post-graduate employment searches as well as for the general business world around them. Using myriad methods, students will develop the necessary professional skills for professional presentation, professional communication, negotiation, personal branding, networking and team building. Students will also be introduced to the concept of emotional intelligence and its impact on overall career and academic outcomes. Students will complete a minimum of three professional presentations as part of this course.Prerequisites: None

BUSS105 - Excel for Business

This course introduces students to basic Microsoft Excel skills. Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program used for storing, organizing and manipulating data. It is critical to the business world today as the volume data generated has exploded. This introductory course will provide students with information and skills needed to create basic workbooks and worksheets, create simple formulas, copy and move data, format data and cells, work in large spreadsheets and with data series, create pivot tables, and more. As part of this course, all students will have the opportunity to become certified in Microsoft Excel through the professional certification called Microsoft Office Specialist: Excel 2016 – Core Data Analysis, Manipulation, and Presentation. The certification also comes with an electronic badge. Students are also introduced to Income Statements, Balance Sheets, Statement of Cash Flows, Ratios, and the Basic Accounting Cycle

BUSS205 - Business Law

This course provides a working knowledge of everyday law as it applies to both business and personal needs. The primary focus is on contract law and property law. Different sections offered are specific to majors and/or interests (Section A – General Business, Section B – Sport Management, Section C – Hospitality Management). Students can choose any section that they prefer, regardless of major

BUSS220 - Principles of Marketing

In this course, the fundamentals of marketing are explored for practical application in today's business environment. The process of creating value for customers by utilizing the tools of marketing -- market segmentation, targeting and positioning, marketing research and communications, product development, channels of distribution, and pricing -- are explored with a project-based, interactive approach. Additionally, there is a service learning component included in this course that enables students to further apply the course concepts while working to advance a participating non-profit organization. Prerequisites: BUSS101, HEM101, HEM102, FASH101, or SMGT102 AND ENG102 OR WRT102.

BUSS227 - Managerial Accounting

In this course, students gain experience in the development and use of information within an organization. Course topics include: cost terms; production costing; cost allocation for planning and control; cost behavior patterns; cost-volume-profit relationships; budgeting; inventory planning and control; pricing decisions; and aspects of investment decisions.

BUSS440 - Business Capstone

This capstone course requires students to apply a broad knowledge of management and administrative techniques to specific situations. An emphasis is placed on strategy formulation and implementation. This is a writing intensive course. Different sections offered are specific to majors and/or interests (Section A – General Business, Section B – Sport Management, Section C – Hospitality Management). Students can choose any section that they prefer, regardless of major. Prerequisite: Senior standing, Major within the School of Business

BUSS497 - Business Internship Seminar

This internship for students within the School of Business is scheduled to take place during the student's senior year (juniors are permitted with permission). Students serve as interns for a total of 150 hours in a position related to their field of study. The hours are completed concurrently with weekly class meetings and course work. Detailed reports, reflective exercises, weekly journal entries, a final comprehensive project, and other written requirements are completed throughout the internship process. The internship supervisor monitors each student's performance and visits each internship site as needed. Different sections offered are specific to majors and/or interests (Section A – General Business, Section B – Sport Management, Section C – Hospitality Management). Students can choose any section that they prefer, regardless of major. Prerequisite: Senior Standing, Major within the School of Business

ECON101 - Principles of Econ-Micro

This course is an introduction to the principles of the economic behavior of individuals, firms, and industries in the mixed economic system. Topics include consumer demand; elasticity; supply and costs of production; the allocation of economic resources; international trade; and the role of government in promoting economic welfare.

INTC202 - Data Analytics 

This course provides the conceptual and technical foundations of various aspects of Big Data Analytics. The purpose is to help students acquire foundation skills in Big Data – which can be used to further their specialization in a niche within Big Data. Upon completion of the course students should be able to:•Understand what is Big Data, Cloud Computing and NoSQL Databases.•Various components and architecture of Big Data Analytics.•Different types of Analytics: Text, Descriptive, Predictive and Prescriptive.•How Big Data Analytics is used in different contexts.•Using Analytics and Dashboards to present Actionable Insights.Prerequisite: MATH208

MATH209 - Business Statistics

This is an introductory course in descriptive and inferential statistics focused on applications in business. Topics include: data analysis, and graphical methods of describing data, measures of central tendency and variability, time-series analysis, trend and seasonality analysis, simple and multiple correlation and regression analysis, sales and cost forecasting, probability, expected monetary value, and the Normal distribution. Prerequisites: MATH 106 with a grade of C or better or demonstrated competency through placement testing and ENG 102. With permission of the instructor only.

BUSS101 - Fund of Bus in a Global Envrionment

This course is designed to familiarize students with various aspects of the business world. Areas covered include: private enterprise, forms of ownership, legal aspects, management practices in a diverse and global business environment, marketing, human resources, global operations management, labor relations, and finance. In addition, students become aware of how business functions are integrated into an organization to achieve specific goals both locally and internationally.

INTC102 - Introduction to Computer Science

This introduction to computer science, developed by Google and their university partners, emphasizes problem solving and data analysis skills along with computer programming skills. Using Python, students learn design, implementation, testing, and analysis of algorithms and programs. And within the context of programming, they will learn to formulate problems, think creatively about solutions, and express those solutions clearly and accurately. Problems will be chosen from real-world examples such as graphics, image processing, cryptography, data analysis, astronomy, video games, and environmental simulation. Students get instruction from a world-class computer science professor, delivered remotely through video and interactive media and attend class for collaborative team projects to solve real-life problems, similar to those a team at Google might face. As part of the course, students also hear from Google engineers about their careers in the tech industry and learn how they can prepare for similar careers. Prior programming experience is not a requirement for this course.

INTC103 - IT Fundamentals

This course provides students with the fundamental skills and concepts required to maintain, support, and work efficiently with personal computers. It will assist students in preparing for the Digital Transformation.The course is organized around the five important uses of technology in business – IT concepts, Infrastructure, Applications and Software Development, Database fundamentals, and Security and Cloud Computing.

INTC105X - Data Warehouse & Business Intelligence

This course begins with an introduction of a data warehouse. Students will learn the concepts, tools, and application of Data Warehouse for business reporting and Online Analytical Processing. The course will also teach students how to create visualizations and dashboards and Descriptive Analytics. Core tools used in this course are Microsoft Excel and SAS Visual Analytics. Excel will be used to teach the basics of Visualizations – like Bar charts and Line charts. in order to increase student expertise in SAS Visual Analytics. SAS Visual Analytics will be used as a tool to introduce students to Data Warehousing and building basic visualizations. Students will also be exposed to Facts and Dimensions.

INTC201X - Analytics using SAS Visual Analytics

This course focuses on building and enhancing skills from the Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence course. Students will expand their concepts of Business Intelligence, Visualizations, Dashboards, and Descriptive Analytics. The core tool used in this course is SAS Visual Analytics. Students will create visualizations, dashboards, and export reports to be able to present to the class. Prerequisite: INTC104X

INTC203 - OS + Algorithms

This course serves as an introduction to the theory and structure of modern operating systems including hardware abstraction, process management, memory management, system performance and security. Specific attention is payed to multi-threaded processing, semaphores, locking and interprocess communication.

INTC304 - Marketing Analytics

The course provides the conceptual and technical foundations of various marketing metrics and research methods. The purpose of the course is to allow students to acquire practical marketing skills in Data Analysis via hands-on experience. Prereq: BSS220 & INTC202

INTC306 - Advanced Python Programming

This course provides students with the opportunity to write useful Python applications in the ETL, web, and data analysis domains and knowledge of industry-standard tools and techniques for working within a development team. The course goes further into Python’s powerful advanced features, such as user-defined classes, object-oriented design, decorators, and generators. Students will learn to employ the most widely used algorithms and libraries to solve common problems in the field and gain a working familiarity with statistical analysis and visualization using Pandas, NumPy, and Matplotlib. . Query and parse HTML, XML, and JSON are used.. Students will learn to apply industry-standard tools and techniques for working within a development team, such as Git for versioning and code review. The course concludes with a discussion of common interview questions and pathways for gaining experience and eventually securing a position in the field.Prereq: INTC102 & INTC202

INTC308 - Predictive & Prescriptive Analytics

In this course, students will be introduced to the fundamentals of the art and science of Predictive Analytics as it relates to improving business performance. This hands-on course covers the key concepts necessary to extract stored data elements, understand what they mean from a business point of view, transform their formats, and derive new relationships among them to produce a dataset suitable for analytical modeling. At the end of the course, participants will be tasked with using these skills to produce a fully processed data set compatible for building powerful predictive models that can be deployed to increase profitability. Prereq: INTC303

INTC402 - Analytics with R

This course introduces students to R, a widely used statistical programming language. Students will learn to manipulate data objects, produce graphics, analyse data using common statistical methods, and generate reproducible statistical reports. They will also gain experience in applying these acquired skills in various public policy areas. Prereq: INTC102 & INTC202

INTC409 - Project & Program Management

This course allows students to develop the competencies and skills for planning and controlling projects and understanding interpersonal issues that drive successful project outcomes. Focusing on the introduction of new products and processes, students will examine the project management life cycle, define project parameters, matrix management challenges, effective project management tools and techniques, and take on the role of a project manager. This course is designed to guide students through the fundamental project management tools and behavioral skills necessary to successfully launch, lead, and realize benefits from projects in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Prereq: Internship & INTC103

INTC303 - Machine Learning

Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides computers with the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. This area is also concerned with issues both theoretical and practical.In this course, we will present algorithms and approaches in such a way that grounds them in larger systems as you learn about a variety of topics, including:statistical supervised and unsupervised learning methods, randomized search algorithms, reinforcement learning: Prereq: INTC102 & INTC202

INTC403 - Advanced Predictive Analytics

Acquire in-depth knowledge on advanced predictive analytics topics and apply those to real-world situations. These scenarios illustrate the significant role that predictive analytics plays. You pay particular attention to developing your ability to effectively interpret the outcomes of statistical models. You also focus on time series data analysis and survival analysis using the SAS system. Prereq: INTC308