About the School of Data Science and Analytics

Sherrill W. Hayes, PhD Kennesaw State University

 

Welcome to the School of Data Science and Analytics at Kennesaw State! The School of Data Science and Analytics (SDSA) at Kennesaw State is a “one-stop shop” for education and research. We achieve this by offering a “full-stack” of academic programs including general education courses, an undergraduate minor, online certificates, a masters degree, and the first PhD in Analytics and Data Science in the US.

  • Our faculty taught 5,299 students in STAT 1401 during AY 21-22, an increase of 602 over the previous year.

  • We successfully launched DATA 1501, a new general education course in Data Science, and taught 324 students in the first year!

  • STAT 2332, a required course for most STEM majors, saw an enrollment increase of 435 students (1387 total) in AY 21-22.

  • We hired 2 new research faculty with expertise in biostatistics, medical research, EMR data, multivariate, and time series analyses AND 3 new teaching faculty to help us provide more access to courses and improve student success.

  • The undergraduate minor in Applied Statistics and Analytics can be included in ANY major. It typically has around 150 students, making it one of the most popular minors at KSU. Our undergraduate researchers have presented at Posters at the Capitol (Atlanta) and Posters on the Hill in Washington, DC multiple times.

  • The Master of Science in Applied Statistics and Analytics has a 99% job placement rate within the first 6 months after graduation, with almost all of those students going directly into analytics and data science jobs.

  • The PhD in Analytics and Data Science was founded in 2015. Students have produced 4 patents and over 250 publications. Approximately 40% of our PhD students are female.

  • Our on-line, on-demand certificate programs (OPEN TO ANYONE) are providing needed skills to boost the data science and analytics workforce in Georgia. You can learn more about R, Python, or Rapid Miner.

Industry, government, and organizations partner with us to find solutions to their data-centric problems by collaborating with faculty and students through the Center for Statistics and Analytical Research (CSAR), the Human Studies Lab, and the Care Informatics Lab. Faculty research expertise spans healthcare, credit scoring, medical research, epidemiology, AI Ethics, program evaluation, process improvement, and more. Faculty and graduate students are well versed in well-established statistical and analytical methods, as well as techniques like machine learning, facial recognition, neural networks, and deep learning.

  • The Center for Statistics and Analytical Research (CSAR) has generated over $2.5 million in research funding by working with more than 15 companies on REAL data science research projects. These projects are carried out by interdisciplinary teams of faculty, PhD, MS, and sometimes undergraduate students in collaboration with partners.

  • The DS 7900 and STAT 8940 classes are sponsored every semester by companies like Southern Company, SPANX, and Coke One North America. Students work on an analytics problem, present their solutions to company executives, and have a chance to win a prize!

  • Alums of our programs have gone on to work in data science and analytics roles in places like Equifax, Home Depot, Coke One North America, HP Innovation, the Atlanta Braves, Americold, Truist, University of Pennsylvania, Tennessee Technological University, and University of New Hampshire.

  • Our MS and PhD programs are consistently ranked as Top 50 Best Value Big Data Graduate Programs.

    Please feel free to reach out to me or any of our faculty and staff with questions about the School, research, teaching, or opportunities to learn and partner with us.

Best regards,
Sherrill W. Hayes, PhD
Director, School of Data Science and Analytics

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