Grossman School of Business

Business Analytics Concentration

Today's organizations are drowning in vast amounts of data, the consequence of automated data collection tools and advanced database technology. A substantial challenge for organizations is how to use these vast amounts of data to best achieve or maintain a competitive advantage by improving customer relations, product development, business planning, internal processes and/or operations. This is where the field of Business Analytics (BA) comes into play.

BA focuses on data-driven decision making with the ultimate goal being the conversion of data into context-specific information to facilitate high quality, timely, value-added business decisions. The BA concentration at the University of Vermont is designed to develop and improve students' technical, quantitative, and analytical abilities as well as their critical thinking skills through courses emphasizing the use of data, technology, optimization and statistical analysis, and predictive and exploratory modeling. Data and numbers are only part of the solution however - students must also understand organizational business models, information flows, and the importance of business processes within the organizational value chain.

Students concentrating in BA will take classes covering content in the areas of information systems technology, quantitative methods/tools (operations research, statistics), and business applications (supply chain management, six-sigma quality, marketing research, business process improvement, etc). It is recommended that students who select the BA Concentration pursue a minor in Computer Science, Math or Statistics. The concentration is flexibly designed to align with student interests in a particular area and to incorporate content from the entire Grossman School of Business curriculum.

Students in the BA concentration are required to take CS 021 and four additional courses: One from each of the three areas of Information Systems, Quantitative Tools, and Areas of Applications. One additional course must be taken from any of the three areas.

Information Systems

BSAD 144 – Database Management
BSAD 147 – Green IT & Virtualization
BSAD 196 – Business Driven Decision Making
Any CS 100+ course

Quantitative Tools

BSAD 270 – Quant Anyl for Managerial Dec.
BSAD 273 – Supply Chain Management
EC 200 – Econometrics & Applications

Areas of Applications

BSAD 192 – Business Process Improvement
BSAD 196 – Business Driven Decision Making
BSAD 251 – Marketing Research
BSAD 273 – Supply Chain Management
STAT 224 – Stats for Quality & Productivity.

Requirements

Students in the BA concentration are required to complete CS 021 QR: Computer Programming I

Business Analytics Faculty