2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]
Data Science, BS
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Data Science
Program Requirements (61 Credits)
Students are required to complete the following courses
Foundational Skills - 31 credits
The foundational courses provide students with fundamental knowledge across four “literacies”: data, algorithmic, mathematical, and statistical. Courses in this area will help students develop baseline computational capabilities, will teach students to think about data in a statistical framework, and will introduce students to fundamental mathematical concepts arising in data analysis. These courses are drawn from three main disciplines (CS/IS, Math, and Statistics) and include an introductory course in the fundamental skills of working with data (Python/R programming, exploratory data analysis, data visualization):
Expertise - 18 credits
This is where students become data scientists, integrating skills from the foundational areas to develop expertise in the realm of data. Skills will be developed in the description and analysis of data in terms of sources of variability and key relationships, the development of algorithms and data handling skills to extract and interpret information from complex data sets, as well as in the visualization and communication of results. The critical issue of the ethical use of data will also be addressed in the context of data science.
Specialization - 9 credits
Students within the data science major will have the opportunity to pursue an area of specialization through the selection of elective courses in a targeted direction relating to data analytics, computer systems, modeling, or data science in context. While selecting all 3 courses from the same category is advised for students seeking a focus, students may also choose courses across categories to suit their interests, if they prefer that approach. The specialization course groupings are as follows.
- Data Analytics: Students pursuing a data analytics specialization will enhance their ability to make sound inferences and decisions using the science and art of learning from data: specifically, the design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data in an uncertain world, and the communication of findings.
- Modeling: Students pursuing a modeling specialization will enhance their ability to develop and harness theoretical tools to characterize structure within data and to represent and analyze processes that may underlie this structure.
- Computer Systems: Students pursuing this specialization will gain depth of knowledge in the development, deployment, and analysis of the complex computer and information systems necessary for tackling large-scale data science problems.
- Data Science in Context: Students pursuing this specialization will gain depth of knowledge in both the technical and organizational aspects of the management, curation, description, preservation, and application of digital datasets of varying sizes in specific business, professional, or scientific contexts. We expect the collection of courses within the specialization to expand as more domain-specific data science courses begin to be offered across campus.
Capstone - 3 credits
Data science is a hands-on field. Comprehensive training in data science requires substantive experience working on a problem outside of the realm of usual classroom experiences, with the complications of messy data, ambiguity, and lack of clear structure that characterize “real-world” scenarios. This experience should include work with others with diverse skill sets as well as communication with non-specialists. The capstone
course will provide students with such an experience. In the short term, the capstone course requirements can be fulfilled through completion of CMPINF 1981 - PROJECT STUDIO , MATH 1103 - MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS IN BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, AND GOVERNMENT , or STAT 1961 (Statistical Data Science in Action). In this case, students will be advised to select a capstone course based on their specializations but ultimately will be able to choose from among the full list of capstone options. In addition, the capstone requirement may be satisfied via a faculty-guided research project that is relevant to data science, subject to approval by the Data Science program director(s). After we have more experience in integrating and coordinating our courses across the three units, we will consider a unified cross-listed capstone course if that is deemed more desirable.
Grade Requirements*
Students must earn at least a C grade in each course required for the major.
*On June 27, 2022 the Grade Requirements information was updated in the published catalog. In an effort to provide accurate information the update was made on June 27, 2022.
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