New Name, Same Game
Beginning this academic year, the Information Systems & Analytics (ISA) department is now part of the Leavey School of Business. Previously named the Operations Management & Information Systems (OMIS) department, ISA has adapted to reflect its focus on data and business analytics.
“Analytics is critical for today's business as modern computer and network techniques make it easy to collect and store data,” said Haibing Lu, chair of the ISA department. “This data can then be used to derive business insights and support decision making, thus increasing business competitiveness and providing new business opportunities.”
The department will still offer the same programs including majors in both management information systems and accounting & information systems, and minors in management information systems and business analytics for undergraduate students, as well as a master’s in both business analytics and information systems for graduate students.
While operations management courses will still be offered on both the undergraduate and graduate level, the department will increase the number of analytics courses offered across its programs.
“Today's analytics can allow companies to grasp and understand data on a scale never seen before,” said Lu. “With the capability to answer questions like: what happened, how or why did it happened, what is likely to happen next, and how do companies make their desired outcome happen, analytics is a sought-after skill for almost any company.”
Subsequently, the ISA curriculum demands many new analytics courses such as prescriptive analytics, data analysis and visualization with python, predictive analytics, and analytical decision making, to name a few. With this new focus on analytics, business students will receive cutting-edge skills in analytics, expand their career potential, strengthen their competitiveness in the job market and be positioned for success in today’s tech-driven business environment, especially that of Silicon Valley.
“With the importance of data in the business world,” said Caryn Beck-Dudley, dean of the Leavey School of Business, “we are on track to be the leader of analytics education in the Bay Area.”