This semester, UW-Milwaukee is debuting its undergraduate Multidisciplinary Data Analytics and Applied Artificial Intelligence certificate. The new certificate is designed to complement nearly any academic major so that students are prepared not only for a career in their field, but to also use these skills to give them a competitive edge in whatever job they pursue.
“All of us know … that data science and AI are really gaining widespread use and therefore substantially higher employability,” explained Purushottam Papatla. “We felt that it’s probably a good time to offer this opportunity to students who might want to complement their skills and make themselves more employable.”
Papatla, the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute Professor in marketing in UWM’s Lubar School of Business and a co-director of the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute, is one of the architects of the certificate. He and his colleagues noticed that students are becoming more interested the fields of data science and analytics, but many of them aren’t ready to declare a full major or might have another major in mind. The certificate gives students “the opportunity to gain the skills in data analytics, data science and artificial intelligence in a smaller chunk,” Papatla said.
After a student has earned this certificate, “They will be able to take data that’s either being generated or being acquired by the business they’re working at, whatever that might be, and pull insights from the data that could help that form of business become more effective, efficient, and more productive,” he added.
To earn the certificate, students must take 15 credits (five courses) from four different areas: Data science, artificial intelligence, statistics, and programming. The remaining credits can be fulfilled with an elective course in any of the four areas.
True to its name, the courses are multidisciplinary. Although the certificate is housed in the College of Letters & Science, classes are drawn from across UWM. For example, students can fulfill their data science requirement with qualifying courses in computer science, freshwater science, or other disciplines. They can fulfill the programming requirement with a class in biological sciences, information studies, or business administration, among others.
That’s important because data science and artificial intelligence skills are applicable to any discipline, not just mathematics or computer science. Papatla points to writing as an example. Writing takes skill and creativity, but a writer might use data science or AI to identify what might make their work more marketable to readers.
“That’s the scope of data science and AI today,” Papatla said. “You can do that with dance. You can do that with art. You can do that in engineering or business. It doesn’t matter what discipline you’re in. Anyone can benefit from it, because today there’s virtually no context of a job where some form of data is not being generated.”
There are other opportunities for students to learn more about data science. UWM is also offering a graduate certificate in Data Science and Applied Artificial Intelligence, and Papatla reported that the university plans to launch new microcredentials this spring. Microcredentials require more than a single college course but are shorter than degree or certificate programs. To fund the roll-out, UW-Milwaukee received a generous grant from the Higher Education Regional Alliance (HERA), which is interested in interested in promoting data science and AI in the Milwaukee region to attract new businesses and workers to the city, as well as to support existing businesses.
In the meantime, Papatla hopes that students interested in supplementing their education will check out the new undergraduate certificate – no matter their major. Students who are interested or have questions should contact Administrative Specialist and program advisor Jill Baum for more information.
By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science