The NJCU School of Business at New Jersey City University has launched a Master of Science degree program in Business Analytics and Data Science designed to prepare students for careers in the burgeoning field of data analytics.

The Master of Science in Business Analytics and Data Science program will prepare students with the skills needed to gather, store, analyze and interpret large amounts of “Big Data” to facilitate informed business decision-making.

Data analytics is an area of strong employment growth. A recent study by McKinsey Global Institute projects about 500,000 jobs requiring data analysis skills by 2018, with a projected shortage of about 190,000 jobs. The NJCU School of Business program permits graduate students with an interest in analytics to focus their studies on techniques suitable to specific business disciplines such as finance, marketing, logistics and accounting.

To read more stories about NJCU, scroll down:

NJCU Students Participate in Inauguration Seminar
NJCU Appoints Dr. Will Guzmán Director of Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center
NJCU Wins in India for 2nd Time at International Economics Convention

“It’s clear that ‘Big Data’ is increasingly at the center of global business practices,” NJCU President Sue Henderson stated, adding, “Our Business Analytics and Data Science degree will prepare new graduates as well as seasoned professionals to become leaders in this vitally important emerging field.”

The program will be fully geared towards practice and can be completed within 16 months as part of a full-time cohort-based program, or over a two-year period on a part-time basis. Students will complete eight core data analytics courses and four electives culminating in a capstone project that applies their knowledge to a real world data science problem.

Among the NJCU faculty experts teaching in the area of business analytics and data science are top practicioners:

•J.D. Jayaraman, Associate Professor, Finance, who brings exceptional experience to the field of finance with his work as Global Business Manager of e-trading, models and analytics at Bloomberg, L.P. and Senior Vice President, Risk Management at Citigroup. Dr. Jayaraman received his Ph.D. in Finance from Oklahoma State University.

•Li Xu, Assistant Professor, Finance, has a unique interdisciplinary profile that spans Decision Science, Engineering, Finance, Computer Science and Mathematics. Dr. Xu comes to NJCU from State Street Bank in Boston, where he acquired extensive experience in “Big Data” analysis and business analytics. While there he constructed data-driven models to predict probability of default, loss given default, and operational risk. Dr. Xu received his Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering with specialization in Finance from Stanford University

Dr. Bernard McSherry, founding dean of the NJCU School of Business, commented, “Our M.S. degree in Business Analytics and Data Science is an essential component of our core commitment to provide our students with access to leading experts in the cutting-edge technologies that are shaping the modern business landscape”.

The M.S. in Business Analytics and Data Science program will enroll its inaugural class for Fall 2017.

NJCU Students Participate in Inauguration Seminar

Three NJCU students, Phil Cranwell ’17, Will Ospina ’19, and Richard Pastrana ’16, ’17 M.S., were recently selected to attend The Washington Center’s Presidential Inauguration Seminar. The event, which takes place in the nation’s capital from January 9 through Inauguration Day, consists of a series of lectures; panel discussions; and site visits to government agencies, think tanks, and embassies to analyze the most pressing policy issues facing the U.S. The NJCU students’ participation in the seminar was partially financed by the University’s President’s Office.

Cranwell, a political science major, works as a captain in the North Hudson Fire Department and plans to pursue a law degree. Ospina is a double major in history and political science is studying be an educator. Pastrana, the NJCU senior class president for the 2015-16 school year, currently works at the University’s Office of Student Outreach and Retention (SOAR) and is pursuing his master’s in criminal science.

The Washington Center seminar will offer college credit for the NJCU students, all of whom will be required to complete a rigorous acade
mic workload that includes daily analytic journal entries, weekly essays, and comprehensive readings and research on matters such as immigration, race and equity, national security, the economy, the environment, and of course, a post mortem on the 2016 election.

Cranwell, Ospina and Pastrana have also agreed to document their experiences for NJCU. In the coming days, be sure to check out the University’s social media channels for photos and dispatches from the seminar.

NJCU Appoints Dr. Will Guzmán Director of Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center

Dr. Will Guzmán, a scholar of African/African American history and culture, is the newly appointed Director of the Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center at New Jersey City University.

NJCU’s Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center promotes academic excellence and social responsibility among faculty, students and surrounding community about issues necessary to the empowerment of peoples across the African Diaspora. The Center presents challenging and stimulating workshops, speakers, research, conferences; seminars, exhibitions and performances that help develop and support cultural, political, educational, and economic growth for the community.

Dr. Guzmán came to NJCU from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) where he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and African American Studies.

As an administrator, Dr. Guzmán previously served as Director of the Office of Black Diasporan Culture at Florida A&M University, and as the Associate Director of the Meek-Eaton Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum.

Dr. Guzmán also worked as the site manager, program manager, and senior training manager for the Florida ABOUT FACE! Program for which he planned, developed, and oversaw a $2.5 million state-issued contract and supervised 85 employees at 27 sites statewide.

He has extensive professional and community networking links in the Jersey City community and across New Jersey.

Dr. Guzmán holds a Bachelor of Science degree in African American Studies from FAMU, a Master of Science in Social Science Education from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. with a focus on Borderlands History, U.S. History, and the African Diaspora from the University of Texas—El Paso.

His book, “Civil Rights in the Texas Borderlands: Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon and Black Activism” (University of Illinois Press, 2015) won the C. Calvin Smith Book Prize. Dr. Guzmán has published work in peer-reviewed journals and public history publications on various areas of African/African American history and culture.

Among Dr. Guzmán’s research interests are African American history, Afro-Latinas/Latinos history, Caribbean and Latin American history, and United States history.

He is a member of the National Council for Black Studies, the West African Research Association, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the Southern Conference on African American Studies.

NJCU Wins in India for 2nd Time at International Economics Convention

Team NJCU competed in the XXIV International Economics Convention, hosted by C.H.M. College (Smt. Chandibai Himathmal Mansukhani College). Convention organizers challenged students from eight different India-based colleges and another U.S. team from West Georgia, to research Global Risk as applied to their assigned country.

(Left to right): Dr. John Donnellan, Maurice Outlaw, Kaylee Saltos, Jamie La Paz, Erika Gonzalez, Dr. Wanda Rutledge

Team NJCU was given India and prepared a 35-page research paper about key global risks from the Indian perspective, designing a time series model that evaluated risk in the sectors of water, agriculture, service (IT, financial services, tourism) and their contribution to GDP, and provided for a five-year forecast of future risk. NJCU won for the second year in a row the best Q&A for critical thinking and their ability to think on their feet. Senior Maurice Outlaw won best overall presenter and for greatest contribution to the team , while Dr. John Donnellan and Dr. Wanda Rutledge were recognized for faculty leadership.

Each of NJCU’s team members resides in New Jersey and all four students are Global Business Majors. Maurice Outlaw is a senior from Jersey City and a returning member from last year’s team that competed in the same convention; Erika Gonzalez is a sophomore from Union City; Jamie La Paz is a senior, minoring in Media Arts also from Union City; and Kaylee Saltos is a senior co-majoring in Biology from Union City.