M.S. in Business Intelligence and Database Systems

Program Overview

This Master's program in Business Intelligence and Database Systems equips students with the skills to analyze, visualize, and manage data effectively. Through a combination of core management courses and specialized electives, students gain expertise in data analytics, database management, and business intelligence tools. The program prepares graduates for careers in data analysis, business intelligence, and database administration.

Program Outline

Outline:

• Business Intelligence and Database Systems Required Courses (12 credits)
• MDAN 631: Fundamentals of Visual Data Analytics (3 Credits)
• Course navigates real-world business problems across different industries, focusing on iteratively deriving solutions through static and interactive dashboards.
• Students gain hands-on experience with the latest cloud BI software, ingesting data and structuring relations between disparate sources.
• Working in agile-like weekly sprints, students learn to identify patterns and anomalies, conduct prescriptive analyses, and effectively communicate insights to influence decision making of technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• MDAN 632: Interactive Data Visualization (3 Credits)
• Delves deeper into the intricacies of data analysis and visualization techniques.
• Through a combination of theoretical concepts and practical applications, students explore advanced topics in data visualization, leveraging more robust features and functionalities.
• Emphasizes the development of advanced dashboard designs tailored to specific business needs and objectives.
• Students learn advanced techniques for data aggregation, filtering, and calculations to create dynamic and interactive visualizations that facilitate deeper insights and understanding of complex datasets.
• Prerequisite: MDAN 631
• MSIN 627: Multi-Dimensional Analytics and Visualization (3 Credits)
• Introduces the practice of managing data as corporate assets by organizations to gain competitive advantage and meet regulatory demand.
• Describes the data management emerging profession, and skills required to perform the various data management functions for each role.
• Prerequisite: MSIN 615
• MSIN 637: Principles of Data Analysis (3 Credits)
• Hands-on introduction to the field of Data Analytics where students learn the concepts and tools needed throughout the analysis process from formulating the research question to obtaining, cleaning, and collating data to making inferences and publishing results.
• Students also learn how to formulate research questions in “data terms” so that it can be analyzed and identify the limitations imposed by the available data.
• Students become versed in sorting data, filtering data and creating data totals.
• They will learn how to use Pivot Tables.
• They will also master Statistical Functions, Text Functions, Database Functions, Lookup Functions, and Date and Time Functions among others.
• Students will be introduced to data types, control structures, functions, and debugging tools.
• They will learn how to acquire data, what it means to clean data by removing inconsistencies and reformat data so that it can be analyzed by statistical tools.
• Corequisite: MSIN 616
• Program Core Management Courses (12 credits)
• MSIN 605: Strategic Management of Technology (3 Credits)
• Focuses on the strategic management of technology and innovation in firms of various types.
• These technology innovations can encompass software, hardware, or other forms of technology and even the very processes needed to design, develop, and manufacture the resultant technological products.
• Students develop an understanding of technological innovation and the issues and strategies for organizing, managing, diffusing, and protecting innovation.
• MSIN 607: Effective Oral and Written Communication for Managers (3 Credits)
• Emphasizes the importance of good communication skills for corporate managers in the business world.
• This course identifies and reviews the foundations of business communication - listening, speaking, writing, and reading - and broadens students' experience by building communication skills using technologies and practical business applications.
• The goal of this course is for students to become confident, flexible, and resourceful communicators in the competitive intercultural global business community.
• MSIN 609: Information Technology Project Management (3 Credits)
• Provides the fundamental principles of technology project management.
• Students learn how to use Project Management Best Practices to bring order to the otherwise chaotic world of information technology projects, by defining a set of guidelines and standards, and then adhering to them.
• Students learn to view Project Management as a set of tools that are an integral part of business strategy.
• MSIN 695: Capstone Course: Information Systems Research Project Seminar (3 Credits)
• Provides students with the opportunity to plan a major research paper or project and implement it from start to finish using a combination of their conceptual, technical, and applied knowledge.
• As the capstone course in the program, the project developed draws on the skills and knowledge gained throughout the program.
• Project deliverables have deadlines staggered throughout the semester.
• Must be taken in last semester.
• Business Intelligence and Database Systems Elective Courses (9 credits)
• MDAN 621: R for Data Analytics (3 Credits)
• Introduction to the basics and fundamentals of R programming/syntax to eventually be able to write R scripts.
• R will be used to solve problems related to data.
• Students will learn to assign variables and perform simple operations with vectors.
• Students will also learn about lists, matrix, arrays and data frames.
• To complete the basics, the course will cover conditional statements, functions, classes and debugging.
• Students will advance to reading and writing data in R, in either table format (CSV, Excel) or in a text file (.txt).
• Finally, students will cover important functions for character strings and dates in R.
• MDAN 622: Python for Data Analytics (3 Credits)
• Introduces the basics of the python programming environment, including fundamental python programming techniques such as lambdas, reading and manipulating csv files, and the NumPy library.
• The course will introduce data manipulation and cleaning techniques using the popular python pandas data science library and introduce the abstraction of the Series and DataFrame as the central data structures for data analysis, along with tutorials on how to use functions such as group by, merge, and pivot tables effectively.
• By the end of this course, students will be able to take tabular data, clean it, manipulate it, and run basic inferential statistical analyses.
• Pre-or Corequisite: MDAN 608 & WMMN 607 or MDAN 610
• MDAN 623: Statistics for Data Analytics (3 Credits)
• Introduces univariate data analysis methods using statistics.
Data visualization methods and practices, and an overview of sampling techniques for data collection.
• Specifically, this course teaches introductory statistical methods for the analysis and visualization of data and basic concepts of probability theory.
• Course topics include descriptive statistics, data visualization techniques, an introduction to statistical inference (confidence intervals and hypothesis testing) for decision making, linear regression models, data sampling techniques.
• The students will learn the statistical package SPSS to analyze data sets from real-world applications.
• MSIN 614: Data Transformation, Migration and Integration (3 Credits)
• Combines lectures with hands-on labs to teach students necessary skills to install, upgrade, manage & administer SQL Server instances and databases for performance, high availability &Disaster Recover.
• Topics covered in the class will include System Databases, Data Files, Log Files & Check Points, Memory CPU and Disk Redundancy Discussions, indexing and query optimization, Database backup and restoration, Log Shipping, Database Mirroring, Database Replication, Database Snapshots, Security, Policy Based Management, SQL Agent, Task Scheduling& Automation, Database Mail, Database Maintenance Plans, Monitoring, Alerting & Tuning, Blocking Transitions & Dedicated Administrator Connection.
• Prerequisite: MSIN 615
• MSIN 616: Advanced Database Management and Data Analytics (3 Credits)
• Building on Database Management and Administration, the course explores additional data modeling techniques, concepts of database integrity and transaction management, stored procedures, user-defined functions, database programming, query optimization, performance and tuning, and other advanced SQL topics.
• Prerequisite: MSIN 615
• MSIN 633: Data Modeling, Analysis, and Visualization (3 Credits)
• Combines lectures with hands-on labs to help students understand transaction systems, data warehouses, fact and dimension tables, design custom columns, custom tables and create multi-dimensional data models based on a wide variety of data sources.
• Dashboards and widgets of varying complexities will be created using hierarchies, expressions, and functions for data analysis, visualization and decision support.
• Pre- or Corequisite: MSIN 616
• MSIN 675: Professional Internship Experience (3 Credits)
• Student will work in a professional environment, for a minimum of 480 hours over a period of at least two semesters.
• Students may secure an internship independently or may work with the GST Department of Career Services.
• Weekly logs and examples of work are required for the successful completion of the internship, and are reviewed by the Faculty Internship Coordinator, upon completion of the internship.
• The purpose of the internship is to provide students with practical, hands-on experience in their chosen field of expertise to complement their coursework.
• The Internship must be approved in advance by the program chair.
• Pre- or Corequisite: Permission of the Program Chair
• MSIN 677: Advanced Data Visualization (3 Credits)
• Explores data analytics and visualization.
• The course will begin by reviewing analytical methods with an emphasis on the art of crafting compelling data stories.
• Through lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on tutorials, students will learn how to transform datasets into visualizations and dashboards that communicate key findings and that utilize visual design principles.
• By the course's end, students will be equipped to present insightful, data-driven narratives that enable decision-makers to discern trends and make informed choices.
• Prerequisite: MSIN 627
• MSIN 678: Business Intelligence Through Data Visualization and Power BI (3 Credits)
• Combines lectures with hands-on labs to teach students necessary skills to connect to Various Data sources, Transform Data, Design Data Models, create, manage, and format Charts/Visuals/DashBoards using various data sources e.g.
excel files, SQL Server Databases, and MS Access databases etc. of various complexities & Work with Filtering
• Students will start with connecting to Datasources, transform data, design models and create simple charts and move onto designing more complex Models and charts of various types including analyzing data over time, trends analysis etc.
Advanced formatting, DAX expressions and Filtering will be utilized to make charts stand out.
• Prerequisite: MSIN 627
• MDAN 675: Full Time CPT (3 Credits)
• Student will work in a professional environment, for a minimum of 480 hours over a period of one semester.
• The student may secure an internship independently or may work with the GST Department of Career Services.
• The purpose of practical training is to provide valuable experiences that enhance the skills and competencies the student learns during the Touro degree program, providing the student with practical, hands-on experience in his/her chosen field of expertise to complement the coursework..
• These experiences must be directly related to the student’s major area of study and be an integral part of an established curriculum.
As such, the student needs approval before pursuing CPT.
• This is a 3-credit course and will serve as the first semester of CPT.
• Weekly logs and examples of work are required for the successful completion of the internship, and are reviewed by the Faculty Internship Coordinator, upon completion of the internship.
• The Internship must be approved in advance by the program chair.
• Pre- or Corequisite: Permission of the Program Chair
• MDAN 676: Part Time CPT (3 Credits)
• Student will work in a professional environment, for a minimum of 240 hours over a period of one semester.
• Students may secure an internship independently or may work with the GST Department of Career Services.
• The purpose of practical training is to provide valuable experiences that enhance the skills and competencies you are learning through your Touro degree program.
• These experiences must be directly related to the student’s major area of study and an integral part of an established curriculum.
As such, you will need approval before pursuing CPT.
• This is a 3-credit course and will serve as the first semester of CPT.
• Weekly logs and examples of work are required for the successful completion of the internship, and are reviewed by the Faculty Internship Coordinator, upon completion of the internship.
• The purpose of the internship is to provide students with practical, hands-on experience in their chosen field of expertise to complement their coursework.
• The Internship must be approved in advance by the program chair.
• Pre- or Corequisite: Permission of the Program Chair
• MDAN 677: Full Time CPT (1 Credit)
• Student will work in a professional environment, for a minimum of 480 hours over a period of one semester.
• This working experience must build upon the one experienced in either MDAN 675 or MDAN 676.
• The student may secure an internship independently or may work with the GST Department of Career Services.
• The purpose of practical training is to provide valuable experiences that enhance the skills and competencies the student learns during the Touro degree program, providing the student with practical, hands-on experience in his/her chosen field of expertise to complement the coursework..
• These experiences must be directly related to the student’s major area of study and be an integral part of an established curriculum.
As such, the student needs approval before pursuing CPT.
• This is a 1-credit course and will serve as the second semester of CPT.
• Weekly logs and examples of work are required for the successful completion of the internship, and are reviewed by the Faculty Internship Coordinator, upon completion of the internship.
• The Internship must be approved in advance by the program chair.
• Pre-requisite: MDAN 675 OR 676
• MDAN 678: Part Time CPT (1 Credit)
• Student will work in a professional environment, for a minimum of 240 hours over a period of one semester.
• This working experience must build upon the one experienced in either MDAN 675 or MDAN 676.
• The student may secure an internship independently or may work with the GST Department of Career Services.
• The purpose of practical training is to provide valuable experiences that enhance the skills and competencies the student learns during the Touro degree program, providing the student with practical, hands-on experience in his/her chosen field of expertise to complement the coursework..
• These experiences must be directly related to the student’s major area of study and be an integral part of an established curriculum.
As such, the student needs approval before pursuing CPT.
• This is a 1-credit course and will serve as the second semester of CPT.
• Weekly logs and examples of work are required for the successful completion of the internship, and are reviewed by the Faculty Internship Coordinator, upon completion of the internship.
• The Internship must be approved in advance by the program chair.
• Pre-requisite: MDAN 675 OR 676
• Preparatory Courses
• MDAN 608: Introduction to Programming (3 Credits)
• Introduces students to problem solving techniques used in programming.
• Students will learn object-oriented and event driven programming concepts including language constructs, logical structures, file management and error trappings.
• Students will program in the Alice 2.3 3-D Programming Language Environment that was specifically developed to make learning programming more accessible and exciting to students.
• Students will learn how to create and use objects and their properties and methods, as well as how to write code for custom object methods.
• Students will utilize programming control structures such as loops, selection structures, methods, and classes.
• MSIN 512: IT Software and Security Principles (3 Credits)
• Provides an introduction to the computer hardware, software, and security skills needed to meet the growing demand for entry - level information technology (IT) professionals.
• It covers the fundamentals of PC computer technology, networking, and security with emphasis on the software portion of the CompTIA A+ 220-802 certification examination.
• Students develop working knowledge of how computers operate, how to assemble computers, how to troubleshoot hardware and software issues, and implement computer system security.
• MBAN 503: Introduction to Statistics (1 Credit)
• Structured to enable students to develop and increase their competence in the broad area of statistics and quantitative analysis.
• Each PowerPoint module will provide definition of terms, the statistics, examples of applied usage & its interpretation.
• External readings and audiovisual recordings of key concepts will also be required.
• MDAN 609: Introduction to Analytical Processes (Excel) (1 Credit)
• Allows the student to comprehend and appreciate creating and working with excel lists.
• Using multiple worksheets and workbooks.
• Applying excel editing and web tools.
• Developing an excel application.
• Students will use tutorial lab exercises to grasp the above excel concepts.
• MDAN 610: Introduction to Database (3 Credits)
• Covers the database concepts that are the foundation and building blocks of sound database design and management.
• Explains why good database design is critical to the accurate and efficient storage and retrieval of data.
• The course will explore database design techniques such as database models, database modeling/design tools using Microsoft Visio.
• The course identifies the functions provided by a database management system to help insure the integrity of data.
• It teaches students how to design a database that maximizes data integrity using normalization techniques.
• Students will use MS Access interface to create and populate a database.
• It also covers the use of SQL to create and populate tables, retrieve and update data.
• MSIN 511: Technology Concepts and Essentials (1 Credit)

Careers:

• Data Analyst
• Business Intelligence Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Data Engineer
• Database Administrator