Certificate in Big Data Analytics

The Big Data Analytics (BDA) certificate is designed to provide students with the tools necessary to compete in the Big Data space.  Students will use big data tools that are currently available to capture, analyze, and present big data.  They will explore a variety of applications with which Big Data tools can be applied, and they will complete a Big Data project. This certificate is currently aimed at students majoring in business, computer science, or mathematics.

- Big Data Analytics

School of Business Admin

Catalog Year: 2016-2017

Degree Specific Credits: 12

Required Cumulative GPA: 3.0

Note: All students pursuing a BDA Certificate must also complete the degree requirements for a UM major.
The 3.0 GPA requirement pertains specifically to the 12 credits required for this certificate, not a student's cumulative GPA.
Please meet with an BDA Certificate Advisor for assistance (Computer Science and Mathematics majors contact their department; all others contact SOBA Advising).
Complete the BDA certificate application (available from the SOBA advising office).


Big Data Analytics Certificate - Foundational Course

Rule: Take the following course.

Note: See individual course descriptions in the catalog for additional grade and prerequisite requirements.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description BMIS 326 - Data Analytics
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., STAT 216 or SOCI 202 or PSYX 222 or FORS 201. This course introduces the terminology and application of big data and data analytics. Students will complete cases in a variety of disciplines as they become acquainted with some of the software, tools, and techniques of data analytics.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

Big Data Analytics Certificate – Elective Courses

Rule: Take 6 credits from the list below.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description BMIS 465 - Real-Time Data Analytics
Offered intermittently. Prereq., STAT 216, BMIS 365 or equivalents. Focuses on analyzing big data in motion using commercially available software.
3 Credits
Show Description BMKT 440 - Marketing Analytics
Offered autumn or spring. Prereq., BMKT 325; junior standing in Business or consent of instr. The purpose of this course is to learn about the importance and value of using new measurement tools in marketing and using related research and data to create compelling content. Students in this course are also challenged to bring actual ideas to life.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 444 - Data Visualization
Offered intermittently. Prereq., M 171; programming experience; and junior, senior, or graduate status; or consent of instr. Visualization fundamentals and applications using special visualization software; formulation of 3-D empirical models; translation of 3-D models into graphical displays; time sequences and pseudo-animation; interactive versus presentation techniques; special techniques for video, CD and other media.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 447 - Machine Learning
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., CSCI 232 or consent of instr.  Introduction to the framework of learning from examples, various learning algorithms such as neural networks, and generic learning principles such as inductive bias, Occam's Razor, and data mining.  Credit not allowed for both CSCI 447 and CSCI 547.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 448 - Pattern Recognition
Offered intermittently. Prereq., Junior or Senior status. Introduction to the framework of unsupervised learning techniques such as clustering (agglomerative, fuzzy, graph theory based, etc.), multivariate analysis approaches (PCA, MDS, LDA, etc.), image analysis (edge detection, etc.), as well as feature selection and generation. Emphasis will be on the underlying algorithms and their implementation. Credit not allowed for both CSCI 448 and CSCI 548.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 464 - Applications Mining Big Data
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper division or consent of instr. Co-convenes with CSCI 564. Introduction to existing data mining software systems and their use, with focus on practical exercises. Topics include data acquisition, data cleansing, feature selection, and data analysis. Credit not allowed for both CSCI 464 and CSCI 564.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 480 - Parallel Computing
Prereq., CSCI 205 and 232, or instructor consent. This course is an introduction to parallelism and parallel programming. Topics include the various forms of parallelism on modern computer hardware (e.g. SIMD vector instructions, GPUs, multiple cores, and networked clusters), with coverage of locality and latency, shared vs non-shared memory, and synchronization mechanisms (locking, atomicity, etc). We will introduce patterns that appear in essentially all programs that need to run fast. We will discuss how to recognize these patterns in a variety of practical problems, discuss efficient algorithms for implementing them, and how to compose these patterns into larger applications. We will address computer architecture at a high level, sufficient to understand the relative costs of operations like arithmetic and data transfer. We also introduce useful tools for debugging correctness and performance of parallel programs. Assignments will include significant parallel programming projects. Co-convenes with CSCI 580. Credit not allowed for both CSCI 480 and CSCI 580.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 564 - Applications Mining Big Data
Offered intermittently. Co-convenes with CSCI 464. Introduction to existing data mining software systems and their use, with focus on practical exercises. Topics include data acquisition, data cleansing, feature selection, and data analysis. Credit not allowed for both CSCI 464 and CSCI 564. Level: Graduate
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 580 - Parallel Computing
Offered intermittently. Prereq., CSCI 232, 205. Parallel processing architectures and programming languages. Co-convenes with CSCI 580. Credit not allowed for both CSCI 480 and CSCI 580. Level: Graduate
3 Credits
Show Description M 461 - Practical Big Data Analytics
Offered autumn. Prereq., STAT 341, and one of M 221 or M 273, or consent of instructor. This is a methods course supporting the Big Data Certificate Program. The course provides the students with the essential tools for the analysis of big data. The content consists of map reduce and canonical information methods for analyzing massively large data sets, windowing methods for the analysis of streaming data, an introduction to predictive analytics, and an introduction to data visualization methods. Level: Undergraduate-Graduate
3 Credits
Show Description M 462 - Theoretical Big Data Analytics
Offered spring. Prereq., M 221 and two other Mathematics / Statistics classes at the 200-level or above, or consent of instr. The main goal of this course is to provide students with a unique opportunity to acquire conceptual knowledge and theoretical background behind mathematical tools applicable to Big Data Analytics and Real Time Computations. Specific challenges of Big Data Analytics, e.g., problems of extracting, unifying, updating, and merging information, and processing of highly parallel and distributed data, will be reviewed. The tools for Big Data Analytics, such as regression analysis, linear estimation, calibration problems, real time processing of incoming (potentially infinite) data, will be studied in more detail. It will be shown how these approaches can be transformed to conform to the Big Data demands. Level: Undergraduate-Graduate
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Big Data Analytics Certificate – Capstone Course

Rule: Take one of the following two courses.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description BMIS 482 - Big Data Project
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., BMIS 326 and any 2 electives listed in part 4 of the Big Data Analytics Certificate, or consent of instructor. Students will work in cross-disciplinary teams to complete big data projects from different disciplines. There will be emphasis on agile project management.
3 Credits
Show Description M 467 - Big Data Analytic Projects
Offered spring. Prereq., two courses chosen from STAT 341, M 221 and M 273, and one of M 461 or M 462, or consent of instructor. This course is a practicum course aimed at developing skills needed to solve big data problems facing industry and academics. Problems are brought to the class by local technology-oriented businesses and university researchers. Lecture topics include project management, interacting with clients, and written and oral presentation of results. Additional lecture topics will be selected to address the specific problems brought to the class and may cover data reduction methods, algorithm design and predictive analytics. Level: Undergraduate-Graduate
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required