Advance Your Skills: Leveraging Data

The next session starts in September 2023.

The Leveraging the Power of Data for Decision-Making Pathway in Alverno College’s Advance Your Skills Pathways Program offers a highly relevant and flexible learning track to equip professionals with the skills needed to understand the critical value of organization-wide information systems and to harness the power of their data necessary for effective decision-making.

How it works

• The program is fully online, and is designed to be completed in six months.
• Each unit is 4 weeks. There are 6 total units per pathway.
• Professionals may enroll in the entire pathway or individual units, based on career interest. Certain units will allow professionals to earn a digital badge upon completion.
• Classes meet once a week for 2 hours live on Zoom.
• There is asynchronous work (reading, videos, and projects).
• Those who successfully complete the pathway will earn a professional certificate.

Developed and taught by Alverno faculty and industry professionals, the Leveraging the Power of Data for Decision-Making Pathway blends synchronous and asynchronous learning and fits into your busy schedule. Professionals will benefit from Alverno’s well-regarded model of experiential learning and highly sought interpersonal skills, developing knowledge and abilities that are immediately applicable to the workplace.

Register here. Registration deadline: September 19, 2023.

To learn more, or to discuss how our program can serve your organization, please contact us.

LEARNING CONTENT

Unit I: Technology Strategy, Systems and Relationships (September 26-October 17, 2023)

In this unit, you will understand how technology is an important part of an organization’s strategy. You will identify the critical systems within an organization and the types of data they house. You will develop process flows to understand how the data from different systems bring value and impact decision-making. You will learn how the integration of systems, people and processes provide value to an organization and create a competitive advantage.

Unit II: Following the Trail of Data (October 24-November 14, 2023)

In this unit, you will learn how to navigate the data trail within the various systems across an organization (e.g., Finance, Human Resources, Operations, Marketing, etc.). You will explore the important relationships among such data necessary for successful business practices. You will learn how data can be manipulated for data visualization. You will develop a deeper understanding on how to interact with such data to bring value to an organization.

Unit III: Data Quality — The Value of Clean Data (November 28-December 19, 2023)

In this unit, you will understand the value of clean data. You will learn data warehousing and identify data inconsistencies that can exist across different systems to ensure its reliability and efficiency. You will learn about data governance and compliance and why these best practices are important in breaking down data silos in an organization. You will explore the practical approach of business process management, methodology and the governance process that surrounds data as it flows through an organization.

Unit IV: Using Data for Decision Making* (January 2-23, 2024)

In this unit, you will explore how data is used to drive decisions in organizations. You will learn how to analyze data closely to see patterns that are used in prescriptive or predictive decision-making. You will learn how data refers to the information about people, places, things, business rules, and events in relation to business planning and operations. You will learn how to identify and gather specific business data and statistical information used to make precise decisions on how to move the organization forward.

*Professionals who complete Unit IV may earn a digital badge.

Unit V: Storytelling with Data* (January 30-February 20, 2024)

In this unit, you will explore the power of storytelling with data. You will learn relevant tools (such as Excel, Tableau and Qlik) and how they are used to effectively display data. You will explore the differences between Business Analytics, Data Analytics and Business Intelligence. You will develop an understanding of data mining and how it’s used to solve business problems. You will learn how to develop different visualization strategies to meaningfully relay your story from the data.

*Professionals who complete Unit V may earn a digital badge.

Unit VI: Putting the Power of Data into Practice (February 27-March 19, 2024)

In this unit, you will learn how to leverage the power of data by putting what you have learned into practice, addressing a real-world business problem. Whether from your own organization or that of a real-world business case study, you will demonstrate your ability to understand and use data to successfully navigate challenges, identify opportunities, and provide data-driven solutions. You will then be challenged to develop a communication plan using the data to educate others on the value provided to the organization.

PRICING

The Advance Your Skills Pathways Program costs $3,000 for the entire pathway, while individual learning units cost $500 each.

For more information or to ask about a group rate, please contact adultlearning@alverno.edu.

Cancellation policy: A 50% refund will be issued upon withdrawal during the first unit. A 25% refund will be issued upon withdrawal during the second unit. There is no refund issued upon withdrawal during the third or later units.

The Annual Crime and Fire Safety Report for Alverno College, which includes crime statistics and annual fire safety statistics, can be found online. A hard copy of the report is available upon request. Please send your request to Jason Pilarski, director of Campus Safety.