Objectives:

The Data Science minor aims to provide students with practical knowledge of the methods and techniques of data analysis, as well as the ability to think critically about the construction and implications of data analysis and models. The minor will empower students across the wide array of campus disciplines with a working knowledge of statistics, probability, and computation that allows students not just to participate in data science projects, but to design and carry out rigorous computational and inferential analysis for their field of interest. 

Competencies, Knowledge, or Skills to be Achieved:

A student who completes the minor will be able to formulate questions in a domain that can be answered with data, use tools and algorithms from data mining, statistics, applied mathematics, and computer science for analyses. They will be able to visualize, interpret, and explain results cogently, accurately, and persuasively, and understand the underlying social, political, and ethical contexts that are inevitably tied to the data-driven decision-making process. They will be able to connect data to underlying phenomena and think critically about conclusions drawn from data analysis. They willbe knowledgeable about programming abstractions so that they can design their own computational inferential procedures, being well versed in the Python and R programming languages.