Contact: Aspen Harris
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s data science program is celebrating the first graduating class of students earning the Graduate Certificate for Data Science Pedagogy.
Launched in 2022, the post-graduate certificate program prepares K-14 instructors to integrate data science in classrooms to equip students to meet the growing demand for experts in this field amidst the digital transformation of industry. The first cohort includes nine faculty and staff members from Jones College in Ellisville.
“The program has equipped these Jones College faculty with the ability to integrate data science competencies into their courses’ curriculum, regardless of subject,” said Jonathan Fennell, Jones College chief of staff and program graduate. “Jones College staff who completed the program now are equipped to think with a data science mindset and optimize real-world business solutions to solve problems that the institution faces.”
Fennell said MSU’s expert faculty connected the dots about data science and critical thinking for the students throughout the program.
Mimmo Parisi, director and professor of data science, said the program was successful and beyond expectations, but it also demonstrated a need to expand statewide.
“Data science is not just one part of the state—it’s every business. Everything we do involves data science,” Parisi said. “We have to meet not just the high-skills undergraduate level, but also the beginning skills and middle skills in the K-12 and community college systems.”
Parisi said MSU’s data science program is the first in the Southeastern Conference to look beyond data analytics. The university now offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in data science, as well as undergraduate and graduate minors, in addition to the certificate program.
“We’re looking at data science in its entire ecosystem to support the digital transformation of the economy and to meet the demand of future jobs,” Parisi said.
Learn more about the Data Science Pedagogy Certificate program at www.online.msstate.edu/datascience. For more information on data science at MSU, visit www.datascience.msstate.edu/.
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