New Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics allows OHIO One-Year MBA students to attain new skills and improve career opportunities

With the recent launch of Ohio University’s Online Graduate Business Certificates, students enrolled in the One-Year MBA program can now garner an additional credential by taking only one more course online.

As businesses increasingly use data to solve problems and drive decision-making, having the ability to analyze large sets of data is rapidly becoming a required skill for all managers. For emerging professionals especially, it pays to launch their careers with the analytical knowledge and experience that employers are seeking. So, starting fall 2020, the College of Business will offer One-Year MBA students the opportunity to gain advanced analytical knowledge with an online elective course to complete a graduate certificate in business analytics.

One-Year MBA program coursework currently includes two analytics courses that allow students to learn how to interpret, visualize and manage data within software environments that are commonly used in modern business settings. Students gain the knowledge from learning techniques that will help decision makers reduce risk and identify new opportunities that could provide a competitive advantage. With just one additional elective course in predictive analytics, students can obtain a Business Analytics Certificate on top of their MBA.

“This opportunity provides students with another way to differentiate themselves to potential employers, and once they get into the role, they can further stand out from others,” said Kari Lehman, assistant dean of graduate and professional programs. “Analytics can be applied to any discipline in business, and having those skills really powers your MBA and delivers value to future employers.”

The additional course and overall curriculum of the Business Analytics Certificate is practical and specifically designed to help students gain the critical skills needed with no prior knowledge of business analytics, statistics, or computer programming. Dr. Bill Young, the director for OHIO’s Online MBA and Online Master of Business Analytics, explains how beneficial analytical skills are.

“Information that can be used to support and to improve business decisions is being collected at anexponential rate and this trend will continue within every form of industry. Businesses can create a competitiveadvantage for their organization if they have the personnelto use their subject matter expertise along with their quantitative reasoning and problem-solving skills and abilities,” he said. “By taking the Business Analytics Certificate, our students gain an awareness and an understanding of how analytics can support business initiatives. My recommendation is that every student should seriously consider pursuing business analytics courses or degrees because it will expedientthe progression of their career in terms of leadership and promotion opportunities.”

The new opportunity also allows One-Year MBA students to excel beyond the required coursework to pursue their interests and help them stand out from other potential candidates. Through the curriculum, which includes courses in data analysis for decision making and prescriptive analytics, some students develop a deep interest in this field, like current MBA student, Melody Weary.

“I decided to do the Business Analytics Certificate because my experience so far in the One-Year MBA developed a new interest for me in data analytics, and I wanted to gain more knowledge to set me up to potentially look for a job in the field,” she said. “It’s very beneficial for students to be able to choose a certificate program to further pursue a field that we learn about in other courses, both to develop their own skills and to show employers that they can go above and beyond.”

The Business Analytics Certificate is just one of seven online graduate business certificates that the college recently launched. Other options for students include business venturing and entrepreneurship, finance, human resources management, management and leadership, operations and supply chain management, and strategic sales and sales leadership. Any full-time MBA student has the opportunity to specialize their credentials and pursue new interests by adding one of these certificates to their MBA.

Lehman also noted that even if students are not pursuing a full graduate degree at Ohio University, the online graduate level business certificates are available to anyone interested in gaining a competitive edge in their careers. Admission criteria includes only a bachelor’s degree (3.0 cumulative GPA) and each certificate can be earned online in as few as 21 weeks to help distinguish professionals with specialized skills. Learn more about the different online graduate certificates here.