Course Overview for the Predictive Business Analytics Certificate, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

Program Courses

To earn a certificate in Business Analytics, you must complete the three core courses (BUS_ANLY 201, BUS_ANLY 202, and BUS_ANLY 204).* There is no admissions process for the Certificate in Business Analytics. Start the path toward your certificate by registering for your first course below.

* Students who began the program prior to the fall 2021 term must complete four courses to earn their certificate: BUS_ANLY 201, BUS_ANLY 202, BUS_ANLY 203, and BUS_ANLY 204.

PDP courses are offered online, remotely, and on-campus. Please refer to the Schedule Notes for course delivery information.

IMPORTANT: The registration process for all professional development courses requires you to register for your course and update your emergency contact information in CAESAR, Northwestern University's Student Enterprise System.

Tips for Troubleshooting Registration

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT*:

Registering for multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a mandatory, integrated step to access Northwestern University systems. Northwestern uses the DUO Mobile smartphone application for multi-factor authentication. Steps to install the DUO Mobile App can be found here. Once you have completed the MFA registration process, you will have access to systems like CAESAR and CANVAS, Northwestern’s Learning Management System.

*It is a student’s responsibility to ensure access to Northwestern systems after registering for a PDP course. If you do not have a smartphone capable of downloading and using the DUO Mobile app, you may want to consider a YubiKey that can be purchased from several online retailers.

Please contact pdp@northwestern.edu with any questions.

BUS_ANLY 201-DL : Intro to Business Analytics

Description

Data and analytics are fundamental in the solving of business and organizational problems. Mastering these practices requires a well-rounded introduction, regardless of whether you are performing the analysis or implementing the results. Introduction to Business Analytics provides a solid foundation by beginning with basic principles in data modeling and intelligent information. We then continue with how to define business goals, various techniques for collecting and preparing data, different types of analysis and predictive models, and effective ways of communicating results.

The course will discuss many of the latest technology trends applicable to big data and predictive analytics, and includes examples from real use cases to provide a comprehensive, innovative, and practical approach to tackle business analytics problems. Students will also learn strategies to successfully approach stakeholders within an organization with analytic information while navigating the ethical, regulatory, and compliance issues related to the use of data analytics.

Content / Topics

Analytics Terminology, Methodology and Tools (with Statistical Concepts)
Descriptive, Prescriptive, and Predictive Analytics
Business Intelligence vs Business Analytics
Data Collection, Sampling, Preprocessing, Typing, and Governance
Designing a Data Analytics Study
Analytics Project Lifecycle
Implementation / Application of Business Analytics
Latest Analytical Technologies

Registered students can access their online course site here. An activated NetID and password is required for login. *Please note: It may take up to 24-hours for registered students to be added to the online course platform.