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Course Catalog

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Business Analytics

Organizations and businesses need actionable insights from data. Analytic tasks that facilitate such actionable insights include prediction, optimization,

recommendation, classification, clustering, etc.

 

To be prepared to make an impact upon graduation -- students should possess technical and analytics skills that allow them to add value in their domain of interest. This concentration helps students apply their business knowledge (from core-courses) with technical and analytical skills – enabling them to become an effective data analyst or business analyst.

 

Business Analytics Concentration: 15 credits
BMIS 331 Problem Solving and Programming Techniques 3 credits
BMIS 342 Data Analytics for Business 3 credits
ECON 355 Regression Analysis   3 credits 
BMIS 441 Database Management 3 credits
BMIS 445 Analytics Practicum  3 credits
Lower Division
BMIS 235 Management Information Systems
3.00 credits
This course introduces fundamental concepts of information systems and develops essential skills and techniques for using information technology (IT). The emphasis is on the role of information systems in today's organizations, including how IT changes individual work, impacts organizational structure and processes, and shapes competition in the business environment. Also, fundamental concepts essential to effective use of information technology are introduced. Specific topics include the system concept, hardware, software, communication tools, database management systems, components of information systems, e-commerce (EC), technologies for developing EC, and systems development approaches. Several software tools are employed to develop students' ability to apply information technology to business problems. Fall, Spring, and Summer.
BMIS 245 Tech Fnd of Digital Marketing
3.00 credits
Marketing now has a stronger use of information technology than ever before. For example, as of 2015, 99% of Google's revenue comes from advertising. The objective of the course is to equip students with foundational knowledge, skills, and techniques of a variety of technologies that have been widely used to build customer-facing applications and devices. Beginning with a short review of the history of the Internet and the Web, the course introduces students to fundamental concepts and the process of developing consumer-centered applications. A variety of tools and techniques for developing such applications are presented, such as the structure of web pages, web page language (XHTML and HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and script languages. The de facto language of consumer-centered programming language, JavaScript, is adopted as a vehicle to develop aforementioned skills and techniques. Relevant technologies such as Jquery, JSON and popular JavaScript frameworks will be introduced. These skills will provide the technical background necessary for digital marketing efforts. Offered Fall, Spring.
Upper Division
BMIS 331 Prbm Solving & Prog Techniques
3.00 credits
This course provides a basic introduction and practical experience in developing algorithms and writing computer programs to solve business problems. Students will be required to design solutions as well as to code, test, and debug programs that are soundly structured and easy to maintain. Topics include variables, data types, control structures, input/output control, arrays, method invocation and parameter passing.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 342 Data Analytics for Business
3.00 credits
The purpose of the course is to equip students with knowledge, skills, techniques and technologies for data analytics in the context of business. Starting with an introduction to the enterprise business intelligence architecture, the course will proceed to introduce and compare/contrast popular data analytics technologies, such as Power BI, R, and Python, in the market. After that, the course will focus on the development of skills using select data analysis technology. Students will learn how to extract data from heterogeneous data sources, how to transform data into a data format ready for analysis and how to analyze and visualize data. The target students of this course are those in the MIS concentration. The teaching objective is to prepare students to pursue a career in data analytics or to play the role of consultant assisting others in making informed data analytics-related decisions.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D and BMIS 331 Minimum Grade: D or BMIS 331 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 441 Data Base Management
3.00 credits
This course helps students understand, through practice, the concepts of database management. Topics include a broader view in aspects of SQL (Structured Query Language), data modeling, project life cycle, data normalization, data warehousing and data administration. Computer projects are used to give students hands-on experience developing business applications using Oracle in a Client-Server environment.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 443 Tech for Web/Mobile-based Bus
3.00 credits
The objective of the course is to equip students with knowledge, skills and techniques for developing a minimally viable technical product (MVP) (i.e. a mobile/web app) as a pre-cursor to seeking funding to advance the idea further. Following the process of developing such products, students will be introduced to the tech-startup market, tech-startup business models, MVP product development, monetization through advertisements, segmenting customers for startups, and forming startup teams. This class is recommended for students who plan to start web-based businesses, or who want to join start-ups and need to understand the technical aspect of the business in order to communicate with the development team. Students will be expected to have Mac, Windows, or Linux computers that they can complete homework and projects on (detailed instructions on setup will be provided). Offered Fall, Spring.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 444 Info System Analysis & Design
3.00 credits
The full range of business software development is covered in this course, including concepts, tools and techniques in the analysis and design of business information systems. Students will gain experience working with software tools utilized throughout the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Although the course concentrates on the analysis phase of systems development, topics may include strategic planning, system development methodologies, project management, requirements development, data and process modeling using a software engineering CASE tool, object modeling using UML, application architecture, installation and evaluation techniques. Offered once per year in the Spring.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 441 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 445 Analytics Practicum
3.00 credits
The analytics practicum provides an opportunity for students to apply what they learn from the classroom to an analytics project in the real-world. Students will gain professional practical experiences by working on an analytics problem significant to a business/organization. The course requires students to integrate multiple technologies and domain knowledge to create and present a solution to the project sponsor. Offered once per year in the Fall.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 489 Special Topic Seminar
1.00- 3.00 credits
Credits by arrangement.
Prerequisite:
BMIS 235 Minimum Grade: D
BMIS 491 Directed Study
1.00- 3.00 credits
An individually designed course of study appropriate to the student's concentration. Prerequisites: junior or senior year standing, and department's permission. Summer only.
 

In addition to their major and minor areas of study, all undergraduate students follow a common program designed to complete their education in those areas that the University considers essential for a Catholic, Jesuit, liberal, and humanistic education. The University Core Curriculum consists of forty-five credits of course work, with additional designation requirements that can be met through core, major, or elective courses.

The University Core Curriculum is a four-year program, organized around one overarching question, which is progressively addressed through yearly themes and questions. Hence, core courses are best taken within the year for which they are designated. First year core courses encourage intellectual engagement and provide a broad foundation of fundamental skills. Second and third year courses examine central issues and questions in philosophy and religious studies. The fourth year course, the Core Integration Seminar, offers a culminating core experience. Taken at any time throughout the four years, broadening courses intersect with the core themes and extend students’ appreciation for the humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences. Finally, the designation requirements (writing enriched, global studies, and social justice) reflect important values and reinforce students’ knowledge and competencies.

Overarching Core Question: As students of a Catholic, Jesuit, and Humanistic University, how do we educate ourselves to become women and men for a more just and humane global community?
Year 1 Theme and Question: Understanding and Creating: How do we pursue knowledge and cultivate understanding?

  • The First-Year Seminar (DEPT 193, 3 credits): The First-Year Seminar (FYS), taken in the fall or spring of the first year, is designed to promote an intellectual shift in students as they transition to college academic life. Each small seminar is organized around an engaging topic, which students explore from multiple perspectives. The FYS is offered by many departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of FYS courses).  
  • Writing (ENGL 101, 3 credits) and Reasoning (PHIL 101, 3 credits): The Writing and Reasoning courses are designed to help students develop the foundational skills of critical reading, thinking, analysis, and writing. They may be taken as linked sections. Writing (ENGL 101) carries one of the three required writing-enriched designations (see below).
  • Communication & Speech (COMM 100, 3 credits): This course introduces students to interpersonal and small group communication and requires the application of critical thinking, reasoning, and research skills necessary to organize, write, and present several speeches.
  • Scientific Inquiry (BIOL 104/104L, CHEM 104/104L, or PHYS 104/104L, 3 credits): This course explores the scientific process in the natural world through evidence-based logic and includes significant laboratory experience. Students pursuing majors that require science courses will satisfy this requirement through their major.
  • Mathematics (above Math 100, 3 credits): Mathematics courses promote thinking according to the modes of the discipline—abstractly, symbolically, logically, and computationally. One course in mathematics, above Math 100, including any math course required for a major or minor, will fulfill this requirement. MATH 100 (College Algebra) and courses without the MATH prefix do not fulfill this requirement.

Year 2 Theme and Question: Being and Becoming: Who are we and what does it mean to be human?

  • Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201, 3 credits): This course provides students with a philosophical study of key figures, theories, and intellectual traditions that contribute to understanding the human condition; the meaning and dignity of human life; and the human relationship to ultimate reality.
  • Christianity and Catholic Traditions (RELI, 3 credits). Religious Studies core courses approved for this requirement explore diverse topics including Christian scriptures, history, theology, and practices as well as major contributions from the Catholic intellectual and theological traditions (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses) .

Year 3 Theme and Question: Caring and Doing: What principles characterize a well lived life?

  • Ethics (PHIL 301 or RELI, 3 credits): The Ethics courses are designed to help students develop their moral imagination by exploring and explaining the reasons humans should care about the needs and interests of others. This requirement is satisfied by an approved ethics course in either Philosophy (PHIL 301) or Religious Studies (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • World/Comparative Religion (RELI, 3 credits): Religious Studies courses approved for this core requirement draw attention to the diversity that exists within and among traditions and encourage students to bring critical, analytical thinking to bear on the traditions and questions considered. These courses carries one of the required two global-studies designations (see below) (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

Year 4 Theme and Question: Imagining the Possible: What is our role in the world?” 

  • Core Integration Seminar (DEPT 432, 3 credits). The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) offers students a culminating core experience in which they integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the core, and their disciplinary expertise. Some CIS courses may also count toward a student’s major or minor. The CIS is offered by several departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of CIS courses).

The Broadening Courses

  • Fine Arts & Design (VART, MUSC, THEA, 3 credits): Arts courses explore multiple ways the human experience can be expressed through creativity, including across different cultures and societies. One approved course in fine arts, music, theatre, or dance will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • History (HIST, 3 credits): History courses are intended to develop students’ awareness of the historical context of both the individual and the collective human experience. One course in History (HIST 101, HIST 102, HIST 112, HIST 201, HIST 202) will fulfill this requirement.
  • Literature (3 credits): Literature courses foster reflection on how literature engages with a range of human experience. One approved course in Literature (offered by English, Classics, or Modern Languages) will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences (3 credits): Courses in the social and behavioral sciences engage students in studying human behavior, social systems, and social issues. One approved course offered by Criminal Justice, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Women and Gender Studies will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

The Designations
Designations are embedded within already existing core, major, minor, and elective courses. Students are encouraged to meet designation requirements within elective courses as their schedule allows; however, with careful planning students should be able to complete most of the designation requirements within other core, major, or minor courses.

  • Writing Enriched (WE; 3 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the WE designation are designed to promote the humanistic and Jesuit pedagogical ideal of clear, effective communication. In addition to the required core course, Writing (ENGL 101), which carries one of the WE designations, students must take two other WE-designated courses (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • Global-Studies (GS; 2 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the GS designation are designed to challenge students to perceive and understand human diversity by exploring diversity within a context of constantly changing global systems. In addition to the required core course, World/Comparative Religion (RELI 300-level), which carries one of the GS designations, students must take one other GS-designated course (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
  • Social-Justice (SJ; 1 course meeting this designation): Courses carrying the SJ designation are designed to introduce students to one or more social justice concerns. Students must take one course that meets the SJ designation (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).

Major-specific adaptations to the University Core Curriculum

All Gonzaga students, regardless of their major, will complete the University Core Curriculum requirements. However some Gonzaga students will satisfy certain core requirements through major-specific programs or courses. Any major-specific adaptations to the core are described with the requirements for the majors to which they apply.