Franklin College students will soon be able to pursue data science, a new major that will help facilitate entry into high-end technological fields.
Students were already graduating from Franklin College and pursuing jobs in areas similar to data science, so adding the data science major was a way to ease the process of finding placement in that specific field, said Kristin Flora, the college’s dean and vice president of academic affairs.
“It was primarily put together by Stacy Hoehn, associate professor of mathematics, as part of her sabbatical project. She researched the curricula of other schools who host a data science major. With that, she learned many Franklin College students found their way into the field of data science, working at Facebook, Eli Lilly, Stubhub and Salesforce. Maybe we can give students a better foundation through a data science major that gives them more direct entry into the field rather than having them double major or pursue a career in graduate training. Seeing the path our students took and the national demand for data scientists increasing, it made sense for us to pursue it,” Flora said.
Data science is a mix of mathematics, statistics, computer science and a content-specific area, such as political science or business. The new major follows a $1 million 2020 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to bolster technology integration and increase learning opportunities for students, according to a Franklin College news release.
A group of faculty members at the college reviewed the proposal before approving it. From there, it went to the Higher Learning Commission, the college’s accrediting body, which voted to approve the major. The major consists of 21 courses across the fields of computing, data science and math. Some classes also fulfill some of the college’s liberal arts requirements. The major will be available to students starting the fall semester, Flora said.
Classes that are part of the major include: Database Design and Processing, Data Equity and Bias, Linear Algebra, Econometrics and Big Data for the Professional Workplace, among other offerings.
Before data science, Franklin College had most recently added a neuroscience major to its repertoire. Students can learn about pursuing any major at the college through events for first year students in the fall or through academic advising sessions, Flora said.
“Careers in (data science) are in demand and jobs are increasing,” she said. “As students learn it’s a viable career path, they would be interested in pursuing this.”
