New club adds to college’s Business Analytics learning opportunities

The College of Business has another resource for students to take advantage of while preparing for their business careers.

Thanks to two seniors and a Department of Management faculty member a proposed Business Analytics Club will debut Sept. 23 for an organizing meeting and speaker at 5:30 p.m. in 110 Sirrine.

The college’s newest club is the brainchild of Ally Ault and Claire Strickler, both double majors in management and marketing. The pair conceived of the idea in the spring semester and over the summer.

“We thought a club could become an important part of students’ development by supplementing our classroom learning with real-world enrichment opportunities,” Ally said. “The club will expose students to networking opportunities, industry speakers and software workshops that will bring more value to their learning experience.”

In mapping out the college’s future direction, Dean Wendy York has created eight Signature Programs that will distinguish Clemson business education as a destination school for students wanting to focus on business-critical competencies, including Business Analytics.

“In ensuring our students are business ready upon graduation it’s important they are equipped with relevant and functional business analytics competencies no matter their area of study,” Dean York said. “In a data-driven business world, analytics has become a necessary skill in making strategic decisions.”

In addition to weaving analytics throughout multiple business courses, Kenn Hongki Kim, assistant professor, said the department of management in the college currently offers four undergraduate courses dedicated to business analytics. The classes are: MGT 3500-Introduction to Business Analytics; MGT 3510-Modeling Analytics and Problem Solving; MGT 4500-Advanced Business Analytics and MGT 4540-System Implementations (Business Analytics Programming).

“In the classroom, students learn about business analytics principles and concepts as well as hands on analytical technical skills,” said Kim, an analytics instructor. “The Business Analytics Club will be of great value to students in that it will help them relate what they learn in the classroom to the real world.”

Because today’s business world is data driven, Kim said competence in analyzing data will be a necessary tool to achieving business success.

“Businesses are grasping analytics so that they ultimately will make better strategic decisions,” he said. “By using historical data to predict the future, businesses can, for example, predict how their customers will react in certain circumstances.”

Ally said the club plans to meet monthly. At its Sept. 23 meeting, Matthew Cobb will speak about his role in the Athletic Department as director of business intelligence and data analytics.

For more information on the club, contact Ally Ault aaault@g.clemson.edu, Claire Strickler crstric@g.clemson.edu or, Kenn Hongki Kim hongkik@clemson.edu.

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