All posts by Nathan Heinze

New Data Analytics program gives students SAS knowledge

August 31, 2016College of Computer and Information Technology, Data AnalyticsNathan Heinze

Data Analytics classes at St. Petersburg College provide foundational material needed to begin a career in data analytics. Specifically, the classes prepare you for the SAS Base Programmer certification, an extremely valuable industry standard that makes you highly marketable. Offered as sub plan in the Technology Development and Management Bachelor of Applied Science degree, classes opened for the new sub plan this fall.

Data Analytics sub plan gives students #1 job skill

Just this year, Money magazine named SAS knowledge (Statistical Analysis System) #1 out of the top 25 most desirable job skills in the country.

Top data skills and their average pay boost (source: Money Magazine):

SAS (Statistical Analysis System): +6.1%
Data Mining/Data Warehousing: +5.1%
Data Modeling: +5%

According to Peter Sondergaard, senior vice-president of Gartner Research, “There is not enough talent in the industry…data experts will be a scarce, valuable commodity.”

Data Analytics sub plan courses

The sub plan is composed of five courses:

Business Intelligence
Data Mining
Web Analytics
Data Analytics Technologies
Data Analytics Management

With the introduction of the sub plan, St. Petersburg College is on the cutting edge of education for data analytics, as few universities and colleges have established data analytics bachelor’s programs.

SPC Partners with SAS to provide free training

We are actually partnering with SAS to provide students thousands of dollars’ worth of free training. In one class alone SAS is providing free access to $1250 worth of training. They have an excellent system for preparing students for their certification. We’re excited!

In addition to SAS training, the sub plan focuses on foundational concepts and hands-on skills using applications such as Tableau, Excel Analytics, ArcGIS, and Google Analytics.

Apply now to St. Petersburg College. Spring 2017 term registration opens soon.

Dr. Nathan Heinze teaches technology classes on St. Petersburg College’s Tarpon Springs Campus and helped develop this new subplan. He has a Ph.D. in Business Administration (IT emphasis), a B.S. in Instructional Technology and an MBA in Management Information Systems. Read more articles by Dr. Heinze or visit his faculty profile to read his full biography or see what classes he is teaching this term.

Big Data: Saving Lives and Creating Jobs

May 27, 2015College of Computer and Information TechnologyNathan Heinze

Big Data is known for its use in marketing and CRM, but it’s also being used to improve healthcare in a variety of areas.

One area is treatment. Patients with serious health problems (and eventually, even “not-so-serious” problems) will be equipped with sensors connected to massive databases. Real-time communication between the sensors and knowledge repositories will be able to accomplish tasks such as alerting patients to medical needs and warning them of impending health issues (even heart attacks!). Another advantage is that doctors will have access to the sensor data and can use it to make much more precise diagnoses and treatment plans.

Another area is control. For example, states and countries are already using big data analysis to track flu outbreaks. This, in turn, helps health organizations make decisions regarding funding, targeting, awareness campaigns, etc. Insurance companies are also beginning to show interest in Big Data sensor applications; some may begin voluntary “wellness” programs where employees would wear sensors to track their behavior and receive lowered insurance rates.

As the use of Big Data grows, the demand for data analysts continues to expand. To help meet that need at a local and even statewide level, SPC has implemented a new five-course Data Analytics sub-plan in its Technology Management BAS degree. The courses cover business intelligence, data mining, and data analytics technologies and managements concepts.

If you love finding patterns and trends in data and numbers, data analytics may be the field for you.

Information Technology Infrastructure Library

May 5, 2015College of Computer and Information TechnologyNathan Heinze

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) refers to a specific set of practices that enable Information Technology services to support business goals. The ITIL recommended steps and processes are quite broad and are meant to apply to any organization that uses IT. ITIL covers five primary areas:

IT Service Strategy
IT Service Design
IT Service Transition
IT Service Operation
IT Continual Service Improvement

There are four levels of ITIL certifications:

Foundation
Intermediate
Expert
Master

The goal of ITIL Certification is to become familiar with best practices and options for dealing with the wide variety of IT situations encountered within organizations. The end goal is to help organizations maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their information technologies and associated services.