The making of a successful analytics master degree program: Experiences and lessons drawn for a young and small Asian university

• Main Author: CHEONG, Michelle L. F.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Analytics Master Program; Asia; Challenges and Solutions; Lessons Learnt; Asian Studies; Computer Sciences; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/4272; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/5275/viewcontent/Making_of_a_Successful_Analytics_Master_degree_IJBIR.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Singapore Management University’s School of Information Systems is a young school within a young and small university in Asia. Being young and small, establishing a successful analytics master degree program required extensive landscape research, assessment of its own strengths and weaknesses, having a committed team, and having a clear vision to meet the ever-changing needs of the industry. The Master of IT in Business (Analytics) program, established since 2011, has grown from an annual intake of 16 to 128 students in six years. This article attempts to describe the design process, challenges faced, decisions made, and the key actions taken, which resulted in an extremely successful analytics master program. The experiences and lessons drawn can become valuable references for other universities who are also planning to launch analytics master degree programs. The article also summarizes the 11 key takeaways which can be used as a strategic guideline.