*North Carolina State University is a University Member of DAA*
North Carolina State University’s Institute for Advanced Analytics offers a Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) program that prepares students for the challenging task of deriving insights from vast quantities of structured and unstructured data. At the core of the MSA curriculum is the Practicum: a team-based learning experience that gives students the opportunity to conduct real-world analytics projects using data from sponsoring organizations.
The Practicum spans eight months and culminates with an executive-level report and presentation to the sponsor. Students work in teams of 4-5 members each to understand the business problem, and then clean and analyze the data—each stage in the project is managed by the Institute. The teams perform their work under confidentiality agreements and the results are the sole property of the respective sponsors. There is no sponsorship fee.
Call for Proposals
The Institute seeks organizations to sponsor a team project for the coming academic year. To participate you’ll need to identify a challenging business problem and provide data for the team to analyze. Below are guidelines for those who wish to submit a proposal.
Basic Requirements
The proposal consists of three components: (1) a concise description of the problem to be addressed and the goal of the project; (2) the nature and size of the data set to be analyzed; and (3) the names of the key contacts within the sponsoring organizations.
MSA students are equipped with a variety of skills and professional experience. Each team will have skills in statistics, data cleaning, data modeling and visualization, computer programming, and with using industry-standard analytical software tools. Students also receive instruction in teamwork, project management and communication skills.
Project Selection
Projects are selected based on the proposal’s fit with the overall educational goals of the MSA program. It is helpful, but not required, for organizations to have experience working with universities and specifically with sponsoring student projects. The main criteria used to select projects include:
- Educational value
- Likelihood of success
- Level of challenge and complexity
- Clarity of project goals
- Sponsor motivation and commitment
- Kind and amount of data
- Accessibility to specialized software tools, if needed
The number of projects we can conduct is currently limited to 24 annually. We aim to select a variety of projects each year and typically evaluate over 60 proposals. A viable proposal not selected in the current round can be placed in a queue for future assignment. We continually look for opportunities to work with new sponsors and in new industry segments.
Sponsor Commitments
Each sponsor is required to:
- Provide the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to be signed by student team;
- Securely transfer the promised data on the specified timetable;
- Assign a liaison, who will be the team’s primary point of contact to resolve issues as they may arise;
- Provide technical and strategic guidance, as needed, to ensure the project remains on the desired course;
- Host the team for the kick-off and/or final presentation on-site, if possible.
The sponsor is not expected to provide ongoing project management and oversight—the Institute does this.
Sponsorship Fees
There is no fee charged to sponsor a Practicum project. However, we recognize there is a cost involved to participate in terms of the time and effort required by individuals sponsoring a project.
We would be grateful to the sponsor for deferring all or part of the travel expenses, if any, to have the student team visit the sponsor location for the kick-off meeting and/or final presentation.
Timetable
- First round proposal review: April 1
- Second round proposal review: July 1
- Sponsors for current year selected by August 1
- All arrangements including NDA and secure data transfer completed by: September 1
- Project kick-off meetings held between September 15-30
- Midpoint review meeting by December 1
- Final presentation to sponsor held in end of April
More Information
For more information about becoming a Practicum project sponsor, please feel welcome to contact me, the Institute’s practicum manager. We will be glad to work with you in formulating your proposal.
Proposal Submission
Proposals are submitted online and accepted throughout the year. You can submit your proposal from the Practicum Sponsorship webpage. The Institute is always ready to begin a dialogue with a prospective sponsor. There are two formal reviews with submission deadlines. Once a proposal receives the green light, it’s place in the queue for the next round of project kick-offs. Proposals submitted early in the annual cycle have the best chance of acceptance. An organization may submit more than one proposal.