Academic Program Proposal

Date Proposal Activated	Institution and Proposal	Degree Awarded	Academic Program Name	Objection Deadline	MHEC Final Action	Final Decision Date
	Salisbury University Proposal	Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)	Data Science	10/9/2019	Approved	10/30/2019
Data Science Program Description
The B.S. in Data Science will provide students pursuing careers in a variety of fields with a course of study that balances core fundamentals with the applied practice of Data Science. The B.S. in Data Science will provide the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in rapidly-expanding industries that operate in a multifaceted and ever-evolving technological environment.  The concepts and tools of Data Science are being applied to nearly every corner of human endeavor including medicine, cosmology, human behavior, business efficiency, entertainment, media, and basic science. With its foundations in mathematics, statistics, and computer science, Data Science uses formal techniques and methodologies of abstraction to generate models that can be automated to solve real‐world problems and drive decision‐making. This unique degree program provides the rigorous technical background and experience to accelerate rapidly a graduate into emerging roles within a wide diversity of public and private organizations. <br> <br>The Data Science B.S. program provides students with a multidisciplinary background in mathematics, statistics, computer programming, and data visualization to prepare them for the demands of this field. Salisbury proposes six different areas of focus for the degree which connects the broadness of Data Science to an array of disciplines. The program areas include: Astrostatistics, Bioinformatics, Chemometrics, Computational Data Science, Geoanalytics, and Mathematical Data Science.