To receive a Certificate in Data Analytics, UCLA Luskin students must complete three courses and produce a competency product.
- Courses are grouped thematically, and students can take courses from any group, with the exception that all students must take one course from the Technology Policy track. Only one course from the Technology Policy and Ethics track will count toward completion of the certificate.
- Students are required to produce a competency product to receive the certificate, though the product does not have to be in addition to what a student’s home department requires. To receive credit as a competency product, the work must involve the use of code and demonstrate advanced skills such as, but not limited to, geospatial analysis, machine learning, natural language processing, network analysis, regression analysis, structural equation modeling, or visualization. (Geospatial analysis is possible using R, Python, and other programming languages. A product using ArcGIS without scripts will not count as a competency product). Code must also be provided that produces the output in the competency product. Example opportunities to complete a competency product include class projects, a quantitative part of a capstone project, or work from an internship or job. The product cannot be produced as part of a course that counts towards the certificate unless the requirements for the certificate have already been fulfilled.
The competency product will be submitted to the committee member of the student’s department and can be submitted on a rolling basis. Because it is possible that a competency product will not be approved, students are strongly encouraged to receive approval well in advance of graduation. If a competency product is presented and deemed not sufficient and there is not time for the student to complete a different one, the certificate will not be awarded. The student is responsible for showing that this product demonstrates quantitative analytical skills beyond what is expected from core classes.
For a course not in the Technology Policy track to count toward the certificate, students must utilize software tools that are not part of the Microsoft or Google productivity suites (or similar suites from competitors such as LibreOffice). The software tool must include quantitative analysis available via programming languages such as R or Python or through advanced software such as Stata or ArcGIS.
The quantitative analysis of qualitative data is allowed, but qualitative evaluation on its own is not.
Such a class must be offered outside of the core courses taken by all students pursuing a degree in Public Policy, Social Welfare, or Urban Planning at UCLA Luskin. The course can be part of another UCLA department’s core curriculum if the enrollee takes the class as an elective and a Data Analytics committee member approves it toward the certificate in advance.
