Saint Mary’s University has received a $400,000 grant that will be used to launch the school’s Center for Business Analytics, according to a press release from the university.
Business analytics is among the most popular majors within Saint Mary’s School of Business and Technology, the release says, and the new center will focus on workforce development and strengthening the regional economy.
“The center will focus on providing workshops, seminars and webinars from industry leaders and experts and will also partner with regional businesses to provide vocational training opportunities for our students,” said Michael Ratajczyk, associate professor and business intelligence and data analytics program director. “We see this as a win-win for our students and the communities we have campuses in.”
“This is very exciting as we look at what’s next for Saint Mary’s when it comes to areas of study that focus on technology, business intelligence and artificial intelligence and how we can raise our profile and be seen as thought leaders in those areas,” added Michelle Wieser, dean of the School of Business and Technology.
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The funding comes from an Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity Grant from the National Science Foundation, the release says. SMU began working in March to secure the grant and learned it was a recipient in September.
“The NSF saw the vision behind the center to be very strong and they loved our project,” Ratajczyk said. “There is an expectation that we will be applying for more NSF grants.”
