{"id":222144,"date":"2024-06-20T22:18:15","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T02:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=222144"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:59:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:59:02","slug":"business-analytics-practicum-projects-equip-students-for-real-world-scenarios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/2024\/06\/20\/business-analytics-practicum-projects-equip-students-for-real-world-scenarios\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Analytics Practicum Projects Equip Students for Real-World Scenarios"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Seth Freeman didn\u2019t realize how crucial clear communication is in the workplace until he was involved with a project through Poole\u2019s Business Analytics and AI Initiative (BAI)<\/a> practicum program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project quickly convinced him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the practicum last fall, before the accounting major graduated in December, his team addressed a business challenge for Labcorp, a life sciences and healthcare company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I took away was about working with an actual client, trying to understand what they needed, clarifying what we asked for, and following up on our request so they knew what we needed,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cIt showed me the true nature of that kind of work and gave me good experience in a real-world scenario.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

\n \"Headshot\n
\n Seth Freeman\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Those real-world scenarios give students invaluable, semester-long opportunities to use their skills in a global marketplace increasingly reliant on analytics to help guide companies\u2019 success. Students apply knowledge they\u2019ve gained in the classroom to take on the challenges in the practicums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business analytics practicum courses offer Poole-employer partnerships for students in the undergraduate Business Analytics Honors Program<\/a>, the two Master of Management programs (Marketing Analytics<\/a> and Risk and Analytics<\/a>), and the Business Analytics Graduate Certificate Program<\/a> (comprising primarily Jenkins MBA<\/a> students). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several Poole College faculty members played key roles in the practicum projects, making these unique experiences possible for the students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donnie Hale<\/a>, teaching assistant professor in business analytics, served as faculty advisor for the graduate student teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the undergraduate projects, Sherry Fowler<\/a>, professor of practice in information technology and business analytics, sourced the projects and gathered the business and technical requirements for each. Shawn Mankad<\/a>, assistant professor in analytics, coached the Labcorp and Envestnet teams, and Rakesh Ravi<\/a>, teaching assistant professor and data scientist, coached the Sonic Automotive team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was an awesome team effort in all cases,” Fowler says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Freeman\u2019s practicum, his team conducted a cost analysis with data Labcorp provided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of figuring out how to break down the problem Labcorp presented us and creating a solution were based on processes the honors program classes taught us,\u201d Freeman says. He used what he\u2019d learned in courses on databases, data organization and analytics.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another practicum through the Business Analytics Honors Program, Garrett Auriene\u2019s team created a forecasting model for the retailer Sonic Automotive.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n \"Headshot\n
\n Garrett Auriene\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA class that focused on prediction and forecast modeling really carried over to the practicum,\u201d says Auriene, who learned to manipulate data with software tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terry Song completed the business analytics graduate certificate program, part of Poole\u2019s Jenkins MBA, and the practicum last fall. He worked on a team to develop a forecasting model related to some of Volvo Group\u2019s freight carriers and distribution centers.  <\/p>\n\n\n

\n \"Headshot\n
\n Terry Song\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

The certificate program provided \u201ca seamless transition from foundational knowledge to practical application in solving real-world data science problems,\u201d Song says. He\u2019s a staff systems engineer at Parker Hannifin, a motion-and-control-systems manufacturer in Cary, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song, a student in the online MBA program, cites several MBA analytics classes that were useful in the Volvo Group project. \u201cThese courses equip students with a robust foundation of knowledge and tools necessary to tackle real-world analytics challenges in the context of the practicum project,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n

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These courses equip students with a robust foundation of knowledge and tools necessary to tackle real-world analytics challenges in the context of the practicum project.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Students\u2019 success in the practicums comes in part from employer resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amit Prakash, who was in Poole\u2019s business analytics honors program, led the practicum project for his team with Envestnet, which developed a framework for customer profiling.  <\/p>\n\n\n

\n \"Headshot\n
\n Amit Prakash\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

The company provided a list of its project requirements and any technical support students needed. \u201cThat really helped us tailor a deliverable to them,\u201d says Prakash, a 2023 business administration and computer science major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poole\u2019s employer partners have skin in the game because of the value they get from the practicums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in university-industry relationships,\u201d says Matt Mallard, head of transport flow optimization for Volvo Group North America, based in Greensboro, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in what students can accomplish for us that I can\u2019t accomplish with my team, mainly because of time \u2014 we can\u2019t get to those things. And with some projects, we don\u2019t have the needed expertise in house,\u201d Mallard says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several semesters, Poole students have worked with Volvo Group on predictive analytics projects. The model students have developed will help Mallard\u2019s team with the sales and operations planning process related to supply chain logistics flows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re far enough along to have a model we can put into production and use soon. I\u2019m anticipating this should become an integral part of that process,\u201d says Mallard, who is enrolled in Poole\u2019s business analytics graduate certificate program himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents have been really engaged in the work. They have good questions,\u201d he says. \u201cThe projects are moving forward in a good way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poole graduates use their BAI practicum experience to move their careers forward, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his practicum, Prakash assigned tasks to peers based on their areas of specialty: economics, IT, finance. \u201cI learned a lot about what project management looks like, what I need to improve on and what I do best,\u201d says Prakash, an associate web developer at Prometheus Group, a software company based in Raleigh.  <\/p>\n\n\n