Graduate students of the Samuel Curtis Johnson School of Business and the Department of Information Science will collaborate with various companies to launch a Digital Technology Immersion (DTI) Program this semester, according to a University press release.
The program — offered for the first time in Spring 2016 — will include Master of Business Administration and Information Science Master of Professional Studies from both schools, according to the release.
The program aims to fill the need for a workforce that has knowledge of both business analysis and data science, according to the DTI program website. Topics to be covered include ubiquitous computing, web design and programming, leadership and project management.
Thirty graduate students — split almost evenly between the two schools — have enrolled in the program so far, according to Director of the MPS program Gilly Leshed.
Leshed said in the release that she thinks the program will provide students with a skillset that will make them more appealing to employers.
“Companies are looking for both MBAs with digital technology expertise and for MPS students who are thinking a little more broadly beyond the technology design, programming and data science they can do,” Leshed said.
Graduate students will also benefit from interacting with classmates from another field of study, according to Leshed.
Johnson Dean Soumitra Dutta praised how DTI’s coursework “crosses boundaries and interacts with industries” in the press release.
“This is an example of the kind of class we need to have more of at Cornell,” Dutta said.
Students will take courses offered by professors in both the Johnson School and the Department of Information Science, hear advice from guest speakers on managing technology and team conflicts and complete a practicum project at a company partnered with DTI, according to the press release.
Companies interested in partnering with the program include Twitter, Amazon and LinkedIn, according to the DTI program website. In the release, Leshed said working with real companies on the practicum projects will immerse students in the problem solving they need for the business and technology industries.
“The projects have an Info-Sci angle involving prototyping, mobile and Web apps, analyzing social media data or understanding user experience,” Leshed said. “The groups also have to come up with solutions that offer value to the business.”
Leshed added that the program will help students see their studies from the perspective of another discipline.
“[For example, information science graduate students] want to know more beyond the boundaries of their cubicle, to better understand how their technology work fits into a bigger business context,” Leshed said in the press release.