UC Center for Business Analytics provides skills training for individuals, employers

Future-proofing workforces through upskilling

For more than a decade, the University of Cincinnati's Carl H. Lindner College of Business has proactively taken steps toward bridging the skills gap in today's rapidly evolving professional landscape.

Through a comprehensive program training for business, the Center for Business Analytics is leveraging its extensive expertise to provide tailored education and development opportunities to individuals and businesses alike.

"Our approach is multi-faceted, providing services to our members and the community," Larry Porter, who develops and manages the center's training courses, said. "Our forums and leadership development programs help representatives from member organizations stay up to date on the latest trends in analytics while our training programs develop the talent needed to drive success."

We can also tailor in-class examples and data sets to represent specific business problems faced by the company and the attendees.

Michael Fry Professor and academic director of the UC Center for Business Analytics

Upskilling demands

Larry Porter, professor, web communications manager, Center for Business Analytics

Employers such as Fifth Third Bank have turned to UC for new training and certifications to ensure that current and new-hire staff have the skills to succeed. The company — which is a strategic partner in the Cincinnati Innovation District — is on its fourth Launchpad cohort training program on data analytics.

The Center for Business Analytics offers several other similar analytics training programs as well, designed to give participants the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in today’s competitive market and the demands of the corporate world.

"We offer these programs as in person (at client location or UC), virtual or hybrid — in person with virtual attendees. Some other companies participating in these programs include Union Bank, Cincinnati Financial, Principal Financial Services, DHL, Procter & Gamble, General Electric, Great American Insurance Group and more," Porter said.

Technical proficiencies

Over 3,000 attendees from 1,200-plus companies have participated in more than 200 analytics training classes. Participants from all over the United States and Canada and as far away as England have benefited from training and upskilling programs. These include (but are not limited to) a broad spectrum of tools, including essential business intelligence and data science skills such as:

Tableau
Power BI
SQL
Python
Data management and engineering
Machine learning
Artificial intelligence

The center also offers opportunities to gain certificates of competency in specific software or areas of expertise.

Custom program design

Meeting the needs of private training for a client begins with identifying the personas of the group, their job roles, experience with analytics, training objectives and the organization's strategic direction.

"In many cases, we can select specific topics from different training classes, including introduction and advanced, to best match the training with the attendees' current knowledge and work requirements. We can also tailor in-class examples and data sets to represent specific business problems faced by the company and the attendees," said Michael Fry, professor and academic director of the UC Center for Business Analytics.

What you should know

The State of Ohio has a program for employers to offset costs to upskill their workforce called TechCred. The program reimburses Ohio-based companies for technology training expenses up to $30,000 per funding round for Ohio resident employees. Employers can use these funds for approved Center for Business Analytics training courses.

"We are constantly updating and reevaluating our training courses in technology to help meet companies' current data analytics and data science needs. Founded 11 years ago, we have a great track record and welcome additional companies to partner with. UC is known as a leader in analytics education, and these activities and partnerships help promote the entire Cincinnati region as an innovation hub of analytics activities," Fry said.

Center for Business Analytics

To learn more about the Carl H. Lindner College of Business and programs offered at the Center for Business Analytics, contact Larry Porter.