Kennesaw State offers nation’s first certificate for SPSS software

PRLog (Press Release) - Feb 08, 2008 -
Kennesaw State University students are gaining an edge on their resumes or graduate school applications with the nation’s first certificate program in data analysis using SPSS software.

SPSS Base 15.0 is a powerful statistical software package that provides a broad range of functions to help provide important decision−making information used in marketing‚ psychology and political science‚ among other fields.

Kennesaw State’s certificate program‚ in partnership with Chicago−based SPSS Inc.‚ started this semester‚ which began Jan. 7.

“We are pleased to offer this certificate — the first in the nation — to our students at Kennesaw State‚ because it will help give our students a competitive edge in the marketplace‚” said Jennifer Lewis Priestley‚ assistant professor of statistics. “We are very grateful for our partnership with SPSS in helping to lay a foundation for student success.”

SPSS‚ a leading worldwide provider of predictive analytics software‚ leads the charge in education as universities worldwide incorporate it in their applied statistics training programs.

“Students prefer SPSS because of its ease−of−use for beginners‚ as well as its advanced user programmability and ability to handle massive data sets‚” said Venkat Muthukrishnan‚ SPSS vice president of educational services. “It also gives students an advantage in today’s competitive business world‚ as the SPSS statistical suite of products is what students−turned−business leaders use in daily analysis of understanding and meeting customer expectations.”

The certificate program is a cross−collaboration with multiple disciplines at KSU‚ including business‚ political science and psychology‚ among other fields.

“The SPSS certificate is a great resource for psychology majors‚” said Amy M. Buddie‚ assistant professor of psychology. “The certificate definitely will aid students in graduate school admission‚ as programs — especially doctorate programs — are interested in students who have statistical expertise.

“In addition‚ students who have the SPSS certificate likely will be better prepared for graduate coursework‚ compared to their peers without such training‚” Buddie added.

The certificate is offered through KSU’s minor in applied statistics and data analysis. Students will be required to complete five courses to obtain the SPSS certificate:

• Computer Applications of Statistics (STAT 3010);
• Statistical Methods I (STAT 3120);
• Statistical Methods II (STAT 3130);
• Applied Experimental Design (STAT 4120); and
• An elective from the following: Applied Regression Analysis (STAT 4210)‚ Statistical Data Mining (STAT 4310)‚ Modern Information Retrieval (CSIS 4491) or a directed study (STAT 4490).

Additionally‚ students must complete a minimum of eight assignments in SPSS‚ Priestley said.

KSU also offers another statistics−package certificate‚ specializing in the SAS program in partnership with the SAS Institute — the first such certificate program in the University System of Georgia.

Media wishing to interview Priestley or other KSU officials should contact Jeremy Craig at 770−499−3448 or jcraig19@kennesaw.edu. Media wishing to interview SPSS officials are asked to contact Tim Powers at 312−261−6553 or tpowers@spss.com.

For more information about KSU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics‚ visit http://math.kennesaw.edu. Full descriptions of courses required by the certificate program are available through the KSU Undergraduate Catalog‚ located online at http://www.kennesaw.edu/registrar/crsdesc_main.shtml.

For more information about SPSS‚ visit http://www.spss.com.