As you are starting the last stretch of the semester and beginning to prepare for the summer, I wanted to provide some more details about our faculty meeting on April 26th.  We will have our normal elections and updates as well as a poster session with beverages and snacks.  However, as I indicated in the note a couple of weeks ago, there are changes to the structure of SDS.  We’ll use a good portion of the meeting for this so I would like to emphasize the importance of your attendance.  The drivers of the change include our growth to more than 700 students and the additional sections of courses, the upcoming Ph.D. in Data Science, the likely launch of a BS in Sports Analytics, and the need to scale almost everything in the School. One major decision is that we need to grow our faculty and faculty participation and this includes being able to offer tenure within SDS. As you may expect, this has implications that will reverberate into our organizational structure.  We’ll deep dive into the proposed structure and talk through the choices that you will have during this change. We’ve had tremendous success during this initial phase of SDS and this is due to your support, guidance, and efforts. I look forward to the continuation of this as we move forward into our next phase.

More to come at the SDS Faculty meeting on April 26th.

Doug

The DSBA program is excited to announce the introduction of a Master Thesis option for students completing their capstone requirement. This option allows students to engage in an in-depth research project over two semesters, leading to a successful thesis defense. Faculty involvement in supervising these theses is entirely voluntary. Faculty members have the freedom to opt in as advisors and are equally free to decline supervision requests. We encourage faculty to communicate openly with students about the academic rigor and high standards required for a successful thesis. Students need to understand the commitment involved and the potential challenges they may face, including the risk of not successfully defending their thesis. In addition to the Master Thesis option, we continue to offer the traditional Internship Capstone option. This alternative allows students to undertake a research internship in one semester for 3 credit hours, serving as a less rigorous version of the research capstone. To support students and faculty in this process, we have launched a dedicated DSBA Capstone webpage. This resource outlines the detailed process, expectations, and timelines for students opting for the thesis route. If you have further questions regarding the thesis option, please contact SungJune Park, the DSBA Graduate Program Director

As mentioned above, the Spring SDS faculty meeting has been rescheduled to April 26th at 1:30 pm. Please plan to join us as we discuss proposed changes to the SDS governance and new academic programs. We will also share updates on funding for Summer SDS Seed Grant proposals and the Outstanding SDS Faculty Research Awards.

SDS will hold a Data Science Research Poster Session and Reception directly after the April 26th faculty meeting. We invited you to contribute a poster showcasing your work. Our last research poster session, held in Fall 2022, featured 20 posters, and we hope to surpass that number this year. Here are some additional details:

• The poster session aims to showcase your data science work and foster research collaboration opportunities within SDS. We welcome posters presenting both completed and ongoing research projects.
• If you're interested in participating, please email Dongsong Zhang and Barbara Howard with a tentative title for your poster by noon on April 8th.
• SDS will cover the cost of printing your poster. For more information (Please reach out to Barbara).
• We will present a best-poster award, including a certificate and a $200 research stipend to the winner.

Faculty tickets for the Analytics Frontiers Conference (April 16th at the Charlotte Convention Center) are available: 

• School of Data Science Faculty/Staff Registration: $49
• UNC Charlotte Faculty/Staff Registration (non-SDS): $149

Speakers and workshops can be found here. Space is limited!

Monday, April 15, 2024, 4:00pm

UNCSDSS is excited to host Dr. Philip Payne as a distinguished speaker on Monday, April 15. Dr. Payne is an internationally recognized leader in the field of clinical research informatics (CRI) and translational bioinformatics (TBI) and is the associate dean for health information and data science and chief data scientist at Washington University’s school of medicine. He was named last year as part of the National Academy of Medicine’s committee to develop an AI code of conduct.

Join us for the Data Science and AI Education Share Fair: ADAPT Model Implementation! Whether you're a Data Science instructor, researcher, or simply passionate about advancing data science, this event is for you. The Share Fair will focus on the innovative ADAPT model (All-campus Data science through Accessible Project-based Teaching and learning), designed to enhance data science education. Our goal is to facilitate understanding and implementation of this model across educational settings.

You're invited to attend Alteryx’s annual conference, Inspire 2024. As an educator, you have the opportunity to join the Alteryx SparkED Education Summit and Inspire Conference for free. Simply use the registration comp code Inspire24SparkED to attend both events. Additionally, if you're interested in a full day of Alteryx training on Monday 5/13, you can register for a discounted rate of $400 using the code SparkEDInspire24CT. Please note that attendees are responsible for their own travel and incidental expenses. Feel free to share this opportunity with your fellow educators to spread the word across all academic departments within your school.

Dongsong Zhang has shared a few NOFO options available to SDS faculty. Their deadlines and focuses vary, but the list with details can be found here.

Find the full SDS Calendar of Events on the program website. 

• April 1- Registration for Summer 2024 and Fall 2024 begins
• April 16- Analytics Frontiers
• April 29- Last day of classes
• April 26- SDS Faculty Meeting 
• April 30- Reading Day
• May 1- Final Examinations begin

Since 1993, Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, initiated by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, honors and supports graduate and professional students nationwide. UNC Charlotte and the SDS will mark the occasion with events and dining discounts for graduate students. Explore details and register here. Some featured events include:

• Graduate Assistant Appreciation Brunch on 4/2/24
• Botanical Garden Walk on 4/2/24 
• Gentle Yoga on 4/3/24
• Wellness Open House on 4/4/24
• Potluck karaoke on 4/5/24

All SDS students and faculty are invited to engage in the Monday SDS Professional Seminars.  This is an opportunity to connect with community organizations and industry professionals in person!  Please encourage your students to sign up, join in the conversation, and build their professional networks

Monday, April 8th Seminar: Implementing Generative AI In The Financial Sector: Strategies, Challenges, And Opportunities



Abstract: This presentation aims to illuminate the journey of integrating Generative AI (GEN AI) technologies within the financial industry, a sector poised on the brink of digital transformation. As financial entities increasingly turn to GEN AI for its unparalleled data generation and analysis capabilities, the implementation process presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. We will explore the strategic pathways for deploying GEN AI in various financial operations, including personalized financial advice, predictive analytics for market trends, and the automation of complex financial processes.

UNC Charlotte and the School of Data Science are excited to join Duke University's weekly Health Informatics Seminar, part of a collaborative effort with universities across North Carolina. This seminar series delves into various aspects of Health Informatics, featuring research findings, program overviews, and projects from different perspectives. The virtual seminars take place on Wednesdays at 4 PM EST. Coming up:

April 10, 2024- AI-assisted pre-screening for Fragile X-associated Disorders, Arezoo Movaghar, PhD, WFU

April 17, 2024- Methods for Early Prediction of Neurodevelopmental Conditions from the Electronic Health Record, Matthew Englehard, PhD, Duke University

National Consortium for Data Science (NCDS) via Zoom April 30 @ 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released an AI Risk Management Framework for the trustworthy and responsible use of AI and analytics. NIST offers a portfolio of measurements, standards, and legal metrology to provide recommendations that ensure traceability, enable quality assurance, and harmonize documentary standards and regulatory practices.

Applications due May 1, 2024

The DEDICATE Program will build institutional capacity as well as individual faculty capacity in teaching data science at not only historically underserved institutions (HBCUs and HSIs) but also within the interdisciplinary areas (Social Impact Areas) of 1. Criminal Justice 2. Geosciences and Health Disparities 3. Food and Water Systems. To solve some of the biggest challenges to broadening participation in STEM at a systems level, four problems were identified that are barriers to success: 1) Instructor-designed “projects” not based in research-based pedagogies, 2) Silos of projects across STEM and Non-STEM disciplines, 3) Lack of faculty-centric design, and 4) Lack of systemic-change networks. DEDICATE seeks to support faculty from across the Southern census region of the US and from California, in designing and implementing POGIL curriculum and data-enabled code modules in the social impact areas of 1. Criminal Justice 2. Geosciences and Health Disparities 3. Food and Water Systems. Faculty from these disciplines will be selected from HBCUs and HSIs. February 15, 2024 Registration Opens -  May 1, 2024 Registration Closes.

The Graduate School's Funding Team provides updates, upcoming deadlines, tips and information you need to be informed and comfortable with the processes for funding students. Please sign up for a need-to-know digest.

• A Collection Of Free Data Science Courses From Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Cornell, and Berkeley- Learn everything about data science by exploring our curated collection of free courses from top universities, covering essential topics from math and programming to machine learning, and mastering the nine steps to become a job-ready data scientist. KDNUGGETS, MARCH 27, 2024

• Mapping NBA basketball shots- Alasdair Rae outlines the basics of visualizing basketball shot data with QGIS, an open-source software package typically used for geographic maps. Even if you’re not into basketball, sports data can be fun to poke at because it’s comprehensive and usually covers a good range of time and categories. FlowingData, MARCH 29, 2024

• AI-FOR-U to develop tools that target health disparities- The NIH has funded the Trustworthy AI to Address Health Disparities in Under-resourced Communities project -- AI-FOR-U -- to be administered by the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to improve health equity through AI tools. "We will combine theory-driven community engagement with the application and testing of trust-enhancing algorithms in the tool development," said Qing Zeng, director of George Washington University's Biomedical Informatics Center. Full Story: Health IT Analytics (4/1)

• Disparities present in AI models that identify depression- Current AI models developed to identify depression from text underperformed for Black people even after algorithms were trained on language from Black participants, according to research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that analyzed Facebook posts of people with mild depression. More research is needed to identify signs of depression among people who are not white, study authors said. Full Story: Politico (3/27)

Experience ORISE Virtual Career Fair: Opportunities in Life, Health & Medical Sciences, April 10, 2024 | 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET

GOVERNMENT & NON-PROFIT JOBS HIRING EVENT - April 24, 2024

Join CareerEco’s online recruiting event- Meet employers nationwide. 

Suggestions are always welcome- please email Lindsay Lennon with any questions or recommendations.

• Data Science Community Newsletter- One more resource to keep in the know for new tools, events, job postings, and developing trends in data science- subscribe here. 

• KDnuggets- KDnuggets is an online site for Data Science, Machine Learning, AI, and Analytics, edited by Matthew Mayo. KD stands for Knowledge Discovery.

• Kaggle- Kaggle, owned by Google LLC, is a platform and community for data scientists and machine learning practitioners. Users can discover and share datasets, create models in a web-based environment, collaborate with others, and compete in data science challenges.

• Medium- Medium is an open-source online publishing platform where anyone can publish and share insightful perspectives and useful knowledge. It has a wide-ranging offering of topics including: Programming, Data Science, Technology, Self Improvement, Machine Learning, etc. In addition to their website, they also publish a daily e-newsletter.

• National Consortium for Data Science (NCDS)- The National Consortium for Data Science (NCDS) brings together academia, industry, and government to tackle 21st-century data challenges. It aims to leverage digital data for creating jobs, advancing healthcare, making scientific discoveries, and giving industries a competitive edge.

• SouthBDHub- The monthly newsletter contains a listing of news, events, and opportunities in data science, analytics, engineering, and policy. A selection of stories and announcements are below