Calbright College, California’s only fully online community college, is pleased to announce it has begun development of a new Data Analysis program. Designed to support an accessible and statewide training pipeline within this fast-growing field, the program will be offered in an online, flexible, and competency-based format, like all of Calbright’s curriculum, and will introduce learners to:
- Structured data so learners understand the web and how it generates volumes of information
- The basics of spreadsheets and how they help organize data
- How to apply structured data within an organizational context
- Data retrieval using Structured Query Language (SQL) in order to manipulate and manage data
- How to prepare databases to apply relational operations using SQL
“Our quantitative and qualitative research shows that breaking into the data analysis field is different than other areas – there are specific gateway skills that serve as the foundation for a successful career,” said Michael Younger, Calbright’s Vice President of Workforce, Strategy, and Innovation. “Equally critical, data analysis is embedded into organizational structures in both the public and private sectors and spans across industries, meaning that there is opportunity throughout California—from the Inland Empire and Central Valley to Los Angeles and the Bay Area—for workers to upskill to and move within their current organization or re-skill to be more competitive in the job market as part of a career shift.”
A central component of Calbright’s program development is the assembly of, and collaboration with an advisory council of industry experts, incumbents, hiring managers, and leaders of companies and organizations that have large data analysis portfolios. This professional-world insight is paired with California-specific market research and qualitative assessment regarding the field. A full list of the current members of the College’s Data Analysis advisory council is included below.
Similar to Calbright’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform administration program, the College plans to initially launch the Data Analysis program with a partner organization as a pilot with 30-50 students in late summer 2022. An anticipated public launch will follow in the fourth quarter of the 2022 calendar year. The course outline, developed under the guidance of a subject matter expert and Calbright faculty and staff, has received approval from Calbright’s Curriculum Committee. If approved by the Calbright Board of Trustees, the program will be submitted to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, which will review the program to ensure it is complementary and non-duplicative within the state’s community colleges system.
In the spring of 2022 Calbright surpassed a student body of more than 1,000 students and conferred its 100th certificate after opening for enrollment shortly before the pandemic began. Data Analysis, alongside additional new programs, like the College’s Licensed Vocational Nurse training program under development in partnership with SEIU-UHW, are designed to meet the growing needs of the state’s economy and will support Calbright’s growth toward 5,000 students by the end of 2023.
Calbright College Data Analysis Advisory Council
- Iesha Berry – Chief Diversity and Engagement Officer, DocuSign
- Mahesh Kharkar – Northern California Market President, Commercial Banking, U.S. Bank
- Tina Donovan – Local Market Director, Northern California, Accenture
- Zeena Wright – Director, Data Excellence, HireRight, LLC
- Kate Dey – Global Director, University Recruiting and Programs, DocuSign
- Kurt Schuepfer – Global Data Scientist, McDonald’s Corporation
- Britt Allen – Data Strategist, California Office of Digital Innovation
- Tiffany Grau – Senior Budget Analyst, CSU Monterey Bay
- Anita Chen – People Analytics, DocuSign
