U of A Data Science Students Give Presentations at Data Science for Arkansas Bi-Annual Meeting

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Shantel Romer, Abby Willard, Anthony Beger and Karl Schubert

In November, the National Science Foundation's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research DART Education Theme bi-annual meeting was graciously hosted by the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock.

"UA-Pulaski Tech is committed to providing collaborative educational experiences in every way we can," said Chancellor Summer DeProw. "Hosting events such as Data Science for Arkansas is a privilege, as it places the college in a position to serve the state's workforce needs by working with the most forward-thinking professionals in the data science field."

DART stands for "Data Analytics that are Robust and Trusted."

During the meeting, Abby Willard and Shantel Romer, two U of A DART research assistants and students, presented their work to DART education theme partner institutions' administrators, faculty and staff from across the state.

Willard, a third-year data science undergraduate, presented and received feedback from partner institutions regarding her work on creating a case study repository for data science programs across the state. Willard has been working on the case study repository since January 2022.

Romer, a graduate student pursuing a dual master's degree in industrial engineering and operations management, has been an invaluable asset to the program this semester in helping our two-plus institutions launch their programs and courses.

According to Tina Moore, director of STEM/Computer Science Continuum for the Arkansas Department of Education, "The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported data science as one of the fastest growing occupations in 2021, with a projected 35.8% employment increase expected over the next decade. The DART project is an exemplary model of aligning K-12, higher education and workforce development efforts to ensure Arkansans are prepared for the existing and projected demand for highly skilled data scientists."

Other U of A faculty and staff presenting during the meeting included Karl Schubert, Ron Freeze and Lee Shoultz.

About the NSF EPSCoR DART-Education Theme: The Arkansas NSF EPSCoR program is a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary, statewide grant program leveraging $24 million over five years to expand research, workforce development and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educational outreach in Arkansas. The DART project additionally will establish a statewide data science educational ecosystem by defining a combination of model programs, degrees, pedagogy and curriculum, providing resources and training for K-20 educators, providing educational opportunities inside and outside the classroom for K-20 students, and ensuring broad participation to impact the state's pipeline of skilled data science workers.