University at Buffalo School of Management

18 Buffalo Business Spring 2018 land an internship with Pegula Sports and Entertainment. "I learned how to scrape the data, de- termine what's relevant and provide useful analysis," says Cercone, who graduated in December and plans to return to UB to earn a JD/MBA. "Those are skills that can apply to any business situation." A key component of the School of Management's undergraduate programs is the opportunity for students to complete real-world projects by engaging with area organizations, conducting independent re- search and even working with faculty on their research. Through those experiences, students gain experience with data analyt- ics — critical for success in business. "Data is everywhere, and data analy- tics is huge," says Dianna Cichocki, clinical assistant professor of management science and systems, who co-advised Cercone on his project with faculty member Laura Amo. "Effective managers must be able to turn data into meaningful visuals and com- municate that story. Those are key lessons students learn through projects like Jake's." In her business analytics class, Cichocki gives undergrads the chance to consult with organizations on data-driven Jake Cercone's 'Aha!' moment came at 2 o'clock in the morning. The management student was re- searching and developing a better measure for NFL quarterback performance than the commonly used passer rating, which only predicts a win 30 percent of the time. Cercone realized he needed to account for more than yards gained or interceptions thrown — his rating should calculate the opportunity cost of passes based on points scored or potential points lost through interceptions. The passer efficiency score he creat- ed predicts wins 63 percent of the time. By combining a sport he loves with sta- tistics, Cercone gained hands-on practice with soware like Excel, Tableau and IBM Watson, and leveraged that experience to projects, partnering last year with the non- profit Olmsted Center for Sight and this se- mester with GEICO. For one project, a team of five stu- dents took data from Olmsted's 2-1-1WNY call center and extracted insights to inform staffing, training and other decisions. As their final deliverable, the team created a simple menu staff could use to see current trends and analyze data going forward. "With the tools the students provid- ed, we can point to data to say why our funders' investment will have a positive impact on our service delivery," says Kelly Dodd, director of contact center services at Olmsted. Beyond technical skills, the students improved their critical-thinking and prob- lem-solving abilities. "It was important to track call times by type because every situation is differ- ent and an overall average wouldn't tell the whole story," says accounting senior Megan Gramza, who plans to earn her master's at UB and has already secured a position with Andersen Tax. "This project taught me to go beyond the numbers and find the why." Michael Leung, a business student in the school's Undergraduate Honors Statistical solutions Working closely with faculty, undergrads complete data- driven projects BY M AT T H E W B I D D l E This page, top: From left, Andrew Meyer, Megan Gramza, Professor Dianna Cichocki, Gabriel Gee and Pengbo Ma look over the team's final deliverable for the Olmsted Center for Sight. This page, above: Michael leung and Professor Dominik Roesch look over the undergrad's stock trading strategy research. Facing page: Jake Cercone at UB Stadium. Photos: Tom Wolf

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