LEARNER’S HANDBOOK
Post Graduate Program in Data Science and
Business Analytics
pg. 1
WELCOME
Over the past decade, Great Lakes Institute of Management has been a leader in introducing
innovations in business education in response to the fast changing business landscape.
Several of our highly successful programs are ranked within the top 10 in India and our 5000
plus alumni work across industries in 30 different countries.
The Post Graduate Program in Business Analytics and Business Intelligence (PGPBABI) has
been ranked within the top 3 in the country consecutively for the last 3 years. It enables
working professionals to pursue careers in Analytics with minimal disruption to working lives.
This handbook is designed to orient you to the many resources and opportunities available as
you begin your journey here. Use this guide to maximize your learning outcomes and have a
positive impact on your career, peers and the Great Lakes community.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The Post Graduate Program in Data Science and Business Analytics is rigorous and requires
dedication and commitment from you to achieve its learning outcomes. On an average, you
will need to dedicate 4 to 5 hours of time every week to the program and it is critical that you
follow the timelines and keep up with the program, else you risk falling significantly behind.
It becomes very difficult for you to catch up once you fall behind. There are several
mechanisms such as reminders and notifications built into the system to help you maintain
the schedule, but the most important requirement is your commitment.
The Post Graduate Program in Data Science and Business Analytics enable participants to
gain an in-depth understanding of analytics techniques and tools that are widely used by
companies globally from the convenience of their own homes without any location
constraints. It is an e-learning program that takes a very practical approach to teaching
analytics enabling participants to apply their learning immediately.
As you would be familiar by now, the Program is broadly organized into three modules.
Foundations:
In the foundations module, you will be introduced to business analytics and will learn the
business concepts, context and terminology in the areas of finance, marketing and statistics
that are essential for you to follow the domain applications of analytics that will follow later.
You will also be introduced to the tool Python and R, in this module. Predominantly, Python
will be used for analysis and visualization in core courses like Statistical methods for decision
making, advanced statistics, data mining, predictive Modelling, Machine Learning and time
series forecasting.
Analytics Techniques:
In this module, you will learn the popular statistical and analytics techniques that are
commonly used in the industry for mining insights and generating predictions. As stated
earlier, Python will be used to illustrate all the techniques.
Domain Applications of Analytics:
In this module, you will be exposed to applications of analytical methods in a variety of
business domains, most of which would be presented by industry experts. The idea here is to
see some of the commonly encountered business problems in these domains and how they
can be solved using analytics techniques that you have learned in the earlier modules.
Capstone Project:
The Capstone project allows you to apply your learning to a real life business problem under
the guidance of an industry expert. This is a great opportunity for you to demonstrate your
competency by taking up a business problem apply analytics to it. You will be provided the
capstone projects and datasets to develop insights and demonstrate your capabilities under
this module.
Structure of Program (Tabular)
Self -
Virtual Duration
Course Video Industry Mentoring Study
S.No Courses Program Stage Weeks Live of Total
Type Duration Sessions Sessions and
Session Sessions
Practice
Data Science with
1 Python 2 5 2 NA 4 6 15
Analytics Industry Landscape
Statistical Methods Foundation
for Decision
2 Making 5 8 3 1 8 9 25
3 Advanced Statistics 5 8 3 1 8 9 25
4 Data Mining 6 8 4 1 10 9 27
Predictive Analytics
5 Modeling Techniques 5 8 3 1 8 9 25
Graded
Time Series
6 Forecasting 5 8 3 1 8 9 25
7 Machine Learning 4 8 3 1 6 9 23
Data Visualization
Tableau
8 using Tableau 3 8 2 1 6 9 23
Career Session
Finance and Risk
9 Analytics 3 8 2 1 6 9 23
Marketing and
Domain Application
10 Retail Analytics 3 8 2 1 6 9 23
Web and Social
11 Media Analytics 3 8 2 1 6 9 23
12 SQL 3 8 2 1 6 9 23
13 Capstone Project Mandatory 4 1 10 10
35 16 Live
47 92 105 290
Total 93 Hours Mentoring Virtual
Weeks Hours Hours hours
Sessions Classes
S.No Self-Paced Courses (Optional)
1 Introduction to (R)
2 Marketing and CRM
3 Business Finance
4 Neural Network
5 Analytics using SAS
6 Industry Pundit Series
7 Hackathons
8 Optimization Techniques
The course involves 290 hours of learning comprised of 93 hours of video content, 92 hours
of mentored learning sessions, 4 hours of Industry sessions and 105 hours of self- study.
Each module will be of 4 to 5 weeks comprising of 8 hours of videos, 8 hours of mentored
learning or live sessions and approximately around 9 hours of self-study.
PEDAGOGY
Faculties from Great Lakes & University of Texas at Austin will deliver the video content
along with analytics Industry professionals. This ensures that the program imbibes Great
Lakes’ academic elegance and Industry’s Business relevance, thereby providing the
candidates a remarkable learning experience.
Personalized Mentored Learning Sessions:
Personalized Mentored Learning sessions are weekly live online-based learning sessions
conducted by industry experts or alums for small groups of 8-10 learners. We refer to these
groups as micro-batches which enable students to be more engaged and participative in
these small groups. In these sessions, the mentor plays the role of the instructor, walks the
students through a practical example that illustrates the concepts being learnt and clears
doubts to ensure that learning happens.
Aims:
To comprehend learning material better with our one - on - one mentoring
To create a stimulated learning environment with our optimized mix of lectures, hands-
on practice and mentor led interactive sessions.
To make learning effective as information is provided in shorter and manageable
portions.
Have a more flexible and manageable learning schedule giving the freedom to acquire
new skill in a productive way.
Video Lectures:
A week prior to the commencement of the program, you will be receiving a welcome note
providing a detailed schedule of the courses and planned activities. Please check the
Learning Management System(Olympus) for the course outlines, reading materials and
other pre-class requirements that you may need to familiarize yourself with before the start
of video content.
Preparing for Mentoring Session
One week prior to the mentoring session, you will receive an announcement regarding
the agenda of the session.
Participants are expected to watch all the video content before attending the mentored
learning sessions.
You are expected to post your questions before the mentoring session so that your
queries are resolved in a systematic way. You are also expected to stay on track with the
schedule so that you are able to follow what is being taught
TECHNOLOGY ENABLED ONLINE LEARNING
Online learning, facilitated through a state-of-the-art, world class, Olympus (Learning
Management System), is an integral part of the program. The OLYMPUS is your primary
information and communication exchange mechanism. It will provide access to the learning
material that is part of the various courses.
This includes pre-class reading material, case studies, exercises and data sets that may be
used in class, quizzes, assignments and online learning videos. It also has mechanisms for you
to communicate with the Program Office, Faculty and with each other .
Once you login to the OLYMPUS, please do the following:
Update your profile and name
Update your notification preferences
PROGRAM EVALUATION
The program curriculum consists of a combination of video lectures, mentor sessions and a
Capstone Project. Please refer to the Grading Policy, provided along with the handbook, for
details on the evaluation policy. While we encourage collaboration, we expect participants to
adhere to the highest standards of ethics and avoid plagiarism and copying. Plagiarism will
not be tolerated by the institute. If detected, the penalty may be severe. In cases of copying,
both the parties will be penalized. Given that you are all experienced professionals who are
pursuing this program with the primary objective of learning, you are expected to follow the
honor code and not indulge in unethical behavior or plagiarism.
COMMUNICATIONS
The program office is your partner in ensuring you achieve the desired learning outcomes.
Use the following means to communicate to the Program Office and with your peers to get a
timely response to your queries.
Messages on the OLYMPUS:
Send a message to Program Office when clarification to your questions is intended to
be private using Support feature on Olympus Dashboard. These may include any of the
following:
Clarifications around a grade you received
Any other personal issues such as seeking permission to miss a mentoring session due to
travel etc.
Program Office will respond within 24-48 hours.
Announcements:
Program Office may also communicate with you when important information has to be
solicited, shared or in response to your questions. Program office will post an announcement
when new course material is available, if there are any changes to upcoming courses and
other program related issues. These announcements will appear in your home page of the
OLYMPUS. Please ensure that you log in regularly and pay attention to any new
announcements to ensure that important information is not missed. You can also modify your
communication preferences so that an automated email is sent you whenever a new
announcement is posted.
Notifications:
Notifications are automated system generated messages sent to the whole class whenever
important new information is available. These may involve availability of grades, reminders
for an upcoming assignment due date and when assignments are released. These
notifications will also appear in your home page of the OLYMPUS. You may again modify your
communication preferences to receive an email whenever a notification is made.
FEE PAYMENTS
In case of non-payment or delay in payment of fees as per the schedule mentioned in the
admission offer letter, your Olympus (Learning Management System) will be disabled
automatically and will become active only once the payment for the due instalment is
made.
Extensions in fee payment are not allowed.
In case any candidate is availing loan facility to make the payment towards the program
fee, He/she shall initiate the loan process well in advance so that the payment can be
made as per the payment schedule mentioned in your admission offer. No further
extension will be provided to make the payment in case of delay in processing of the loan
from the financing agency or bank.
In case the candidate is making payment through cheque, the same should be submitted
with the admissions office (address mentioned in the admission offer) at least 7 working
days before the payment due date.
In case of payments made through Loan/ Cheque/ DD: Candidate needs to share the
transaction detail, amount, date and bank name with the admissions team
([email protected]) on the date of payment.
It is highly recommended that you make the payment using one of the online payment
modes made available to you as it will not cause any delay in updating your fee status
with the institute and hence will ensure uninterrupted access to the Olympus (Learning
Management System).
Please note that any query related to fee payment/OLYMPUS activation shall be made
between working days - Monday to Friday (10 AM to 6 PM) only. Any query reaching the
admissions team after the mentioned period will be taken up on the next working day
As mentioned in the admission offer, fees once received will not be refunded.
DEFERMENT & TRANSFER POLICY:
In case, you want to defer to a different batch due to personal / professional exigency,
you need to pay / should have paid at least first installment
The choice to defer to a different batch can be availed only once. So please use the
option of deferment judiciously. In case, you want to take a deferment more than once,
it will attract additional fees of INR 10,000.
In case you are deferring to a batch which has higher fees, you need to pay the
differential amount
When deferring to a different batch, please note that you will have to continue your
learning journey from the module where you left and you will not be allowed to start
afresh
If you wish to take a transfer to another Great Learning program which is priced lesser
than the program you have enrolled into, some of the discounts you have availed might
not carry forward
If you wish to transfer to another Great Learning program, your fees will be adjusted
after accounting for fees on a prorate basis
You need to complete the course within 2 years of course enrollment. Not completing
the course within two years of course of enrollment will lead to your candidature being
marked as drop out and you will not be eligible to earn course completion certificate
Any other deferment related cases (not covered here) will be dealt on a case by case
basis
As mentioned in the admission offer, fees once received will not be refunded.
In case, you want to defer to a different batch due to personal / professional exigency,
you need to pay / should have paid at least first installment
CODE OF CONDUCT
Great Learning’s Honour system expects participants to act with integrity, respect community
standards, and manifest a commitment to ethical responsibility in all matters. This includes
all academic activities (interaction with other participants during the mentoring sessions,
online discussion etc.)
The honour system expects all participants to act professionally in all matters, including with
respect to resolution of disputes.
Virtual Sessions Etiquette:
High Professional standards are expected of all participants of PGPDSBA. For enhanced,
session experience, we require you to abide by the following:
Join sessions on Time: On time arrival ensures that sessions are able to start and finish at
the scheduled time.
Come fully prepared for each session: This programme is structured in such a way that a
core learning in this programme takes place during the video lectures and application part
of the concepts is covered during mentoring session. When you are not prepared then
you cannot contribute to the overall learning process. This affects not only the individual,
but also disservice to your peers.
Respect the views and opinions of peers: Disagreement and debate are encouraged.
Intolerance for the views of others is unacceptable.
It would be appreciated if you do not leave sessions early. If you will have to leave early
for any reason, intimate Program Manager or mentor in advance.
CONCLUSION
Once again, congratulations and welcome as you begin your journey with Great Lakes. Since
the PGPDSBA is a rigorous program, you will find that there may be many challenges –
academic and personal. But remember that we are here to encourage and support you as you
meet your learning objectives and achieve your career aspirations.
Happy Learning!
