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Penn State taps SPSS data mining certificate program for Continuing Education program

CHICAGO --07/23/01 -

Offering the opportunity for both students and the local business community to learn valuable data mining skills, the Penn State Continuing Education program selected the SPSS Certified Data Mining Professional program (CDMP) as the latest addition to their curriculum. The Penn State program will provide training and certification based on the Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) methodology, developed in part, by SPSS BI, a division of SPSS Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSS). Featuring leading software packages from SPSS -- such as Clementine, SPSS Base and AnswerTree -- the program will offer practical hands-on training and will be available on Penn State campuses in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Erie and Harrisburg.

"Statistics and data mining are at the core of the methods available in the suite of tools useful for quantitative reasoning," said James L. Rosenberger, Professor and Head of Penn State Department of Statistics. "The statistics department at Penn State welcomes the opportunity to be engaged in making these techniques available to users, and to enhance the educational level of users to help make the best use of these data mining tools."

"Data mining is fast becoming a critical tool in today's competitive business world and this certification will help future business leaders make more informed decisions," said Fiona McKenna,  industry marketing manager for SPSS BI. "Now, through this program, more students will have the chance to gain a professional edge. We are thrilled to be a part of Penn State's Continuing Education Program and look forward to meeting a new generation of people who use Clementine, SPSS and AnswerTree."

"This dynamic partnership with SPSS BI, a world leader in knowledge and information analysis, will allow us to bring SPSS' cutting-edge curriculum to four business and government centers in Pennsylvania," said Ed Donovan, director of the Outreach Office of Statewide Programs at Penn State. "Erie and Pittsburgh have the corporate, industrial, health care and technology users; Penn State Great Valley serves the East's tremendous technology and commercial concerns, and Penn State Harrisburg will serve the government, planning and research interests of the state capital. All of these areas benefit from the predictive benefits that can only be achieved through data mining."

The Penn State Data Mining Certificate program is a six-course noncredit program that explores the tools and strategies analysts need to transform data into critical management information. Exclusively using SPSS’ industry-leading software, including SPSS' data mining workbench Clementine, the program will help students learn the software and the skills needed to make proactive, market-driven decisions and analyze internal customer data to forecast the future.  The program provides training in data mining methodologies, data collection, preparation, visualization, and deployment and is ideal for business analysts, marketing researchers, government and urban planning professionals, law enforcement professionals, and others interested in becoming data mining analysts. For more information, visit www.outreach.psu.edu/StatewidePrograms/DataMining.

The objective of the CDMP curriculum is to teach the critical skills necessary to conduct successful data mining initiatives and establish national competencies in data mining. The certification offers employers assurance that those completing course and lab work from a college or university involved in the CDMP have been trained in the necessary data mining skills established by the industry standard CRISP-DM methodology. In addition to the strong focus on a data mining methodology, participants will receive instruction and evaluation in data analysis as well as in-depth software training. Upon completion of the CRISP-DM assessment and three application/software certificates, participants will be awarded a continuing education certificate recognizing them as a "Certified Data Mining Professional."

About CRISP-DM
CRISP-DM is a comprehensive data mining methodology and process model created by a consortium of industry experts. The CRISP-DM model makes large data mining projects faster, more efficient and less costly by enabling users to take advantage of an already-proven process. It offers step-by-step direction, tasks and objectives for every stage of the process, including business understanding, data understanding, data preparation, modeling, evaluation and deployment. CRISP-DM began as a European Commission-funded project for defining a standard process model for carrying out data mining projects. SPSS Inc. joined NCR, DaimlerChrysler and OHRA on the initiative in January 1999, after acquiring consortium member Integral Solutions Limited (ISL).

About SPSS BI
SPSS BI helps people solve business problems using statistics and data mining. This predictive technology enables customers in the commercial and public sectors to make better decisions and improve results. SPSS BI software and services are used successfully in a wide range of applications, including customer attraction and retention, cross-selling, survey research, fraud detection, Web site performance, forecasting and scientific research. SPSS BI's market-leading products include SPSS, Clementine, AnswerTree, DecisionTime and SigmaPlot.

About SPSS Inc.
SPSS Inc., (Nasdaq:  SPSS) headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA, is a worldwide provider of analytical technology for business, government, and higher education.  The company's solutions and products enable customers to make better decisions by learning from the past, understanding the present and anticipating the future.  With this insight, organizations gain a true competitive advantage: the ability to manage the future.  SPSS analytical technology is brought to the market through five divisions:  CustomerCentric Solutions (for integrated analytical CRM solutions); SPSS BI (for data mining and statistical products and services used to solve business problems), ShowCase (for analytical products operating on IBM iSeries/AS400 platform); SPSS MR (for analytical solutions in the market research industry); and SPSS Enabling Technologies (for licensing SPSS technologies for use in other analytical applications).  For more information, visit www.spss.com

About Penn State Continuing Education
Penn State offers continuing education to extend the intellectual expertise and resources of the University through teaching, research, and service to address the social, civic, economic, and environmental issues and opportunities of our Commonwealth, nation, and world.  Serving the individuals, organizations, and communities that are stakeholders of the University, the organization develops programs that increase educational access and link the expertise of the University with the needs of society.