BIOSTATISTICS Professional Science Masters California State University East Bay Eric A. Suess, Lynn Eudey, Kelly Fan, and YanYan Zhou  ABSTRACT New Professional Science Masters in Biostatistics CSU East Bay Department of Statistics and Biostatistics The CSU East Bay, Department of Statistics (now Department of Statistics and Biostatistics) began working on the curriculum development of a new masters degree in Biostatistics 7 years ago. With the help of the funding from the System-wide CSU SLOAN Foundation grant we have successfully created a new graduate program that has now been approved as a Professional Science Masters (PSM) degree in Biostatistics, Fall The program has been available for the last two years, and this year the incoming students are the first to know about the PSM. This poster addresses some of the issues dealt with in the development process of our program. We describe in detail our new program, and the similarities and differences from other such programs. We are one of three PSMs in Biostatistics in the United States. The overall issues of running and supporting such a program in the current state budget situation is presented. Suggestions are made about how to continue the development and success of such a program in the CSU. PROGRAM Description: The Department of Statistics and Biostatistics offers graduate study leading to the degree Master of Science in Biostatistics. The program is designed to serve the needs of students with varying backgrounds in Statistics, Biological Sciences, Public Health, Computer Science, Mathematics and other sciences. The program includes curriculum designed to prepare students to work in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. All students are expected to master a wide variety of applied statistical and probabilistic techniques and the theoretical foundations on which these techniques rest. They are expected to be familiar with recent developments and to be able to use the statistical literature to learn new techniques and theories throughout their professional careers. In addition to the general requirements stated elsewhere in this catalog, a student must satisfy the departmental requirements stated in the following paragraphs. Student Learning Outcomes: Students graduating with an M.S. in Biostatistics from Cal State East Bay will have achieved the following: 1. theoretical, interpretive and basic computational skill in (a) descriptive statistics, probability, and graphical displays, (b) distributions, hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, and (c) uncertainty, likelihood, modeling and error analysis; 2. ability to derive basic theory and communicate to others results involving (a) descriptive statistics, probability, and graphical displays, (b) distributions, hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, (c) uncertainty, likelihood, modeling and error analysis; 3. ability to formulate problem solutions, produce appropriate computer code and to decipher standard computer results covering (a) descriptive statistics, probability, and graphical displays, (b) distributions, hypothesis testing and confidence intervals, (c) uncertainty, likelihood, modeling and error analysis. SIMILARITIES The other two Biostatistics PSM program in the US are Grand Valley State University and Middle Tennessee State University. Both of the other PSMs in Biostatistics have been good models for the development of our program. Because we have designed the program to run on the state-side of the university we do not charge higher fees for the program. We are still trying to make more and better industry connections that result in financial support for the program. The other program we have used as a model for the development of our program is the Applied Statistics PSM at Penn State. This program has been a long standing PSM program in the US. We have done our best to take the best practices from these other programs in to incorporate them into our program requirements and to use with our students. Student use of LinkedIn and job listing websites. Students are encouraged to develop a profession online presence on LinkedIn. This has been very useful to students after graduation. Students are given list of job listing website and encourages to look for jobs long before graduation. Many of our students find employment before graduation. Students are encouraged to develop an online student portfolio of some code from their classes, projects, and any other materials that might be useful on an interview. Having such things readily available has been very useful to students after graduation. The continued development and maintaining such a program requires the interest and the dedication of the faculty involved. Under the current budget crisis, once the outside funding finishes the continuation of administrative support of the program may end. However, the main ideas of the PSM will remain part of the curriculum. Every effort is being made to seek industry support for the program and recognition from the university administration of the need to support for the program to proceed into the future. Enrollments have been very good for a new program and we expect to see further improvement. The changes have also help the enrollments in our MS in Statistics. The use of our Professional Advisory Board is developing and we have plans to have some outside review of our Clinical Trials projects starting this year. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT The program is directed and administered by the Department Chair. The primary substitution for an internship is the industry/research based project assigned as part of the Clinical Trials course. The primary technology tools used in the program are SAS and R. All faculty who teach the core Biostatistics courses in the program have a PhDs in statistics or biostatistics. Faculty involvement in the curriculum development and modification has been consistent. The faculty promote the job search early in the program through the orientation and via directed to students. Students are encouraged to network through the professional seminars given on campus and by posting their resumes online. The program is planned to be run on the state-side of the university, unlike other PSMs that are run through Extended Education. Biostatistics Degree Requirements Successful completion of the following unit, grade, and course requirements. A. Unit and Grade Requirements The M.S. in Biostatistics program consists of at least 48 quarter units of approved upper division and graduate work. At least 44 of these units must be approved graduate (6000 level) courses. All work applied toward the 48 quarter units must be at an average grade of "B" (3.0) or higher. No graduate-level course may be at a grade below "B-." B. Course Requirements (48 units) Additional courses referred to in section # 3 below must be approved in writing in advance by an advisor. Course Requirements are presented in this Roadmap 3. Additional Courses Students with department approval can select courses in Biostatistics, Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Statistics. A partial list of courses is given below: BSTA 6690 Statistical Bioinformatics (4) BSTA Selected Topics in Biostatistics (4) STAT 6310 Advanced Stochastic Processes and Simulation (4) STAT 6401 Advanced Probability I (4) STAT 6402 Advanced Probability II (4) STAT 6515 Advanced Multivariate Analysis (4) STAT 6550 Bayesian Statistics (4) STAT 6555 Statistical Time Series Analysis (4) STAT 6601 Advanced Statistical Computing (4) STAT Selected Topics in Graduate Probability and Statistics (4) STAT 6898 Co-operative Education (1-4) STAT 6900 Independent Study (1-4) MATH 3100 Linear Algebra (4) MATH 3300 Analysis I (4) Comprehensive Examination Successful completion of a departmental examination is required. This written examination will cover the contents of the courses in the candidate's approved program. Other material may be included, the general nature of which will be specified in advance. The examination will generally be given only in the Fall and Spring quarters, and will cover both applied and theoretical topics.