Kogod School of Business
Meet Analytics@American graduate Fenix Suero. As an operations coordinator in the education industry, Fenix hopes to apply her analytical skills to improve her organization and wider network of charter schools. The Kogod support and classroom connections enabled her to thrive in the program.
Fenix graduated in June 2017. See what she had to say about her experience in Kogod’s online analytics program.
How have you been able to apply what you learned from Business@American?
Achievement First, the charter school network that I work for, is very data oriented, but that is a newer concept to the education industry as a whole. I’m hoping to grow these skills and grow with the company. We want to be able to gain information from the data we collect every day from students and teachers. I want to improve our data system at the school level and then expand it to our entire network, especially when it comes to proving that we’re a good school and want to open more schools.
Do you feel that there’s a skills gap in your industry?
Yes. At my organization, we’re not hiring enough personnel with data and analytics skills. My superiors know that I did this program and they’re very excited because they want me to take what I’ve learned and apply it here.
Were you nervous about fitting an online degree into your life?
Oh yes. I hadn’t been to school in five years, and I work over fifty hours a week. But you can take your time with this. It’s not a long program, but it’s long enough—it’s from one to three years. So I was able to take it slow at first, but once I was back into school mode, I could move a little bit faster through the program.
Do you feel that you got the support you need throughout the program?
Yes, I think that’s why I love the program so much. Someone was always in touch with me via email or phone. There’s no way to fall out of touch. Sometimes what makes people not succeed in school is not having support, and I never felt unsupported in this program.
What type of networking opportunities did Business@American provide?
There’s some work that we did in the career management course that opens a whole virtual network—there are so many job opportunities. And in general, your classmates are just amazing. You build great connections. We stayed up late together, texting, and becoming friends, even if it’s just for those ten weeks. I didn’t think that could happen. But it did.