DACSS Academics and Advising

Academic Advising for Enrolled Students

DACSS career and academic advising supports current DACSS students and will help you navigate degree requirements, career advising, course offerings, and registration within DACSS. If you are a current student and have any DACSS-related general questions or need academic advising, please contact:

Office hours: There are no office hours over winter break. Please make an appointment using the links below:

Marcie Muehlke, Associate Director of Graduate Student Services, or schedule an advising appointment.

Emily White, Assistant Director of Graduate Student Services, or schedule an advising appointment.

Prospective students with questions about the program or admissions-related inquiries should email @email.

M.S. in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science 

The Master's of Science degree in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science (MS in DACSS) degree curriculum has been carefully designed to prepare students for the workforce and reflects current industry standards for data science professionals. The MS in DACSS degree requires satisfactory completion of 11 courses, totaling 32 credits.

Degree requirements are the same for all three MS in DACSS programs:

• MS in DACSS
• Online MS in DACSS
• 4+1 MS in DACSS

Optional Concentrations:

• Thesis concentration is intended for students planning to continue their training at the doctoral level. 
• Field experience concentration prepares students for entry into the workforces by giving academic credit for an internship, co-op or practicum.

Coursework consists of the of the following components:

• Four core courses that ensure that students are able to meet industry standards in data analysis and communication and effectively use data to support decision-making.
• Three technical electives that ensure students have cutting-edge training in one or more methods, such as survey research, advanced statistics or econometrics, network analysis, or computational text analysis.
• Three additional technical or substantive electives that round out the degree curriculum.
• One professional development course.

DACSS Forms and Documents

• DACSS Advising Form
• DACSS Suggested Timelines
• DACSS Independent Study Proposal Form
• DACSS Internship Proposal Form
• DACSS Document Submission Form
• DACSS CPT Guidelines

UMass Forms and Documents

• Graduate School Forms and Documents
• Graduate School Course Credit Transfer Forms
  • Transfer of Graduate Course Credit into a Accelerated (4+1) Master's Program
  • Transfer of Graduate Course Credit into a Master's Program
  • Transfer of Non-Degree Course Credit into a Master's Program
  • Transfer of Undergraduate Course Credit into Master's Program
• Eligibility Forms
  • Master's Degree Eligibility Form
  • Certificate Eligibility Form