A post-graduate work initiative in data analytics that\u2019s helped participants secure coveted jobs at prominent Canadian organizations has earned Brock University\u2019s Goodman School of Business top honours from a leading international accreditation body.<\/p>\n
The Robot Training Academy (RTA), a collaboration between Goodman\u2019s Centre for Business Analytics (CBA) and longtime industry partner Rel8ed Analytics<\/a>, garnered recognition from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) with its prestigious Innovations That Inspire award<\/a>. This annual program recognizes institutions worldwide that reimagine business education to be more relevant, equitable and impactful.<\/p>\n The spotlight this year is on schools that forge partnerships to shape market-responsive curricula and engage with local and global organizations from across sectors to address complex challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s Innovations That Inspire honorees exemplify the power of collaboration between business and higher education in driving positive change,\u201d says Lily Bi, AACSB President and CEO.\u00a0\u201cThe Goodman School of Business Centre for Business Analytics\u2019 dedication to industry-centred education showcases how business schools are fostering innovation and ensuring graduates enter the workforce ready to make an immediate impact.\u201d<\/p>\n The RTA launched in 2021 to address skills gaps and meet the evolving needs of industry employers. Designed with Rel8ed\u2019s CEO, Robert Lytle, the program complements students\u2019 classroom learning with specialized, hands-on training using in-demand software and real data.<\/p>\n Over seven weeks, students access skills training modules that grant them micro-credentials to include on their resum\u00e9s. Top students are then offered co-op positions to work on community projects requiring data analysis, with past work including Goodman\u2019s accreditation team, a global research and consultancy firm and a global media and events company, among others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe RTA was designed to bolster curriculum learning while supporting the very particular needs of community organizations,\u201d says Anteneh Ayanso, CBA Director. \u201cRobot Training Academy provides tailored, industry-focused training for students and makes them available to community organizations needing data processing, gathering and analyzing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a project that successfully demonstrates academic and industry co-ordination, and interdisciplinary co-ordination,\u201d he adds. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have the right collaboration, if students don\u2019t have complementary skills, simply having a degree won\u2019t meet the needs of industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The program\u2019s co-op students have gone on to land larger roles with big-name organizations, Lytle says, demonstrating the program\u2019s immediate impact on both industry and trainees.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the students who did this,\u201d he says. \u201cThis award recognizes the students themselves and their true abilities. This was a student-led program that turned them into powerhouses.\u201d<\/p>\n The program has also directly aided Rel8ed, Lytle adds. In 2023, the company was acquired by a major global insurance firm based on the strength of its research program and staff, and it continues to hire and train Brock and RTA students to support its expanded global workload.<\/p>\n Plans are underway to revitalize the RTA by adding a research component, Ayanso says. This ensures the program continues to provide students with the highest quality, skills-based training that meets industry needs, including at the local level.<\/p>\n \u201cIt aligns with the AACSB and it\u2019s what we\u2019re striving for,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to see it as a highlight of classroom innovation. The award affirms what we believe in and is giving more motivation to extend this training in the future and extend our collaborations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A post-graduate work initiative in data analytics that\u2019s helped participants secure coveted jobs at prominent Canadian organizations has earned Brock University\u2019s Goodman School of Business top honours from a leading international accreditation body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":100370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,7,3319,1],"tags":[7829,4166,328,4303,2852,594,14394,14395],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100371,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100369\/revisions\/100371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}