Social Impact Analytics

The SIA Certificate program has been postponed due to COVID-19.

Expand Your Career Opportunities with a Certificate in Social Impact Analytics

An exciting array of career opportunities await college graduates skilled in using statistical data to study complex human behavior and address global challenges. Students with training in statistics and data analysis are in high demand in both the private sector and non-profit organizations evaluating the effectiveness of programs in areas such as health, education and microenterprise.

The new San Francisco-based certificate program in Social Impact Analytics (SIA) seeks to equip students with the modern statistical, experimental and analytical tools for assessing the social impacts of a wide variety of programs, interventions and policies.

  • The program is oriented toward students without an extensive background in statistics or programming, but who wish to develop these skills in a supportive and encouraging environment.

  • A primary focus of the program will be to prepare students for analytics jobs in the non-profit sector, social business, public agencies, and the social impact arms of large technology firms.

  • The kinds of skills garnered by certificate holders will be widely applicable across the modern economy, especially in employment markets such as the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is an enormous demand for those with skills in statistics and analytics.

After completing the program, student with a strong desire to work in social impact-oriented businesses and organizations will have gained the necessary analytical skills to seek employment as development program analysts, education and health researchers, or monitoring and evaluation specialists. The SIA program will also provide employment opportunities in a wide array of other fields that merge analytical skills with programming while also seeking to have positive impacts on low-income and marginalized populations.

Our academic year program includes an optional half-time internship in the social impact arm of a San Francisco company or non-profit organization. Students may complete the intensive summer course in 10 weeks. The SIA program is designed primarily as a post-baccalaureate certificate, but advanced undergraduate students with upper-division standing may also apply to summer intensive program. 

Additional Opportunities for Students

Students enrolled in the program will have opportunities to attend a regular series of presentations by leading researchers and leaders of faith-based and secular organizations in the social impact area. The Clunie House will also host workshops and informal gatherings for post-college students seeking to deepen their understanding of their own gifts, calling, and vocation in professional life as they transition to the world of work. Students in the certificate program who wish to integrate faith with study and vocation may apply to live in the Christian learning & living community centered at the Clunie House. Additional housing options available upon requests.

Skills gained after completing the program:

  • Applying an array of statistical techniques using the R programming language to monitor and evaluate a wide variety of social policies and programs.

  • Creating professional surveys to measure quantitative economic data as well as qualitative social and psychological phenomena.

  • Managing the sequence of steps in carrying out a randomized controlled trial and other types of experiments using mobile tablet and online technology. 

  • Utilizing leading-edge econometric and machine-learning tools to study the effectiveness of different types of policies and programs.

  • Designing professional data visualization graphics using R to present key results in an aesthetically attractive, clear and meaningful way.

The SIA certificate program grows out of the new poverty and development studies institute forming around Westmont College’s historical Clunie House, a historic Victorian mansion on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park panhandle. The certificate program and institute form a cooperative effort by faculty from a consortium of leading faith-based colleges and universities. Students from all faith backgrounds—or none at all—are warmly welcome and encouraged to apply. 

Gain the necessary analytical skills to seek employment in social impact-oriented businesses and organizations as a development program analysts, education and health researchers, or monitoring and evaluation specialists.