Leveraging Graduate Student Consultants to Provide Data Science Consulting in Higher Education

As domains and disciplines face ever increasing need for data science proficiency, universities and colleges must find ways to support their local needs and also prepare students for a multitude of paths. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation project “Dissemination of Knowledge about Models in Data Science Consulting in Higher Education“ brought together a group of representatives from three institutions to develop and share ways that a variety of types of data science consulting programs can leverage graduate student employees. This presentation will share the outcomes of the project, aiming to benefit those looking to start data science consulting programs that employ graduate students as consults or enhance existing programs. The presentation will cover practical topics such as: landscape analysis; scoping and administrative structures; hiring, training and onboarding; and assessment and reporting. The presentation will also present the Data Science Consulting Program at North Carolina State University, a consulting program offered as a partnership with the University Libraries and the Data Science and AI Academy, as a case study. The program employs an interdisciplinary cohort of graduate student data science consultants that offer consulting to members of the campus community. The student consultants bring sophisticated data science skills and disciplinary expertise to the program and allow the library to support the needs of campus users. In turn, librarians and staff offer extensive training to student consultants that develop their communication, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration excellence. The student data science consultants leverage their technical expertise and communication training to provide support on a wide range of data science and statistical topics for disciplines across campus.