Exploring the Use of Predictive Analytics in Banking and Finance Decision-Making

Predictive analytics is a branch of advanced analytics that is composed of various statistical techniques where each contributes in making predictions about future scenarios and outcomes. Some of these techniques include machine learning, artificial intelligence, data mining, predictive modeling, logistic regression, etc., and the patterns found in the results can be used to identify risks and opportunity. Predictive analytics is often associated with meteorology and weather forecasting due to the fact there are many attributes to contribute to a response, but generally, it has many applications in existing growing or established businesses, especially when it comes to decision-making about revenue, customers, and productivity (Siegel, 2016). This project is focused on the banking and financing area, and I analyzed two different datasets – one in which I generated data using software, and the other from a Portuguese bank that is available to the public online. The purpose of this project was to create a list of targeted customers that are more likely to sign up for a credit card and more likely to be issued a checking account as the binary responses by using predictive analytics. I investigated the relationship between the binary response, and the predictor variables, the characteristics of customers within the dataset. Analysis procedures and logistic regression are employed which allowed me to create the most accurate model for targeting these specific group of customers

The Challenges of Starting a Global Software Company: The Case of Buildium, LLC

It all started in the 1990s when two young and motivated men, Dimitris Georgakopoulos and Michael Monteiro, had a vision to pursue their interest in business. Already having had experience working in the IT department at Sapient Corporation, a marketing and consulting company that supports clients with technology, marketing, and management, the entrepreneurs decided to put their time and money towards purchasing their first rental properties in Providence, Rhode Island. Georgakopoulos and Monteiro’s story did not start as one might imagine, considering where they are today. Georgakopoulos is a Providence College alum and Monteiro is a Boston College alum, but they both lived in Watertown, MA in the late 90s; they commuted to Sapient together while working on the same project, which is how they first met. Having very different personalities and perspectives, they certainly did not start off on the right foot, to say the least. While Monteiro is very statistical, analytical and detail-oriented, always getting sidetracked and lost in the details, Georgakopoulos is more straightforward; he would rather get it done with imperfections than not get it done at all. Although their views seemed to clash a lot in the beginning, it was not long until they started to appreciate each other’s personas, realizing that both perspectives are essential when attempting to pursue efficiency. Long story short, they eventually learned how to make a very solid team together

Records of a School at Sea

This presentation is largely about strategies for dealing with archival legacy description. Not just in terms of data migration or updating standards, but what to do when you inherit a large scale collection that was organized using a methodology that no longer works in a 21st century context. How do you move forward, and how do you document your interventions and decisions? This is what happened to me at SUNY Maritime with the college’s institutional records

Uplifting Diverse and Marginalized Voices Through Community Archives and Public Programming

Queens Memory is a local community archiving project co-administered by the Queens Public Library and Queens College Library. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Queens Memory embarked on a collaborative series of online programs that covered social justice, current events, and the creation of social change. This programming built upon ongoing community oral history and documentation efforts. This article explores how the public programs and oral history initiatives fueled one another, serving to uplift diverse voices within our communities and preserve those voices in the archives. Key ingredients of the programs are discussed, including technology, outreach, collaboration, consent, and format

Commemorating a Legacy of Dissent: Revisiting Campus Activism 1968-1970

On the heels of the student revolt at Columbia in 1968, Queens College students launched their own militant actions and demands for change on campus. Using primary source materials from the Benjamin Rosenthal Library’s Special Collections and Archives, the presentation covers the New Left and Anti-War movements, as well as an uprising led by Black and Puerto Rican students influenced by the ideologies of Black Power and self-determination. The role of archives in preserving activist history and educating current and future generations is also touched on

The Personal Papers of American Sailors, 1890s–1940s

Personal papers in the archives at Maritime College, State University of New York, document the lives of alumni from the school’s founding in 1874 through the early decades of the 20th century. Journals, diaries, memoirs, and reminiscences located in these collections provide evidence of what it was like to work on a ship, far from home, travelling to foreign lands. In this article, I explore first-hand accounts of maritime life by Van Horne Morris, my maternal grandfather and a 1938 graduate of the Massachusetts Nautical School (now known as Massachusetts Maritime Academy), and several alumni of the New York Nautical School (now known as SUNY Maritime College), who graduated between 1896 and 1929. Close reading of their letters and manuscripts reveals echoes of a maritime literary tradition rooted in the antebellum-era United States. Comparing and contrasting the style and content of their writing to antecedents in the 19th century also illuminates continuity and changes in maritime labour and culture over time

Digital Exhibition: Romaniote Memories, a Jewish Journey from Ioannina, Greece to Manhattan

This article discusses creation of the digital exhibition, Romaniote Memories, a Jewish Journey from Ioannina, Greece to Manhattan: Photographs by Vincent Giordano at Queens College, City University of New York