
Dr. Bobby McCloud
Executive Director of International Program Operations, DSO
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Review upcoming residency dates for international student sessions.
Mon. August 10 – Sat. October 3, 2026
Mon. October 12 – Sat. December 12, 2026
Mon. January 11 – Sat. March 6, 2027
Mon. March 22 – Sat. May 15, 2027
Mon. May 31 – Sat. July 24, 2027
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MS in Business Analytics
Achieving a Master of Science in Business Analytics from 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ can significantly elevate your prospects of securing high-level positions across various STEM-focused industries. This program goes beyond the fundamentals, offering a blend of data analytics principles crucial for a flourishing career in the industry. These include ethics in data, advanced information systems, comprehensive research methods, and cutting-edge marketing analytics. This well-rounded curriculum ensures you're not just prepared for the demands of a business analytics career but also poised to excel in it.
View Degree PlanMS in Information Technology
The Master of Science in Information Technology at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ is a comprehensive graduate program tailored to impart essential skills for managing and safeguarding data in today's rapidly evolving IT landscape. Recognizing the increasing demand for proficient managers in this STEM field, the program focuses on cultivating expertise in both the management and security of information. To align with specific career goals, 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ offers two distinct specializations within the MSIT program: Management Information Systems and Cybersecurity. This allows learners to tailor their education to their professional aspirations. A standout feature of this program is the integration of CompTIA cybersecurity certifications within its courses, significantly enhancing the degree's value and appeal in the competitive job market.
View Degree PlanPhD in Management
The Ph.D. in Management at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ Baptist University is a rigorous, research-focused program designed for experienced professionals, scholars, and educators who seek to advance their knowledge in management theory and practice. The program emphasizes critical thinking, academic inquiry, and ethical leadership, all within a distinctly Christian worldview. Doctoral candidates must complete a dissertation that reflects scholarly research and demonstrates a high level of academic integrity and contribution to the field. A dissertation committee oversees the process from proposal to final defense.
View HandbookCOMING FALL 2026: PhD in Management Specializing in Enterprise Systems.
DataAI
CompTIA DataAI (formerly DataX) is the premier certification for highly experienced professionals seeking to validate competency in the rapidly evolving field of data science. DataAI equips you with the skills to precisely and confidently demonstrate expertise in handling complex data sets, implementing data-driven solutions, and driving business growth through insightful data interpretation.
DataAI (V1) exam objectives summary Mathematics and statistics (17%) Statistical methods: applying t-tests, chi-squared tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), hypothesis testing, regression metrics, gini index, entropy, p-value, receiver operating characteristic/area under the curve (ROC/AUC), akaike information criterion/bayesian information criterion (AIC/BIC), and confusion matrix.
Probability and modeling: explaining distributions, skewness, kurtosis, heteroskedasticity, probability density function (PDF), probability mass function (PMF), cumulative distribution function (CDF), missingness, oversampling, and stratification.
Linear algebra and calculus: understanding rank, eigenvalues, matrix operations, distance metrics, partial derivatives, chain rule, and logarithms. Temporal models: comparing time series, survival analysis, and causal inference.
Model iteration: conducting design, evaluation, selection, and validation. Results communication: creating visualizations, selecting data, avoiding deceptive charts, and ensuring accessibility.Machine learning (24%) Foundational concepts: applying loss functions, bias-variance tradeoff, regularization, cross-validation, ensemble models, hyperparameter tuning, and data leakage.
Tree-based learning: applying decision trees, random forest, boosting, and bootstrap aggregation (bagging). Deep learning: explaining artificial neural networks (ANN), dropout, batch normalization, backpropagation, and deep-learning frameworks. Unsupervised learning: explaining clustering, dimensionality reduction, and singular value decomposition (SVD). Operations and processes (22%)
Business functions: explaining compliance, key performance indicators (KPIs), and requirements gathering. Data types: explaining generated, synthetic, and public data. Data ingestion: understanding pipelines, streaming, batching, and data lineage. Data wrangling: implementing cleaning, merging, imputation, and ground truth labeling. Data science life cycle: applying workflow models, version control, clean code, and unit tests. DevOps and MLOps: explaining continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), model deployment, container orchestration, and performance monitoring. Deployment environments: comparing containerization, cloud, hybrid, edge, and on-premises deployment.
Specialized applications of data science (13%) Optimization: comparing constrained and unconstrained optimization. NLP concepts: explaining natural language processing (NLP) techniques like tokenization, embeddings, term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), topic modeling, and NLP applications. Computer vision: explaining optical character recognition (OCR), object detection, tracking, and data augmentation. Other applications: explaining graph analysis, reinforcement learning, fraud detection, anomaly detection, signal processing, and others
SecurityX
SecurityX is an advanced cybersecurity certification for security architects and senior security engineers. It proves you have the skills to design, build, and implement secure solutions across complex environments. You’ll also show you can support a resilient enterprise while addressing governance, risk, and compliance needs. Design, implement, and integrate secure solutions across complex environments to support a resilient enterprise in security architecture and engineering. Use automation, monitoring, detection, and incident response to proactively support ongoing security operations. Apply security practices to cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments to ensure enterprise-wide protection. Utilize cryptographic technologies and techniques while evaluating the impact of emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence, on information security. Implement governance, compliance, risk management, and threat modeling strategies across the enterprise. Validate advanced, hands-on skills in security architecture and senior security engineering within live environments.
CloudNetX
CompTIA CloudNetX validates your ability to design and implement secure, scalable networking solutions in hybrid environments. You’ll cover key areas like security design, network monitoring, performance optimization, and advanced troubleshooting, with hands-on skills such as Zero Trust implementation. This certification equips you with the expertise to advance your career as a network architect, security architect, or enterprise architect.
Analyze business requirements and design secure network architectures tailored for hybrid environments. Implement Zero Trust principles, configure access controls, and secure hybrid networks to enhance network security. Use tools to monitor network performance, automate tasks, and maintain reliable network environments for effective network monitoring and operations. Diagnose and resolve connectivity, performance, and security issues to troubleshoot hybrid networks effectively.
The above MS degrees were approved through WBU’s internal governance process in compliance with regional accreditation (SACSCOC) requirements.
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After you are admitted to the university, 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ's DSO will email an I-20 document to you along with additional instructions to get your visa from a U.S. embassy. The I-20 proves that you have been admitted to a U.S. school; you must have one to apply for an F-1 (student) visa.
During the process of getting a visa appointment at the U.S. embassy in your country, you can expect to pay a SEVP (Student Exchange Visitor Program) fee of $350 and a visa application fee of $160. These fees may change periodically.
Should you choose to transfer to another university before coming to 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ, please inform the 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ DSO immediately.
First-time F-1 students may not enter the country initially more than 30 days from the first day of class.
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Office for International Affairs
Designated School Official (DSO)
- Bobby McCloud -
Office of International Affairs
1900 W. 7th
Plainview, TX 79072
Office Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8:15am-5:00pm
Friday: 8:15am - 4:00pm
-Central Time-
Phone: (806) 742-9517
Email: bobby.mccloud@wbu.edu
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Our International Students Office team is here to support students as they navigate life, learning, and community at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ.

Executive Director of International Program Operations, DSO





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Access important forms and application requests for international student enrollment and employment authorization.
Request a SEVIS transfer, initial I-20, or change of status I-20. Please note that processing times may take up to 3 business days.
Transfer requests: pittsr@wbu.eduStudents seeking Curricular Practical Training authorization can begin the application process using the CPT application form.
Questions? Contact Rebekah PittsÌý
International students may be eligible for work authorization connected to their academic program through Curricular Practical Training or Optional Practical Training.
View the full CPT/OPT guidelines, eligibility details, application information, and academic requirements.
View CPT/OPT Guidelines Questions? Contact pittsr@wbu.eduÌý
51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ graduate students come from across the world, bringing unique perspectives, cultures, and experiences into our learning community.
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U.S. transcripts can be mailed, emailed, or sent via Parchment. International transcripts must be submitted through IEE or WES, and sent directly to 51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ Baptist University.
CPT (Curricular Practical Training) allows F-1 students to work in jobs related to their field of study. You must have completed one academic year and apply through your DSO each term.
Yes, if the courses are at least 70% similar in content. Official transcripts are required, and evaluations are reviewed by the School of Business.
51³Ô¹ÏÍøÊÓÆµ offers scholarships like the Terra Scholarship to eligible international students. Federal aid is not available.
You can work only if authorized through CPT or OPT. Unauthorized employment is a violation of your F-1 visa status.
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