Semester: Fall 2026
Instructional Dates: August 17 – December 2, 2026

This schedule is subject to change as needed during the semester. Any changes will be announced in class and/or through the course site.

Course Schedule

Week 1 | August 17–21

Lesson 1: Linear Exponential Family

Topics

  • Linear Exponential Family

Read Before Class
Regression Modeling with Actuarial and Financial Applications, Sections 13.1–13.3.2 and 13.6

Week 2 | August 24–28

Lesson 1 Continued

Topics

  • Link Functions
  • Tweedie Distribution

HW 1 Due — Linear Exponential Family

Week 3 | August 31–September 4

Lesson 1 Continued

Topics

  • Estimation
  • Overdispersion

Lesson 2: Binomial Response

Read Before Class
Regression Modeling with Actuarial and Financial Applications, Sections 11.1–11.2 and 11.4–11.6

Quiz 1

HW 2 Due — Link Functions

Week 4 | September 7–11

Monday, September 7 — State Holiday
No classes; University closed.

Lesson 2 Continued

Topics

  • Binomial Response
  • Nominal Response

Quiz 2

HW 3 Due — Binomial Response

Week 5 | September 14–18

Lesson 2 Continued

Topics

  • Nominal Response
  • Ordinal Response

Quiz 3

HW 4 Due — Nominal Response

Week 6 | September 21–25

Lesson 2 Continued

Topics

  • Ordinal Response

Lesson 3: Poisson Response

Read Before Class
Regression Modeling with Actuarial and Financial Applications, Chapter 12

Quiz 4

HW 5 Due — Ordinal Response

Week 7 | September 28–October 2

Lesson 3 Continued

Topics

  • Overdispersion & Negative Binomial Models
  • Other Count Models

Quiz 5

HW 6 Due — Poisson Models

Week 8 | October 5–9

October 5–6 — Fall Break
No classes.

Lesson 3 Continued

Topics

  • Applied Examples

Quiz 6

EXAM 1

No Homework Due This Week

Week 9 | October 12–16

Lesson 4: Decision Trees

Topics

  • Introduction to Decision Trees
  • Decision Tree Methods

Read Before Class
An Introduction to Statistical Learning, Chapter 8

No Homework Due This Week

Week 10 | October 19–23

Lesson 4 Continued

Topics

  • Decision Trees

HW 7 Due — Decision Trees

Week 11 | October 26–30

Lesson 4 Continued

Topics

  • Decision Trees

Quiz 7

HW 8 Due — Decision Trees

Week 12 | November 2–6

PROJECT 1 BEGINS

Project instructions and requirements will be provided this week.

Lesson 4 Continued

Topics

  • Decision Trees

Lesson 5: Unsupervised Learning — PCA & Clustering

Read Before Class
An Introduction to Statistical Learning, Section 10.2

Quiz 8

Week 13 | November 9–13

Lesson 5 Continued

Topics

  • Unsupervised Learning
  • Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
  • Clustering

HW 9 Due — PCA

Week 14 | November 16–20

Lesson 5 Continued

Topics

  • Unsupervised Learning
  • PCA & Clustering Continued

Read Before Class
An Introduction to Statistical Learning, Section 10.3

Quiz 9

HW 10 Due — Clustering

Week 15 | November 23–27

Unsupervised Learning Review

Quiz 10

Wednesday, November 25 — University Break for Students
No classes.

Thursday–Friday, November 26–27 — State Holidays
No classes; University closed.

Week 16 | November 30–December 2

Final Course Activities

PROJECT 1 DUE

Topics / Activities

  • Final Exam Review
  • Course Wrap-Up

Wednesday, December 2 — Last Day of the Fall 2026 Instructional Schedule

Important Dates at a Glance

Date Event
August 17 First day of Fall 2026 classes
September 7 State Holiday — No classes; University closed
October 5–6 Fall Break — No classes
Week 8 Exam 1
November 2–6 Project 1 Begins
November 25 University Break for Students — No classes
November 26–27 State Holidays — No classes; University closed
November 30–December 2 Project 1 Due / Final Exam Review
December 2 Last day of instructional schedule