What is GIS?
Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) is an interdisciplinary technology with close
theoretical and applied ties to the academic subject of geography. GIS is useful
to every discipline which utilizes geographic data. As an example, GIS is used
to model population growth and distribution, urban development, transportation
expansion, manufacturing location, movement through networks, and many other
processes. As these models are constructed, tested, and used, they will play a
larger role as decision support systems available to managers, planners, and
policy makers in an increasing number of fields.
A Career in GIS
In
the last five years, many state agencies have created new positions for GIS
analysts, technicians, and managers. Some Oklahoma agencies that employ persons
with GIS training include the Conservation Commission, Department of Forestry,
Department of Transportation, and Department of Commerce. In addition, Native
American tribal governments, city planning departments, and regional planning
agencies have created new positions for GIS specialists. At a time when the
federal government workforce is being scaled back, there continues to be a high
demand for GIS analysts in agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Natural
Resource Conservation Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Increasingly, there is a demand for GIS professionals in private industry within
Oklahoma. Surveying and engineering firms throughout the state routinely hire
GIS professionals. Petroleum companies also maintain GIS/mapping departments to
keep track of oil and gas production, storage, and transportation. Utilities are
forming new GIS departments responsible for automating electrical, gas, or cable
telephone network mapping and report-generating activities. There is also a
significant demand for persons trained in GIS outside of the state and nation,
especially in large cities and in multinational corporations. The GIS/mapping
industry is a burgeoning market and one of the fastest growing segments of the
computer industry. As a result, GIS- related professionals have never been in
greater demand. Opportunities for certificate holders can be found in several
areas within the GIS industry including applications development, database
creation, sales and marketing, software development and training, data
conversion, and public, retail, or commercial project management.
Some GIS-Related Job Titles
·
GIS Project Manager
·
Cartographic Technician
·
GIS Analyst
·
System/Database Administrator
·
GIS Sales Specialist
·
GIS Software Engineer
Program Description, Admission, and
Requirements
The
GIS Certificate Program provides students with broad exposure to principles and
applications of GIS. A student who has earned the Certificate in GIS will be
well-versed in general GIS theory and will have knowledge and/or practical
exposure to the following: 1) hardware and software used in GIS, 2) planning and
construction of spatial databases, 3) GIS analyses (performed on
data related to the student's area of interest), and 3) representation of data
in both mapped and tabular form. Requirements for the Certificate have been
designed to parallel skills needed by GIS professionals. Through elective
courses, students can focus on one of several areas of specialization.
Admission
into the certificate program is open to any student enrolled as an
undergraduate, graduate, or special student at OSU. To receive a
Certificate in GIS, a student must:
1) complete nine credit hours of
prerequisite coursework (Group I) and a minimum of 12 credit hours from course
Groups II, III, IV, and V (a total of 21 credit hours), with a minimum 3.0 GPA
for all courses taken in Groups II, III, IV and V*;
2) hold a bachelors or
higher degree from OSU or another accredited college or university (students may
work towards the Certificate while completing their bachelors degree), and;
3)
the student must complete at least 9 hours from Groups II, III, IV, and V and 12
hours overall at
Oklahoma State University.
Waivers of course requirements for courses taken at another University, or for
professional experience can be given for up to 9 hours total, and 3 hours from
Groups II, III, IV, and V.
*a
B or better must be earned for courses in Groups IV and V
The student
MUST take GEOG 2343 (or an equivalent course) BEFORE taking either GEOG 4343 or GEOG 4353 from
Group IV, and the Group IV course MUST be completed before taking the Group V
course selection. Also, the Advanced GIS courses listed in Group V are
to be taken in concert with the associated Group IV course (as noted
below). For this reason the minimum normal time required to complete the
GIS Certificate program is 3 semesters (excluding summer terms, when these
courses are not normally offered). It is the responsibility of the
student to be aware of course scheduling options, as not all courses in
the GIS course sequence are offered every term.
Course Requirements:
(This is the
MOST Current Class Listing)
Printable
Plan of Study
The printed course list is out of
date - use list below
GROUP
I: Foundation Courses
A)
THE FOLLOWING COURSE IS ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED
GEOG 2343
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
B) ONE
of the following:
CS 1113 Computer Programming (for
CS majors only)
MSIS 3363 Advanced Management
Information Systems Programming
C)
ONE
of the following courses:
GEOG 3333 Spatial Analysis
GEOG 5303 Geographical Analysis I
GENT 1153 Engineering Graphics
MET 1223 Industrial Computer Aided Design
Group I.C can be satisfied with
the approval of the Certificate Coordinator if the
student has completed 9 or more credits of Statistics courses other than the
Spatial Statistics courses outlined above with an average grade of B or better. These courses MUST be taken at
the Senior or Graduate Level. Normally, no other substitutions are
allowed.
Any of the prerequisite courses can be waived in consultation with the
certificate coordinator if the student can demonstrate that he/she has satisfactorily completed
similar coursework or has significant professional experience in the area.
However, the 12/9 hour minimum requirements outlined elsewhere in these rules
will continue to be required regardless of any waivers.
GROUP
II: Database Management
One
course from the list below:
MSIS 3103 Database Design,
Manipulation, and Management for End Users
MSIS
4013 Database Management (for MSIS Majors as of Fall 2003)
MSIS 5643 Advanced Database
Management
SOIL 5193 Spatial/Non-spatial Database Management for Natural Resources
GROUP
III: Data Capture & Representation
One
course from the list below:
CIVE
3614 Engineering Surveying
FOR 3883 Aerial Photogrammetry and Information Systems
GEOG 4313 Field Techniques and Geodata Collection
GEOG 4323 Computer
Cartography
GEOG 4333 Remote Sensing
CIVE
5263 Terrain Analysis
BAE 5313 Watershed Modeling and Water
Quality
GEOG 6313 Advanced Geodata Collection
GROUP
IV: GIS Theory
and Applications
*
One
course from the list below:
GEOG 4343
Geographic Information Systems: Resource Management
Required Prerequisite - GEOG 2343 or Equivalent
GEOG 4353
Geographic Information Systems: Socioeconomic Applications
Required Prerequisite - GEOG 2343 or Equivalent
* Please note that there are "corresponding"
Advanced GIS courses for the two courses listed in Group IV (GEOG 4343 > GEOG 5343
and GEOG 4353 > GEOG 5353). The student is required to take the Advanced GIS
course that matches his/her Group IV course if they intend to use Advanced
GIS to satisfy Group V (which is the preferred and most common path to
completion of the Certificate). If the student wishes to use either
GEOG 4510 or GEOG 5510 to satisfy Group V, he/she must have prior approval of the
Certificate Coordinator.
GROUP
V: Advanced GIS Applications
One
course from the list below:
GEOG 5343 Advanced GIS: Resource Management Applications
Required Prerequisite - GEOG 4343
GEOG 5353 Advanced GIS: Socioeconomic Applications
Required Prerequisite - GEOG 4353
GEOG 6330 GIS/Image Analysis
Required Prerequisite - GEOG 4333 or GEOG 4343
GEOG 4510 Senior Project (3 hours - Undergraduate Geography Majors)
GEOG 5510 Research Problems in Geography (3 hours)
Independent Study Topic Must Correspond to Group IV Course Selected
GIS Laboratory
The
Department of Geography maintains a state-of-the-art facility for GIS
instruction. A microcomputer laboratory is equipped with Pentium 4 class computers
and several output devices including laser and inkjet printers and a large
format color plotter. The workstation lab has four stations, a large format scanner, and a variety of other
peripherals such as CD readers/burners, digitizers, and other printers. The department's
software holdings include ARCGIS, ArcView GIS, Idrisi, and ERDAS Imagine. Labs are linked to OSU's fiber-optic network to facilitate access to
data sources on the INTERNET. Global positioning system (GPS)
equipment is also available to students for collecting spatially referenced
information in the field that can be used in a GIS.
GIS Faculty and Support Staff
(Department of Geography)
-
Bruce
Battles, M.S., Oklahoma State, 1999. CARS and Lab
Coordinator.
-
Brad
Bays,
Ph.D., Nebraska, 1996. Historical Applications.
-
Jonathan
Comer,
Ph.D., Ohio State, 1994. Economic and Spatial Modeling.
-
Allen
Finchum,
Ph.D., Tennessee, 1992. Socioeconomic Applications, Database Development,
Transportation Analysis.
-
Michael P.
Larson, M.S., Oklahoma State, 2003. OSU Cartography Services
Coordinator.
-
Dale
Lightfoot,
Ph.D., Colorado, 1990. Archaeological Applications, Resource Management, Remote
Sensing.
-
Mahesh
Rao,
Ph.D., Oklahoma State, 1996. Remote
Sensing, Agriculture.
-
Bob
Springer, M.S., Oklahoma State, 1977. GIS Applications
-
Stephen
Stadler,
Ph.D., Indiana State, 1979. Surface/Atmospheric Interaction, Climatological
Modeling.
-
Thomas
Wikle,
Ph.D., Southern Illinois, 1989. Resource Management, Computer Mapping, GPS.
-
Hongbo Yu, Ph.D., Tennessee, 2005. Transportation,
Socioeconomic Applications.
For More information Contact:
Hongbo Yu, Certificate Coordinator and Advisor
Department
of Geography
Oklahoma
State University
Stillwater,
OK 74078-4073
Telephone:
(405)
744-6250
Fax:
(405)
744-5620
E-Mail:
Hongbo.Yu@okstate.edu
Last Updated: 11 July 2006 -
The requirements listed on this page represent the most
current information on the GIS Certificate as of the date noted, and supersedes
any other printed requirements as of that date.
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