Northern Arizona University, Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation

GRADUATE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM IN
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation offers an 20 unit Certificate in GIS program. This certificate complements our long-standing undergraduate degree program in GIS. It provides the opportunity for professionals to re-tool and add GIS technical skills to their abilities.

Overview

A Geographic Information System (GIS) combines computer technology, geographic theory and trained personnel in an effort to develop, maintain and analyze spatially referenced data. The use of spatial location as a common information reference system makes very good sense. Many agencies, disciplines, and industries find this approach to be the most logical and efficient way to manage their enterprise database. The demand for trained personnel in this field exceeds the current supply and growth in this area is projected to continue at least well into the next decade. This certificate allows professionals from any discipline, business, or agency to add GIS skills to their repertoire. This new program is focused on a high-quality, academically sound, professional enhancement certificate for an individual holding a bachelors (or higher) degree. A certificate recipient from NAU will be a professionally competent entry-level GIS user. The program will be divided into a fourteen-hour core and four to eight hours of electives selected with the guidance of the student’s advisor. This design will provide the student with a solid GIS background and the opportunity to customize their certificate to meet specialized industry/academic interests.

REQUIRED COURSES (20 Units)

GGR 531 (4) GIS Principles I: Foundations
Overview of computer applications in map production, including geographic information systems.

GGR 533 (4) GIS Principles II: Project Design and Implementation Fundamentals of vector and raster geographic information systems.

GGR 535 (4) GIS Programming I: Tools and Applications
Pre-requisite: 4/533 or 4/534, or Instructor’s Consent

GGR 536 (4) GIS Programming II: DBMS and Internet GIS
Pre-requisite: 4/533 or 4/534, or Instructor’s Consent

One of:

GGR 537 (4) GIS Analysis I: Environmental Modeling - Raster
Pre-requisite: GGR 4/535 or 4/536; Pre- or Co-requisite: STA 571 / 472
or
GGR 538 (4) GIS Analysis II: Spatial Data Analysis - Vector
Pre-requisite: GGR 4/535 or 4/536; Pre- or Co-requisite: STA 571 / 472

OTHER GIS-RELATED COURSES - these may be taken as electives, but are not required:

GGR 522 Remote Sensing Techniques I (4). Introductory principles of electromagnetic radiation and analysis techniques of visible and near infrared photography and imagery.
GGR 523 Remote Sensing Techniques II (4). Analysis techniques of nonvisible remotely sensed radar and thermal imagery.
GGR 524 Remote Sensing Techniques III (2). Field checking and verification of remote sensing imagery data.
PL 506 Public Planning Analysis (3). Use and evaluation of computer spreadsheets and database applications and modeling for public planning applications.
PL 531 Map Analysis and Site Planning (4). Application of computer-assisted drafting programs, such as AutoCAD, for choropleth, planimetric, topographic, and site-plan mapping.
PL 532 GIS for Planners (3). PL 532 instructs students in the use of ARCView, a desktop GIS program and its application including hot linking, tabular management, data presentation and cartography. Spatial analysis and geocoding are introduced.
GGR 689 GIS Practicum Experience (2-3) .

Educational Objectives of the Program:

We expect certificate candidates to be proficient in writing, speaking and computational skills (as demonstrated by the prerequisite degree). We expect certificate candidates to be proficient in spatial skills (some map reading experience). We expect certificate candidates to be proficient in fundamentals of computer operation (some basic Windows based operating system / software experience).

During the course of the certificate program we expect students to gain the following skills:

1.      To be able to transfer geographic concepts into digital representations.
2.      To be able to describe and discuss the 5 basic elements of GIS.
3.      To be able to describe and discuss the operating principles of both vector and raster -based GIS.
4.      To demonstrate hands-on technical expertise with several different GIS software.
5.      To be able to complete all phases of a full GIS project.
6.      To be able to assess the accuracy and limitations of GIS.
7.      To improve computer-related problem solving skills.

Upon completion of the certificate program:
1.      Certificate recipients will understand basic spatial analysis especially as implemented in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.
2.      Certificate recipients will have working familiarity with the tools of GIS.
3.      Certificate recipients will be prepared to use GIS in the workplace at the entry level.

Application Materials

Application Form (MS Word format)
Letter of Recommendation Form (MS Word format)

This program carries a special $250 administrative fee.

Faculty and Staff Involvement:

Lennis Berlin, Ph.D., Regents Professor, specializing in remote sensing
Dawn Hawley, Ph.D., Associate Professor, specializing in GIS and public planning
Ruihong 'Ray' Huang, Ph.D., Assistant Professpr, specializing in GIS and transporation planning
Erik Schiefer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, specializing in GIS and the physical environment