PROFESSIONAL GIS EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES: MODELS OF
ACCESS AND DELIVERY
R.B.
McMaster, S. A. McMaster, S Manson, R. Skaggs
University of Minnesota
mcmaster@umn.edu
The growth in the geospatial
industry in the United
States has been remarkable, with estimates
of $30 billion dollars a year in activity during 2006. To accommodate this growing industry, a
variety of different models for GIS-based education over the past decade have
been created. Each has their advantages
and disadvantages. The paper will review key
issues in professional GIS education, approaches to delivering this education,
the case study of the University of Minnesota MGIS Program, challenges and successes thus
far, and the future of US
professional GIS education.
As identified by the
University Consortium for Geographic Information Science’s (UCGIS) Education
Committee, there is intense pressure on students, educators, and employers to
understand the myriad requirements for professional GIS education, and to
develop appropriate and flexible models of delivery. Key models include Distance Learning (e.g.,
UNIGIS, Penn State’s World Campus, ESRI’s Virtual Campus), Masters degrees in
GI Science (e.g., Clark University, University of Redlands, University of
Minnesota), certificate Programs (e.g., San Diego State U, St. Cloud State),
short courses (e.g., vendors, institutions), degrees in other disciplines with
GIS courses (e.g., Forest Resources), and combined approaches (e.g.,
GeoWDC). For example, on-campus programs
allow for intensive work with faculty, interaction with other students, and a
hands-on laboratory-based environment.
However, these programs are often not convenient for the working
professional with less time than a traditional student. For such students the distance-based approach
is often more appealing. Thus each of
the models serves the needs of different types of students.
We offer the ten-year old Master of GIS program at the University of Minnesota as a case study of an
on-campus program. The MGIS program
emphasizes three components—basic, technical, and applied education in GI
Science. Basic coursework covers the
fundamentals of GI Science, including spatial data acquisition, data
structures, spatial analysis, and cartographic representation. Coursework in Principles of GIS, Advanced
GIS, Urban GIS, spatial analysis, and cartography is offered. Technical courses include Introduction to
ArcGIS, Advanced ArcGIS, spatial data administration, surveying and GPS, and
spatial programming. Finally, in applied
coursework, students direct their knowledge towards solving a variety of social
and biophysical problems. The program is
interdisciplinary, with faculty participating from computer science, forestry,
biostatistics, and soils, water, and climate.
Given the growing demand for GIS education in the United States
and other countries, new models of access need to be considered. International
exchanges would allow for better discussions of pedagogical approaches among
countries. This paper proposes some
possible mechanisms for this exchange.