Coursework Breakdown:
Level I: 3 Credit Hours
Level II: 3 Credit HoursChoose One of the following options: 6 Credit Hours
Option 1: Take Two courses from Level III
Option 2: Take One course each from Level III and Level IV
| Certificate Structure |
|---|
Introduction to GIS. 3 credit hours required. Students will learn what a GIS is, what the license levels of ArcMap entail (Basic, Standard and Advanced), and the nature and limitations of the University site license. Beyond that, students will learn of the basic data types (raster and vector) how the ArcMap and ArcPro programs manage a GIS; the integration of map features with data; the elemental structure of ArcMap including the creation of map features, creation and editing of data, combining files of different types. To accomplish this, students will learn to explore and use on-line data sources including those from the Kansas Geospatial Commons (DASC), the U.S. Census, and U.S. National Map. By the end of the class, students should be able to install, activate, and use ArcMap and create a map illustrating one or two major points from established data.
Choose one of the following courses:
Database Management. 3 credit hours required. Because a Geographic Information System
is at base a database management system (the I in GIS) with a geographic connector,
students must be familiar with the design and operation of a relational database management
system.
Mapping, Interpretation, and Analysis. Classes in this category will generally be
taken by students who have been exposed to elementary features of ArcMap and database
management systems. In this class, students will become more involved in analysis,
including, in most courses, analytical features of mapping including combining data
sets; merging, unioning, and trimming polygonal feature classes to achieve a particular
analytical end. They will create statistical summaries of feature classes based on
their areal extent, data content, or selected attributes of both. And finally, most
classes will involve the preparation of an appropriate interpretive map at a scale
suitable for the final selected product.
Level III Courses:
Discipline Specific Application. Classes are intended as student鈥檚 capstone presentation
in the GIS program and may be, at the preference of the student鈥檚 major department
or advisor, an internship with some local or state agency or corporation that has
a GIS program or a thesis-like presentation of geographic data the student has assembled,
roughly equivalent to an honor鈥檚 thesis or undergraduate thesis (applied experience).
Level IV Courses:
Students must complete course work in GIS levels as prescribed and must earn a grade of C or better in all courses and overall grade point average of 2.000 or better for all courses comprising the certificate program.
