The certificate of geographic information science (GIS) is designed for working professionals aspiring to leadership positions in the field and wishing to obtain a certificate of GIS specialization. The program requires one core course that provides a student with the theoretical underpinnings of GIS to make informed use of geographic technologies, followed by the selection of nine graduate credit hours in geographic techniques (GIS, remote sensing, spatial statistics and modeling).
The GIS certificate program is designed to meet the education needs of both traditional and nontraditional students. For traditional students, the program prepares them to utilize GIS in their major areas of study, while nontraditional students can take advantage of the GIS certificate to learn and/or upgrade their GIS knowledge and skills that are applicable and important to their professions.