Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems

Career Possibilities

In the first twelve years of the program (begun in 1993), 54 graduates have been awarded the Certificate in Geographic Information Systems. Most are currently employed in the GIS profession and have job titles such as:

Director of GIS
GIS Manager
Program Manager
GIS Coordinator
GIS Supervisor
GIS Analyst
GIS Specialist

They are employed in the private sector as well as the public sector:

Michael Baker
U.S. Bank
Walgreens
Johnson Controls
WE Energies
Environmental Systems Research Institute
Patrick Engineering
Ruekert & Mielke
Crispell-Snyder, Inc.
Foth and VanDyke
URS Corpation
HNTB
MLG Commercial
Tetra Tech
Geomarketing, Inc.
Geographic Marketing Advantage, Inc.

Cities of: Milwaukee, Green Bay, South Milwaukee, Brookfield (WI)
Paducah (KY), Andover (MN), Denver Health Dept.
Village of Downers Grove (IL)
Counties of: Milwaukee, Lake (IL), Calumet (WI)
Bay Lakes Regional Planning Commission (Green Bay)
New Jersey Department of Health
Strafford (NH) Regional Planning Commission
Southwest Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
General Mitchell International Airport
University of Pennsylvania
UWM Center for Urban Initiatives and Research

Rationale for Developing the Certificate in Urban Geographic Information Systems

Geographic Information Systems technology is an increasingly specialized and growing field, providing spatial data management and analysis services to a broad range of business and public organizations.

Many different disciplines study location-related trends and issues in an urban setting: criminal justice professionals study crime patterns and resource allocation methodologies; public health officials study the spatial patterns of infectious disease outbreaks and also assign nurses or health inspectors to districts; market researchers study the demographics of geographic areas before introducing a new product or identifying a location for a new retail establishment; educators study geographic data to recommend building new schools or closing others; and other fields of study represented at UWM have similar spatial and quantitative analysis interests in topics related to the urban environment.

In 1999, the publication, US News, identified the GIS occupation as one of the “21 hot jobs for the 21st century”, claiming that the number of GIS positions in local government alone will rise from 20,000 to 36,000 by the year 2010. With such a high growth rate, the job market will lack qualified and experienced professionals to help design, implement, and manage these new systems. In addition, the job descriptions of an increasing number of positions in government agencies and private businesses are being rewritten to require employees to use a GIS in geography, urban planning, civil engineering, surveying, landscape architecture, environmental science, geoscience, and related fields.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in a unique cooperative arrangement with the City of Milwaukee's award-winning GIS project, is now in possession of all digital parcel maps of Milwaukee, Digital Orthophotos of Southeastern Wisconsin, and property attribute data for all parcels in the entire city. These data resources, available on the University's computer network, now give students and researchers a valuable source of authentic data for analyzing issues and trends in the city - we have a "living laboratory" of urban data right here on campus!

Used in a GIS, this data not only assists students and researchers, but also helps Milwaukee area community organizations analyze information about their community.

The GIS Certificate thus assures potential employers of our graduates that they not only have studied the basics of the field, but that they also have completed a program of applied practical experience in using a GIS in an authentic urban situation (See Student Projects in Geographic Information Systems). These practical experiences, in turn, benefit the community as part of the University's urban mission.

Program Objectives

The Certificate in Geographic Information Systems is designed to provide a formal program of studies for students who wish to pursue careers in geographic information systems. It offers students a solid understanding of basic GIS concepts, technical and institutional factors in GIS design, and applications of the technology.

Since GIS technology involves concepts and applications from a number of different disciplines, formal coursework in key subjects from other departments are combined with core GIS courses in the Department of Urban Planning and the Department of Geography to give a rich mixture of essential skills needed for the student to be prepared for professional employment with local governments and related private sector organizations seeking GIS professionals.

Requirements and Curriculum for the Certificate

Students interested in the GIS Certificate should contact the Department of Urban Planning or the Department of Geography and submit an Admission to GIS Certificate Form. Those who are not already admitted to a UWM graduate degree program must submit a graduate non-degree application form and an official undergraduate transcript to the Graduate School. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree with an undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or a graduate degree to be accepted into the certificate program.
 

For international applicants, whose first language is not English, a score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) of at least 600 (250 on the computer-based version) or an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 7.0 must also be submitted.

Credits and Courses

A minimum of 6 credits each in Urban Planning and Geography courses are required for completion of the certificate. To earn the Certificate, one must complete six semester-long courses (with a minimum of 18 credits) and maintain at least a B (3.00) average among the following courses:

Required Courses (12 cr):
Tier 1 (select one course)
Urban Planning 791, Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems for Planning
Geography 525, Geographic Information Science

Tier 2 (select one course)
Urban Planning 792, Using Urban Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Planning
Geography 625, Intermediate Geographic Information Science

Tier 3 (select two courses)
Urban Planning 793, Applied Projects in Urban Geographic Information Systems
Urban Planning 794, Internet Geographic Information Systems
Geography 725, Advanced Geographic Information Science: Geographic Modeling
Geography 734, GIS and Society

Elective Courses (6 cr):
Urban Planning 771, Transportation Policy and Planning
Urban Planning 991, Legislative! Administrative Agency Internship
Urban Planning 999, Independent Study
Business 749, Data Management Systems
Geography 403, Remote Sensing: Environmental and Land Use Analysis
Geography 405, Cartography
Geography 547, Spatial Analysis
Geography 698, GIS/Cartography Internship
Geography 703, Advanced Remote Sensing
Geography 750, Remote Sensing and Urban Analysis
Geography 960, Seminar: Geographic Techniques
Information Studies 475, Legal Aspects of Information Products and Services
Information Studies 715, Metadata
Anthropology 380, Anthropology Applications in GIS (offered as Anthro 641, Spring 2008)
Anthropology 768, Topics in Advanced Research Design in Anthropology
Other courses as approved by the GIS Certificate Subcommittee

Students will be advised by the Geography and Urban Planning faculty who teach GIS courses.

The certificate program time limit is 3 years from initial enrollment in the certificate sequence.

After completing the program requirements, a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems will be awarded.

GIS Certificate Committee (2007-08)
William Huxhold, Urban Planning (Chair)
Rina Ghose, Geography/Urban Studies
Mark Schwartz, Geography
Changshan Wu, Geography
Lee Frederick, GIS Certificate (student representative)

Verification of GIS Certificate Completion
Students completing the GIS Certificate should submit a Verfication of GIS Certificate Completion Form.
 

Designed for Professional Certification in GIS

The UWM GIS Certificate provides more than the minimum educational requirements for professional certification as called for in the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) professional certification requirements (see www.gisci.org). The six courses in the program amount to 810 Student Activity Hours which translate to 20 Course Points in the Education portion of the professional certification requirements. When added to the 20 Credential Points for a Bachelor’s Degree (which is required for entry into the Certificate program), the total Education points amounts to 40 points which exceeds the 30-point minimum for Education points.

For further information:
Graduate Bulletin or
Contact:
William E. Huxhold, Professor
Department of Urban Planning
414-229-6954