Professional Development
GIS-I Immersion
The GIS-I course is the first in a series of technique-based courses and is a core requirement to earning a GIS certificate, minor, or major degree. Shippensburg University offers a 12-credit Geographic Information Systems (GIS) certificate that is available to all students at Shippensburg University (except GIS majors) and is available to non-degree seeking students.
Course Details
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Alison Feeney, Professor of GIS at Shippensburg University
Schedule:
Weekend 1: Thurs-Sun Feb 23-26
Weekend 2: Thurs- Sun March 23-26
Thursday 6:30-8:30pm
Friday 12-8 (with one hour for dinner)
Saturday 9-5 (with one hour for lunch)
Sunday 9-3 (with one hour for lunch)
*The Thursday class will be done online, and the rest will
be in person.
Format:
In an effort for increased flexibility around busy work schedules, this course has been condensed to 42 hours across 2 weekends.
Cost:
For course tuition and fees, visit: Shippensburg University – Tuition & Fees
For ShipStart High School Students, visit: Shippensburg University – ShipStart
Course Objectives
This course is designed to acquaint you with the basic
concepts of Geographical Information Systems and give
you hands on training with current software. GIS is an
extremely powerful tool that is widely used throughout the
academic, private and government sectors. If you succeed
in learning the concepts of GIS it will enhance your
professional career.
The course will be divided into three parts:
- Introduction and display manipulation
- Data Generation
- Data Queries and Analysis
In each section you will be required to read portions of the textbook, lecture notes, online reading and examples, tutorial skills, practice data sets, complete required assignments and finish a comprehensive exercise. The assignments will be broken down into terminology, conceptual development, and hands-on skill completion.
Why GIS?
The Geographic Information Systems field is a diverse field with an average salary ranging from $40,000 to over $100,000+. Career paths range from a GIS technician making basic level analysis and maps, to specialist who have mid – level skills with programming and spatial analysis to the high-end programmers and managers. Numerous jobs are available in the federal, state, and regional government, or in the field of gas, power, telecommunication networks and emergency response and public safety.
GIS often combines a mixture of outdoor and indoor work and the possibility to have some flexibility in work location. The industry continues to be a rapidly growing market with new technologies, and a growing awareness to climate change and sustainable business, there will be no shortage of GIS jobs in the future.