The evening GIS certificate program is designed for technical professionals interested in retraining or upgrading their current skills to be competitive in this rapidly changing field. The curriculum is a blend of coursework in geographic information systems, remote sensing, image processing, spatial analysis tools and techniques, automated cartography, numerical modeling, computer programming and practical applications of the technology. Course offerings are determined with the guidance of an advisory committee, the members of which have many years of GIS experience in education, government, and the private sector. To earn the Certificate in GIS, students must complete, with a grade of credit, a total of five courses. Classes are normally six weeks in length.
Instruction is conducted primarily in two laboratories.
One is a 28-station PC facility based on an NT network and equipped with digitizers, scanners, and various output devices. The other laboratory is a 20-seat Sun computer facility connected to a Sun Enterprise server. The certificate program is administered by Dr. Richard D. Wright, a specialist in GIS, cartography, and geo-spatial database development. He has conducted GIS research and education for more than 20 years and has been a consultant to private industry and public agencies on a variety of mapping and GIS projects. He is a member of several significant local, state, and national GIS organizations, such as the California Geographic Information Association and the University Consortium on Geographic Information Science.