Proposal for Undergraduate Minor in Geographic Information

Proposal for Undergraduate Minor in

Geographic Information Science (GIS)

1. Name of the proposed minor.

Geographic Information Science (GIS) Minor

2. Name of the department(s) involved.

College of Design and the Department of Community and Regional Planning (CRP) will be the

main administrative units of the GIS Minor. The following departments have either expressed

interest in participating in the GIS Minor or have courses that will be part of the curriculum.

● Community and Regional Planning

● Landscape Architecture

● Geological and Atmospheric Sciences (Geology)

● Natural Resource Ecology and Management (Animal Ecology, Forestry)

● Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology

● Ag & Biosystems Engineering

This list is expected to grow as more departments and programs become aware of this

program and participate in this joint effort.

3. Name of contact person(s).

Francis Owusu, Chair, Department of Community and Regional Planning,

[email protected]; 4-7769

4. General description of the minor.

The program teaches theory, processes, techniques and tools that use spatial data and

computational technology to create cutting edge analysis and mapping approaches for urban

planning, architecture, landscape architecture, design and community development. GIS is

also valuable resource for natural resources, agriculture and environmental sciences as well

as a broad range of social scientists, including those in the fields of sociology, criminology,

anthropology, political science, and environmental studies.

5. Need for the proposed minor.

The CRP Department and the College of Design currently house the GIS Graduate

Certificate program. The graduate certificate program is one of the most successful graduate

certificate programs at ISU. As an interdisciplinary program, it provides graduate students

from around the university opportunities to use GIS for research, outreach, professional

practice, teaching, and, of course, learning. Enrollment in this program, and in the GIS

courses in general, has been increasing as GIS skills have been in high demand for a wide

variety of disciplines across the university, and many jobs now have GIS knowledge as

required or preferred skill.

Although some undergraduate students have completed the graduate certificate program,

there are significant barriers that prevent many more undergraduate students, who would like

to acquire GIS expertise and skills, from completing the program. For instance, the

independent research requirement of the graduate certificate program is often beyond what

many undergraduates can accomplish. In addition, due to course scheduling, undergraduate

students have to remain enrolled at least one semester after graduation in order to get the

graduate certificate.

The proposed GIS Minor will provide ISU undergraduate students a direct path to acquiring

GIS expertise and skills. The program will also leverage existing GIS facilities and resources

(faculty and courses) where possible and provide undergraduate students the opportunity to

master this important technology. Currently, Introduction to GIS is a 400 level course, which

mainly brings in seniors. We feel that is too late in an undergraduate student’s program of

study to be of significant benefit. It also means that students often don’t have enough

semesters in a four-year degree to take enough GIS classes to become well-rounded GIS

practitioners. They also lose out on the ability to qualify for internal and external internships

and summer jobs getting practical experience using GIS and making important contacts for

jobs after graduation.

We expect the program to be very popular and attract students from different academic

backgrounds who are looking to build more robust research skills and become more

marketable. Additionally, programs such as Community and Regional Planning and

Landscape Architecture in the College of Design, and other programs around the university,

such as Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Agronomy, Sociology, Anthropology, and

Business utilize mapping and GIS technologies. It is expected that students from these

disciplines would find GIS Minor essential to expand their primary major.

6. Objectives of the proposed minor including the student learning outcomes and

how the learning outcomes will be assessed.

● Students will have an understanding of how and why maps can be made to work better

for society; what makes a map usable; how maps are created; and how ideas can be

presented using state-of the art-tools.

● Students will have a depth of knowledge of the use of GIS and its applications real world

situations.

● Students will be able to conduct spatial analysis and to harness the power of GIS in

design and allied disciplines.

● Students will learn how to create maps for multiple media, such as print and digital

media.

Learning outcomes would be assessed by lab-based and lecture-based metrics.

7. Relationship of the minor to other programs at Iowa State University.

This program will engage with programs at ISU that utilize mapping, analysis, statistics, GIS,

and visual representations such as agronomy, geological and atmospheric sciences,

environmental science, environmental studies. It will also be attractive to students from the

social science disciplines such as sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, etc.

as well as interdisciplinary programs such as global resources, environmental science, and

international studies. A minor in GIS will be a very valuable complement to a student’s

primary major.

The program will also complement and utilize some of the courses that are part of ISU’s

highly successful graduate GIS certificate program. By doing so, it is hoped that the

increased enrollment will ensure courses needed for these programs will continue to be

offered regularly, and allow for greater continuity in the curriculum for both programs. In

addition to increasing the enrollment limits in some of the existing GIS courses, new GIS

courses will also be created to meet the expected increase in demand that will result from the

introduction of the minor.

Students who complete the GIS Minor can complete the GIS Graduate Certificate by i)

applying and being admitted in the program after completing the bachelors degree with a

minimum average GPA of 3.0 in the GIS courses; ii) completing a 3 credit GIS applications

project; and iii) participating in 1 credit seminar in GIS applications and Research.

8. Relationship of the minor to the strategic plans of the university, of the college,

and of department or program.

The ISU mission, as stated in the 2010-2015 strategic plan, is to ‘lead in developing more

sustainable ways to produce and deliver safe and nutritious food, water, materials, and energy …

and care for our environment.’ GIS is an acknowledged tool used by leading practitioners in

every field relating to the areas mentioned above. Another component of the ISU mission is to

‘provide exceptional undergraduate … programs that prepare students for leadership and

success.’ Creating an undergraduate GIS minor and expanding the GIS course offerings will

enhance the education students get at ISU and will provide graduates with a powerful analysis

tool that will increase their marketability and make them successful in their chosen careers.

The College of Design’s strategic plan also has an overall mission to: ‘Educate students to

become successful designers, planners, artists, and scholars who will improve the natural, social

and built environment.’ Again, GIS is a useful analysis tool that is used in many ways to do those

specific things. There are also three particular goals of the College of Design that apply to this

minor: cultivate interdisciplinary partnerships; improve the quality of educational programs; and

broaden access to the college’s knowledge, educational offerings and outreach programs.

Working with other departments within the college and across the university to offer a variety of

GIS courses as part of the GIS Minor will broaden each student’s education and allow for

additional students to learn how GIS can be applied in their field.

9. Comparison of the proposed minor with similar programs at other universities,

including the Regent’s universities.

The Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences at University of Iowa offers a

Minor in GIS. The Department of Geography at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) also

offers a BA in GIS. The ISU proposed program targets students in a variety majors who are

interested in acquiring GIS skills. Neither of the programs at the U of Iowa nor the UNI will

be available to such students. In addition, this minor will leverage the ISU GIS Support and

Research Facility for applied projects and research.

The programs at U of Iowa and UNI, along with U of Minnesota, St. Cloud State, E. Illinois

University, U of Missouri and U of WI La Crosse and Stout, were reviewed for content,

course timing, credits required, lecture versus lab courses, entry level courses, prerequisites

and overall minor goals. This review was very helpful in guiding the makeup of the proposed

ISU GIS Minor.

10. Program requirements and procedures, including:

a. prerequisites for prospective students;

Students must be in good standing at ISU and have a minimum overall GPA of 2.0. Some

courses have prerequisites, as listed below, which can be waived by the course

faculty/department.

b. application and selection process;

The GIS Minor will be open to all ISU undergraduate students in good standing and with a

minimum overall GPA of 2.0 prior to enrolling. To enroll, students should meet with their

primary academic adviser to discuss their plan of study and questions regarding prerequisites and

then submit a Request for Minor form to the Chair, Community & Regional Planning

Department, in the College of Design.

c. language requirements;

None

d. courses and seminars presently available for credit toward the program;

Students must complete a minimum of 15 undergraduate credits of GIS coursework to

receive the Minor.

To meet the 15-credit requirement, students should complete the following GIS coursework:

Foundations of GIS – complete the following two courses (6 credits):

● CRP 251: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems {3 credits} Fall,

Spring, Summer

● CRP 351: Intermediate Geographic Information Systems {3 credits} Fall, Spring,

Summer

GIS Tools and Techniques – choose three courses (9 credits) from the following:

● CRP 452: Geographic Data Management and Planning Analysis {3 credits}

Spring

● CRP 454: Fundamentals of Remote Sensing {3 credits} Spring

● CRP 456: GIS Programming and Automation {3 credits} Fall

● CRP 457X: GeoGames for Civic Engagement {3 credits} Spring

● CRP 458: Web Mapping/GIS {3 credits} Fall

● NREM 345: Natural Resource Photogrammetry and Photo-Interpretation {3

credits} Fall

● NREM 546: Integrating GPS and GIS for Natural Resource Management {3

credits} Spring

● GEOL 452: GIS for Geoscientists I {3 credits} Fall

● GEOL 488: GIS for Geoscientists II {3 credits} Spring

As with all university minors, six credits in courses applied to the minor must be numbered

300 and above taken at ISU with a grade of C or higher. The minor must include at least nine

credits that are not used to meet any other department, college or university requirement

except the credit requirement for graduation.

e. proposed new courses or modifications of existing courses;

We currently offer CRP 451 as an introduction to GIS for undergraduate students. This

course will be modified and split into CRP 251 and CRP 351 as the gateway courses into the

GIS curriculum in general and the GIS minor in particular. Our GIS high impact hire faculty

member who joined ISU this Spring, will be proposing additional new GIS courses.

f. advising of students;

Students will receive advising support from their primary adviser for their major and GIS

advice from the faculty teaching the GIS courses. The GIS faculty will assist students in

selecting their elective courses and approve their program of study.

g. implications for related areas within the university.

The minor will not significantly impact any other programs within the university. All courses

listed in the proposal were contributed by participating departments with an understanding of

the potential impact on student enrollment in those courses. The College of Design and the

Dept. of Community and Regional Planning have hired a new tenure track high impact hire

expressly to increase offerings in GIS courses.

11. General description of the resources currently available and future resource

needs, in terms of:

a. faculty members;

Mixed faculty from the College of Design as well as GIS faculty from across the university. An

additional high impact GIS hire in CRP started in spring 2015.

b. computers, laboratories, and other facilities;

Current ISU GIS Facility and Design equipment and resources will be a good starting point but

the college will need to invest to cover needs that a new mapping program will encounter. The

GIS facility will provide the one place on campus that students studying GIS, spatial statistics,

remote sensing and global positioning systems can go for their out of class needs.

There are presently two GIS teaching labs dedicated to GIS education in 248 Durham and 526

Design. Several departmental GIS laboratories also exist across campus as well to meet the

focused needs of individual departments. These include Natural Resource Ecology and

Management, the Center for Transportation Research and Education, Agronomy, Ag and

Biosystems Engineering, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Geological and

Atmospheric Sciences and Economics/CARD.

The university participates in an enterprise site license that allows students to load individual

copies of our major GIS software to their computers at no cost.

c. library facilities (journals, documents, etc.) in the proposed area;

The ISU Library hosts in its collection a wide selection of books and key journals

contributing to the GIS field.

d. supplies, field work, student recruitment, etc.

The Community and Regional Planning Department and the College of Design as well as the

GIS faculty will conduct outreach efforts for student recruitment.

12. Describe the needs for new resources and/or reallocated resources. Attach to the

program proposal memos from the department chair(s), the college dean(s), and

other appropriate persons, agreeing to the allocation of new resources and/or the

reallocation of resources.

The effects of any new courses on the workload of the present faculty will be minimal as

a new GIS faculty was hired this year under the Presidential High Impact Hire.

13. Attach to the program proposal, letters of support, recommendations, and

statements when appropriate, from programs and departments at ISU which are

associated with the proposed program or have an interest in the proposed

program.

See attached.

14. If the new program is interdisciplinary, a governance document should be created

and submitted to the Associate Provost for Academic Programs. Indicate here

that it has been completed.

Not applicable

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Date: February 10, 2015

To: Francis Owusu, Chair of Community and Regional planning

From: Jonathan F. Wendel, Chair

RE: Proposed GIS minor

I am writing in enthusiastic support of the proposal to create a Geographic Information Science

(GIS) minor in the College of Design and the Department of Community and Regional Planning

(CRP). This is a long-overdue proposal, as GIS skills are important to a diverse array of students

in majors throughout Iowa State University. Closer to my home, a GIS minor will offer our

Biology and Environmental Science students with a skill set that is highly valuable in today’s

world, be their interest in big data, climate change, spatial analysis, and many other topics. About

half a dozen EEOB faculty have had students work in the GIS lab, as undergraduates, GIS

certificate level students, and graduate students. The more we can build critical mass in this area,

the better. This initiative could also help in recruiting both faculty and students alike. As a

demonstration of our interest in this area, Bill Crumpton and the ENSCI program created BIOL

370X in part due to unmet needs of Biology and EnSci undergraduates, in this area (see below).

I look forward to the successful establishment of this new minor.

BIOL 370X. GIS for Ecology and Environmental Science. Cr. Var. 1-6. (Same as ENSCI 370X.Prereq: Six credits

in biological and /or physical sciences, and permission of instructor. Introduction to geographic information

systems (GIS) with emphasis on ecological and environmental applications. No prior GIS experience required.

Guided, individualized study of topics based on student background and interest. For students with prior experience,

topics and activities are selected to build upon any previous experience and minimize duplication to previous GIS

coursework. Potential topics include: basic concepts of GIS, data structures, database management, spatial analysis,

modeling and visualization of ecological and environmental data. Case studies in ecological and environmental

applications using ArcGIS.

Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology

February 1, 2015

Kevin Kane, Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Research

College of Design

126 College of Design

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa 50011

RE: Undergraduate Minor in Geographic Information Science

Dear Kevin:

The purpose of this letter is to show support of the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

(GeAt) for creation of an Undergraduate Minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS), as proposed by

the Department of Community and Regional Planning (CRP). Demand for undergraduate GIS courses has

grown campus-wide in recent years and there is a definite need to increase the number and variety of GIS

courses available on campus. The increase in campus-wide demand is commensurate with GIS becoming

a very important tool for geospatial analysis and visualization of geologic data in recent years. Our

department already contributes to these needs by teaching two popular GIS courses, Geol 452 and Geol

488, which will continue to be of interest to CRP and Landscape Architecture students, as well as students

in GeAt. We also encourage our students to become proficient in GIS to diversify their education and

increase their job marketability.

We do not anticipate any teaching conflicts arising from the creation of the proposed Undergraduate

Minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS) and view it as a positive step towards the broadening of

GIS offerings on campus. We support the creation of the minor and look forward to having our majors

take advantage of it in the near future.

Sincerely,

William W. Simpkins

Professor and Chair

Smith Family Foundation Departmental Chair in Geology

OWA

TATE

NIVERSITY

Office of the Dean

College of Design

Ames, Iowa 50011-3091

515 294-7428

FAX 515 294-9755

E-mail [email protected]

http://www.design.iastate.edu

February 12, 2015

Francis Owusu

Chair, Dept. of Community and Regional Planning

College of Design

146 College of Design

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa 50011

RE: Undergraduate Minor in Geographic Information Science

Chair Owusu,

As director of the Iowa State University Geographic Information Systems Support and Research Facility, I am

writing to extend my full support to the proposed undergraduate minor in Geographic Information Science

(GIS).

Since my arrival at ISU in 1997, we have been working toward advancing GIS out of the research lab and into

the curriculum. Without a geography program at the university, this has not been an easy task. As the

technology has become more ubiquitous, the tools have progressively transferred from the research faculty,

to graduate students, until now when it is in great demand at the undergraduate level. Iowa State has kept

pace by providing the graduate GIS Certificate program to graduate students but there has been an

academic gap at the undergraduate level. The proposed GIS minor will fit that need nicely and the

department of Community and Regional Planning will be the perfect hub to bring together a broad group of

students from across the university.

As you know, the ISU GIS Facility will benefit greatly by enlarging the academic pool of students studying GIS

at the university. I look forward to working closely with you to implement the minor in GIS and in making it

a major success.

Sincerely

Kevin Kane

Associate Dean for Research, College of Design

Director, ISU GIS Facility

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

4 February 2015

Dr. Francis Owusu, Chair

Dept. of Community and Regional Planning

Iowa State University

Dear Dr. Owusu,

The Biology Program Committee, representing the interdepartmental Biology major

offered by the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology and the Department

of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology, recently reviewed your proposal for an

undergraduate minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS).

We have had substantial interest by students in the GIS course offered by Biology (Biol

370). Many of our students majoring in Biology are moving into careers in which some

knowledge of GIS is now expected, yet their opportunities for exposure to GIS at ISU have been

rather limited. This minor should substantially enhance the course programs of our students by

increasing the opportunities for students to learn about GIS. GIS is currently being applied to a

very large variety of problems in many disciplines, and usage continues to increase, so we

believe this minor will also be of wide interest across the university.

Thus, we are very pleased to endorse your proposal for a GIS minor at ISU, and we look

forward to its timely implementation.

Respectfully,

Thomas W. Jurik

Chair

Biology Program Committee

Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal

Biology

251 Bessey Hall

Ames, IA 50011

Department of Sociology

103 East Hall

Ames, Iowa 50011-1070

515-294-6480

FAX 515-294-2303

February 11, 2015

Kevin Kane

Associate Dean for Research

126 College of Design

Dear Professor Kane,

I am writing in support of the creation of a GIS minor in the Department of Community and Regional

Planning. There is a growing demand for a minor in GIS from students across the university. For our

students who have taken the GIS course work it would have been beneficial if the GIS course work had

been listed as a GIS minor. The proposed curriculum will add to their credentials. We strongly support

this proposal.

Sincerely,

Paul Lasley, Chair

Departments of Anthropology and Sociology

COLLEGE OF DESIGN

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

156 COLLEGE OF DESIGN

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

AMES, IA 50011-3091

To Francis Owusu, Ph D., Professor and Chair

Department of Community & Regional Planning

From Ken McCown, Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture

Date February 15, 2015

Re Department of Landscape Architecture Letter of Support for CRP GIS minor

It is a pleasure to write this letter of support for the Department of Community and Regional

Planning’s proposal for an undergraduate minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS). is

minor is timely, relevant and will likely benet the College and Department. GIS is increasingly

used to map resources. Planning, with its mission to connect people equitably to information

about resources, will be a great home to provide theory to help students understand how to use

the GIS tool.

is minor will help our undergraduate students gain access to a type of certication in GIS.

Our students already take courses in GIS. is minor will help our students interested in GIS as a

tool for landscape architecture by enhancing and diversifying their skill sets. is diversication

and minor will enable them to be more viable in the job market.

We will be delighted to co-list courses in GIS taught by our faculty and look forward to assisting

planning with the development of this minor as it is in our power to do so.

Sincerely,

Ken McCown, ASLA, Associate AIA, President, CELA

Professor/Chair

College of Design/Department of Landscape Architecture

Iowa State University

Kane, Kevin L [DSN]

From: Blodgett, Sue [ENT]

Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 11:28 AM

To: Kane, Kevin L [DSN]

Subject: GIS Minor Proposal - Letter of Support

Dear Kevin,

I have reviewed and visited with the faculty about the proposed GIS Minor proposed by the Department of Community

and Regional Planning. GIS skills are becoming increasingly important to both our graduate and undergraduate

students. The GIS minor provides a venue for our undergraduate students to acquire GIS expertise and skills.

Employers

of our students have indicated that they value GIS training that students bring to employment in the private and public

sectors. The Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management supports the GIS Minor that you have

proposed. While we offer courses in GIS, your approach offers a minor that allows students to gain more expertise in

this important area. GIS has increasingly become an important skill for our students career success and the proposed

minor addresses an unmet need for our students.

Sue Blodgett, Chair

Department of Entomology

Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management

339 Science II

Iowa State University

Ames, IA 50010

(515) 294-1739

sblodg@iastate.edu

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