College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Academics > Geography > GIS Certificate > Requirements

Requirements

Undergraduate Certificate Requirements

LAS3

The Certificate Program requires 20 hours of instruction. It provides sophisticated education in GIS, remote sensing and cartography and serves as a basis for entry-level employment in the geotechnology industry. There are five required courses to complete the certificate:

Course Title Quarter Hours
GEO 141GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS I: DIGITAL MAPPING4
GEO 242GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS II: COMMUNITY GIS4
GEO 243EARTH OBSERVATION4
Select two of the following:8
GEO 343EARTH OBSERVATION II4
GEO 344GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS III: SPATIAL ANALYSIS FOR SUSTAINABILITY4
GEO 345PROGRAMMING IN PYTHON FOR GIS4
GEO 346GIS ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH4
GEO 347WEB GIS AND SPATIAL DATA VISUALIZATION ON THE WEB4
GEO 348SPATIAL DATA SCIENCE4
GEO 391STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSIS FOR GIS4

GEO 141 and GEO 242 must be taken in sequence. GEO 141 is a pre-requisite for all 300-level GIS classes. GEO 243 can be taken at any time. All students with a Geotechnology Concentration will automatically also earn the GIS certificate. Other GEO concentrations, please contact the Department if you are considering pursuing the GIS Certificate.

In order to earn a certificate in GIS, a student must:

  • Earn at least a grade of C- in each Certificate course.
  • Earn at least a cumulative GPA of 2.0 for all courses applied to the Certificate.
  • Earn a letter grade. The pass / fail option may not be selected for courses in the Certificate.

A student completing a GIS Certificate is eligible to simultaneously complete a Geography minor. No more than 3 GIS Certificate courses can be applied to a Geography minor. A student wishing to complete a GIS Certificate and a Geography minor will complete a minimum of 8 Geography courses. Please see a faculty advisor in the Department of Geography for further details.

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Graduate Certificate Requirements

LAS3

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are now used in fields such as urban planning, environmental monitoring, marketing, business and retail analytics, law enforcement, public health, disaster management, data journalism, and numerous other careers and professional fields.

In the Graduate GIS Certificate, students will learn to make maps, manipulate and query tabular data, work with GPS data, conduct spatial analysis, and propose, define, and implement GIS projects. Courses integrate lectures and hands-on exercises using ArcGIS at one of three specialized computer lab locations on campus.

The Graduate GIS Certificate Program requires 16 credit hours of instruction. It provides a broad education in GIS and serves as a basis for entry-level employment opportunities in the geotechnology industry. Four courses are required to complete the Graduate GIS Certificate:

Course Title Quarter Hours
Required
GEO 441GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT4
Select three of the following:12
GEO 440
PLACES, HUMANITIES AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
GEO 442
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
GEO 443
EARTH OBSERVATION II
GEO 445
PROGRAMMING IN PYTHON FOR GIS
GEO 446
GIS ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH
GEO 447
WEB GIS AND SPATIAL DATA VISUALIZATION ON THE WEB
GEO 448
SPATIAL DATA SCIENCE
GEO 491
STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSIS FOR GIS

For more information, please contact the Department of Geography: geography@depaul.edu​

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