GIS at Penn State

Welcome to Penn State's Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Council Home Page.

Geographic information systems (GIS) have become indispensable tools for governance, for commerce, and for environmental and social science. The demand for innovative geographic information products, services, and know-how is strong, and increasing. Consequently, the need for basic and applied research and education in geographic information science (GIScience) has never been greater. Penn State is well known around the world for its leadership in these endeavors. This site is your gateway to GIScience education, research, and outreach initiatives at the Pennsylvania State University.

 

New Penn State Continuing Education Certificate in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS)

Gain the technical skills you need to make you more marketable in your career. Whether your goal is to become a GIS professional, cartographer, or database administrator, or you’re just looking to gain GIS-related skills to advance your career potential, this certificate can help you get there. 

Technician Certificate Program 

The GIS program consists of four courses with a fifth optional course. Course 1 introduces the student GIS and remote sensing (RS) technology, concepts, tools, and basic geography. Course 2 consists of hands-on instruction to learn geospatial technology skills, ranging from introductory digital mapping to raster image analysis. Course 3 builds on the foundations set in Course 1 and 2 utilizing and developing geospatial databases. Course 4 incorporates the previous courses skill objectives to develop a GIS application project.

A GIS certificate will be awarded by Penn State Continuing Education upon satisfactory completion of the following courses.

Courses - Sign Up Now - http://ceup.psu.edu/gis

Each course is 6 weeks.

Course 1 – Nature of Geographic Data and Spatial Information (33 hours)
Course 2 – Analysis for Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing (60 hours)
Course 3 – Analysis II for Geographic Information Systems (60 hours)
Course 4 – Applied Geospatial Application (60 hours)

Total Certificate Program – 213 hours, or 24 weeks.

Prerequisites

A student must demonstrate to the instructor basic knowledge of the Microsoft Operating System (Windows), have basic knowledge of the Microsoft Suite of software applications (i.e., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), be able to navigate the Internet with a browser, and operate a mouse and computer keyboard.

 

What is GIS?

If you are not familiar with Geographic Information Systems, then scan through this 'What is GIS?' site from www.gis.com to learn more.

Current Information