The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialty prepares students for positions with city planning departments, regional planning agencies, state development agencies, neighborhood economic development groups, and other nonprofit or public/private economic development organizations.

The School offers a variety of GIS courses. Students learn how to use GIS software, learn about the management of land information, and explore model building within a GIS framework. Other courses cover GIS-based, three-dimensional visualization, programming in a GIS environment and web-based GIS. Some policy courses make use of GIS for analysis and forecasting purposes. Supplemental classes in remote sensing (offered by the Geographical and Sustainability Sciences department) are recommended.

Students with a GIS specialty are also required to develop a concentration in one of the other planning areas offered by planning.

Planning Courses

• Applied GIS for Planning and Policy Making
• Transportation Research Methods & Analysis

Geography Courses

• GIS for Environmental Studies: Application
• Introduction to Geographic Visualization
• Health and Environment: GIS Applications
• Advanced Remote Sensing
• Introduction to Geographic Databases
• Seminar in Spatial Analysis and Modeling