This certificate may be completed by OSU graduate students, resident on campus and in good standing, from any department, any degree program. The graduate certificate consists of 19 credit hours. S/U or P/NP grades are not acceptable. Students are required to complete two "core" courses, the prerequisites for which have been streamlined so that students may begin the certificate after completing introductory cartography, trigonometry, and basic statistics courses.
The core courses are supplemented by elective courses totaling 12 or more credits. Students may select courses in one of three possible tracks with the exact classes being determined in consultation with a GIScience advisor (selecting a specific track is NOT required - students may mix and match elective courses to suit their interests).
All 19 credit hours of courses MUST be listed on the LEFT side of the required graduate program form that a student submits to the Graduate School.
How to Declare for the Graduate Certificate
UCGIS GIS&T Body of Knowledge Topics in Geosciences Courses (pdf)
Click on course numbers below to confirm availability...Required Background Courses (or the equivalent):
GEO 360, Cartography (4) [F] or equivalent experience MTH 112, or equivalent high school or university course(s) Basic statistics: ST 201/ST 202, or ST 351/ST 352 or ST 511/ST 512, or ECE 353 (for engineers)
Required Core Courses (8 credits, on campus only)
GEO 544, Remote Sensing of the Environment (4) [F] GEO 565, Geographic Information Systems and Science (4) [W]
Elective Courses: (11 credits minimum, chosen from below, on campus only)
CE 505, Digital Terrain Modeling (3) [Wtr 10, MF 8:00a lecture, F 9-12 lab - new offering] CE 513, GIS in Water Resources (3) [Sp] CS 519, Special Topics: Information Visualization (3) [W] CS 549, Selected Topics in Information-Based Systems (1-5) [occasional] CS 553, Scientific Visualization (4) [W] CSS 568, Soil Landscape Analysis (4) [Sp] CSS 599, Special Topics: Precision Agriculture (variable) FOR 521, Spatial Analysis of Forested Landscapes (3) [W] GEO 541, Spatial-Temporal Variation in Ecology and Earth Science (4) [F] [alternate, odd years] GEO 545, Computer-Assisted Cartography (3) [W] GEO 566, Digital Image Processing (3) [W] [alternate, odd years] GEO 580, Advanced Applications of GIS in the Geosciences (4) [Sp] GEO 567, Responsible GIS Practice: Ethics for Future Geospatial Professionals (3) [W, Spr, E-Campus only] GEO 599, GIS Programming Practicuum (2) [Fall 09 - one time only] GEO 585, Advanced Techniques in Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing (3) [Sp] [occasional, unlikely to be offered in near future] GPH 640, Geodesy (4) [Spr, Paul Vincent] OC 678, Satellite Oceanography (3) [F] [alternate, odd years] SOC 599, Demography Special Topics (variable) ST 565, Time Series and Spatial Statistics (3) [Sp, alternate, even years] GEO or FOR 510, Internship (3 or 4) [any term, as arranged, and of a GIScience nature]
Use guidelines from CSS or GEO.
The elective courses may be in one of three tracks, or may be mixed and matched to suit a student's interest. Typical tracks are listed below as EXAMPLES, and are NOT exhaustive of all possible combinations of courses.
Cartography
GIS
Remote Sensing
More Information for Graduate Students
Sample Program
Main Elective Tracks
About Cartography
About GIS
About Remote Sensing