The GIScience undergraduate certificate consists of 27 credit hours, primarily at the upper division level. S/U or P/NP grades are not acceptable. Students are required to complete five "core" courses that will provide a basic knowledge of the component fields.
The prerequisites for these core courses have been streamlined so that students may begin the certificate after completing introductory trigonometry and basic statistics courses. Course prerequisites are reduced to those truly essential as background. This, and the elimination of enrollment restrictions to departmental majors, should widen access to GIScience courses to the point that students from any department may complete the undergraduate certificate.
The core courses are supplemented by elective upper division courses totaling 10 or more credits. These courses will be selected from a list of at least seventeen classes taught in six departments. These courses will be selected by the student in consultation with his or her advisor, with the goal of obtaining a deeper general understanding of the component fields, or to allow advanced study in a particular field. Students may select courses in one of four possible tracks with the exact classes determined in consultation with a GIScience advisor (but selecting a specific track is NOT required - students may mix and match elective courses to suit their interests).
How to Declare for the Undergraduate Certificate
UCGIS GIS&T Body of Knowledge Topics in Geosciences Courses (pdf)
Click on course numbers below to confirm availability...Background Courses (or the equivalent):
Minimum mathematics: MTH 112, or equivalent high school or university course(s) Basic Statistics: ST 201 /ST 202, or ST 351 /ST 352, or ST 314 (for engineers), or ECE 353 (for engineers)
Required Core Courses (19-20 credits, on campus only):
GEO 301 Map and Image Interpretation (4) [F, Sp] GEO 360 Cartography (4) [F] FE 308 Forest Surveying (4) [Sp] GEO 444 Remote Sensing of the Environment (4) [F] GEO 365 Intro to GIS (4) [F] or FE 357 GIS and Forest Engineering Applications (3) [F] or CE 202 Geospatial Information and GIS (3) [W]
Elective Courses (8 credits chosen from below, on campus only):
CE 413, GIS in Water Resources (3) [Sp] CSS 468, Soil Landscape Analysis (4) [Sp] ECE 468, Digital Image Processing (3) [F] FE 309, Forest Photogrammetry(4) [W] FE 311, Advanced Forest Surveying (4) [Sp] FOR 421, Spatial Analysis of Forested Landscapes (3) [W] FW 303, Survey of Geographic Information Systems in Natural Resources (3) [W, Sp, Su] GEO 445, Computer-Assisted Cartography (3) [W] GEO 465, Geographic Information Systems and Science (4) [W] GEO 466, Digital Image Processing (3) [W] [alternate, odd years] CS, CSS, ECE, FOR, GEO 410, Internship (3) [any term, as arranged, and of a GIScience nature]
Use guidelines from CSS or GEO.
The elective courses may be in one of four tracks or may be mixed and matched to suit the student's interests. Typical tracks are listed below as EXAMPLES, and are NOT exhaustive of all possible combinations of courses.
Cartography
GIS
Remote Sensing
Surveying
(Geomatics)
More Information for Undergraduates
Sample Program
Main Elective Tracks
About Cartography
About GIS
About Remote Sensing
About Geomatics (Land Surveying)