Category Archives: Uncategorized

The CCSU Department of Continuing Education has announced the NEW Geographic Information Science (GIS) Certificate Program. The original program of 3 courses over 10 months has been refined to provide more flexibility and provide more focused content to meet the targeted needs of professionals and students, as well as employers. The NEW program is now 2 stand alone programs- GIS Certificate 1, and GIS Certificate 2, each comprised of 2 courses offered over 20 weeks, with 8 on campus meetings each, and on-line instruction for the remaining weeks.

Certificate 1 will focus on the foundational essential practical skills that all GIS practitioners and professionals in the field utilize on a regular basis. The two courses that will comprise Certificate 1 include “GIS Fundamentals” and “Practical Applications of GIS”. This certificate program will introduce students to the initial tenants of GIS and progress through learning the software tools and how to accomplish basic tasks. Additionally students will be taught how to utilize software tools and apply them with basic GIS principles to solve typical industry problems and answer questions raised to GIS professionals every day. Real world scenarios will provide exposure to methodologies and common practices that can be directly tied to workplace projects and everyday GIS challenges. Students will be learning the most recent version of Esri’s ArcGIS platform including ArcGIS Pro. No prior GIS experience is required for this certificate program.

In GIS Certificate 1, course 1: GIS Essentials,  the course content includes discussion of basic geographic principles such as direction, coordinate systems, spatial relationships, and geographic thought; introduction to what GIS is and how it works in general; introduction to the ArcGIS environment and ArcMap/ArcCatalog/ArcGIS Pro applications. It also includes discussion regarding cartography and GIS data and data types. Students leave being able to navigate basic software tools including pan, zoom, query, identify and measure and create shapefiles and shapefile data. This course will begin Feburary 2, 2019, and run until April 6, 2019. The cost is $1095.00 per student and does not include the textbook. Registration can be found at https://bit.ly/2CPuYWe.

In GIS Certificate 1, course 2: Practical Applications of GIS, the course content includes discussion of practical applications of GIS in the real world using geoprocessing tools (buffer, clip, join) and an introduction to the geodatabase data structure. Topics include GIS design, implementation and administration. Students leave with basic geoprocessing skills, geocoding, georeferencing, and being able to create a geodatabase and associated data structure. This course will begin April 27, 2019, and run until June 29, 2019. The cost is $1095.00 per student and does not include the textbook. Registration can be found at https://bit.ly/2QmGHPF.

Certificate 2 will focus on advanced GIS skills that will build upon those taught in Certificate 1, including the creation of web based maps and applications, custom tools, and additional data collection tools. The two courses that will comprise Certificate 2 include “Web GIS” and “Advanced GIS Applications”. This certificate program will provide students with exposure and instruction on utilizing web based technology and other related technologies to extend their GIS tools to provide additional functionality. Additionally students will be introduced to opensource computer programming languages and remote sensing technology that is commonly used in the GIS field. Hands-on activities and assignments will offer students a chance to apply the lessons they learn in practical scenarios. Prior GIS experience and fundamental knowledge is required for this certificate program.

In GIS Certificate 2, course 1: Web GIS, the course content includes discussion of internet based GIS sources and applications, web application design, and mobile GIS applications. It also includes discussion regarding social implications of GIS applications and web mapping platforms. Students will leave the course having created basic web GIS applications and exposure to using internet GIS data sources. The cost is $1095.00 per student and does not include the textbook. This course will begin in Spring of 2020.

In GIS Certicicate 2, course 2: Advanced GIS Applications, the course content includes discussion of advanced technologies and tools that integrate with GIS. Students will be instructed in creating custom tools and applications, and introduced to object oriented programming, GPS, Lidar, remote sensing, and photogrammetry. Students will leave the course having created a custom GIS tool or application. The cost is $1095.00 per student and does not include the textbook. This course will begin in Spring of 2020.

For further information, you can contact Judy Ratcliffe at jratcliffe@ccsu.edu or (860) 832-2277.