A Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Information Science consists of a minimum of 16 graduate hours in courses designated as GIScience Courses, including regularly offered courses as well as special topics courses. Students must have a B (3.0) average in their GIScience courses and no grade below a C (2.0) in their GIScience courses to earn the certificate. The program is designed to:
- offer GIS study in a variety of disciplines with a variety of applications;
- teach students GIS techniques;
- teach students to apply GIS to solve scientific research problems;
- encourage students to gain experience in the GIS field by means of internships;
- integrate GIS applications with computer science concepts;
- prepare students for GIS employment or GIS work at the graduate level.
Students may pursue the graduate certificate while enrolled in any master’s program OR as a certificate-only student.
- Students already enrolled in a master’s degree program should submit to Graduate Admissions a Secondary Program Request Form available under Forms at https://www.marshall.edu/graduate/students/.
- Applicants interested in the certificate-only program should apply for admission to Marshall University as a Certificate/Professional Development student and select on the application form the Certificate in Geospatial Information Science – Basic.
GIScience credits can count toward a master’s degree in several departments such as Biology, Geography, Physical Science, Health Informatics, Environmental Sciences, Technology Management, and Information Technology. Please see an advisor in the appropriate department.
For the Graduate Certificate Completion Form click the link, or visit the Graduate College website and find the Forms section.
Online completion
Students can complete the certificate 100% online by completing 16 credits chosen from courses GEO523 Cartography and GIS, GEO526 Principles of GIS, GEO 427 Principles of GIS 2, GEO529 Location Analysis, GEO530 Raster Analysis, GEO531 Remote Sensing, GEO 434 Flood Hazards and GIS, GEO540 Spatial Statistics and GIS, and GEO690 Internship.
GIScience Core Courses
- *GEO 526 Principles of GIS (4 credit hrs.)
- **GEO 531 Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry or BSC 510 Remote Sensing with GIS Applications or BSC511 Digital Image Processing and GIS Modeling (4 hrs.)
*This requirement is waived if GEO426 or its equivalent taken as an undergraduate; substitute another course.
**This requirement is waived if GEO431 or its equivalent taken as an undergraduate; substitute another course.
Graduate GIScience Electives Courses
- BSC 510/PS 510 Remote Sensing with GIS Applications (4 credit hours)
- BSC 511/PS 511 Digital Image Processing and GIS Modeling (4 hrs.)
- *GEO 427 Principles of GIS 2 (4 hrs.)
- *GEO 529 Location Analysis and GIS (4 hrs.)
- *GEO 530 Environmental Raster GIS (4 hrs.)
- *GEO 531 Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry (4 hrs.)
- GEO 532 Enterprise GIS (3 hrs.)
- GEO 533 GPS and Mobile Geospatial Technologies (3 hrs.)
- *GEO434 Flood Hazards and GIS (3 hrs.)
- *GEO 540 Spatial Statistics and GIS (4 hrs.)
- GEO 631 Applied GIS Projects (3 hrs.)
- GEO 634 GIS Databases and Programming (3 hrs.)
- *GEO 690 Internship (1-6 hrs.; must be GIScience approved in advance)
- PS 570 Practicum (4 hrs.; must be GIScience approved by the student’s advisor in advance)
- PS 670 Advanced Practicum (4 hrs.; must be GIScience approved by the student’s advisor in advance)
- Special Topics courses as approved by the GIScience Curriculum Committee
- Independent Studies courses as approved by the GIScience advisor
*Also available as an online course.