Grant Brings Geography Technology Center to UWSP

With the help of a $1.7 million federal grant, the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point is starting a geographic information system center that will educate students and professionals throughout northern and central Wisconsin.

The center, which will be run by the Department of Geography and Geology, will allow the department to offer more specific curriculum to UWSP students and the creation of certificate programs to keep the professionals up-to-date on the latest advances in GIS technology.

“What we want to do is to be able, in a sense, to provide outreach, not only what we do on campus with students, but other people who want to get educated in (GIS),” said Keith Rice, department chairman.

Perhaps the most common uses of GIS technologies are in programs such as Google Earth or hand-held global positioning systems, but those are only a small part of what GIS is used for.

About 80 percent of all data is geographic. Farmers can use GIS to micromanage crop placement or fertilization. Emergency personnel use it to find the fastest routes. More than 500,000 professionals use GIS skills almost daily, and the number is growing, Rice said.

So is the technology.

The closest current center for this type of training is in Minneapolis. With the constant evolution of this software, many workers struggle to budget the expenses needed to stay current. Having an option in central Wisconsin is something many professionals will look forward to.

“I graduated from (UWSP) in 2001, and while the principles are all there, the software specific stuff is outdated,” said Justin Conner, GIS specialist at Wood County planning and zoning. “So I’m definitely interested in that.”

Professionals will have the chance to learn skills more tailored toward their careers. They will have the option of attending three-day workshops instead of 16 week courses.

“You’ll take some basic GIS courses, but then you’ll be able to take the more specific ones,” Rice said. “Whatever is most conducive to them.”

The center will be hiring two new full time staff members in the coming school year, one professor and one education specialist who will hear the certificate programs. The hope is to have the center fully operational by next summer.

There currently are about five courses that deal with GIS at UWSP. With the planned additional professor, that number will expand, with the new classes taking a more specific focus.

“It will allow our program to offer a lot of these classes that are specifically oriented toward business, business location and politics,” said associate professor of geography Eric Larsen.

* Story by Nick Paulson from THE STEVENS POINT JOURNAL