Certificate:
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

GIS Admission Requirements

Because the program is for a professional development certificate, there is no formal application process. There are no prerequisites, though familiarity with maps or geographic concepts is recommended.

You can register for and attend individual classes or multiple classes anytime during the semester. Participants may complete the program requirements and receive a certificate of completion or attend just those classes that are of particular interest.

GIS Curriculum

The GIS Certificate is a Professional Development Certificate, and courses carry CEUs, nationally recognized units of measurement for professional development and training.

Participants may complete the program requirements and receive a certificate of completion, or attend just those classes that are of particular interest. Candidates for certificate designation must pass each of the five core courses (8.0 CEUs), plus earn an additional 9.6 CEUs from the list of elective courses (for a total of 17.6 CEUs). Once a candidate has completed the necessary coursework an application for the certificate of completion must be submitted.

Core Required Courses

All required core courses are twice a year (spring and fall semester) and some are offered more frequently.

	Fall	Spring	Summer
Introduction to GIS	•	•	•
Managing a GIS Project	•	•
Cartographic Design for GIS	•	•
Database Design & Management for GIS	•	•
Data Acquisition for GIS	•	•	•

Elective Courses

Students may choose any elective to complete the 17.6 CEU program. Elective courses offer in-depth instruction in a variety of geospatial applications and advanced skills in geospatial techniques and technology. The range of elective options allows students to gain broad exposure to different areas of geographic information systems or to concentrate their studies to a particular area of interest.

All electives are offered on a rotating basis. Some electives are offered once a year, and some are offered more frequently.

	Fall	Spring	Summer
Raster GIS & Analysis	•
Using GPS for GIS		•
Remote Sensing in GIS, Part I	•
Remote Sensing in GIS, Part II	•
Spatial Analysis & Modeling		•
Scientific Visualization in GIS		•
Introduction to Programming ArcGIS	•
GIS & Remote Sensing Applications for Coastal & Marine Scientists		•
Watershed GIS		•
Fundamentals of ArcIMS	•	•
GIS in Crime Analysis	•
Spartial Analysis of Public Health Data		•
Further Exploration of ArcGIS	•	•
Processing GIS Data with Visual Tools			•
Building a Geodatabase	•	•
Introduction to R	•
GIS for Sustainable Planning & Urban Design		•
Ecological Applications of GIS		•

Textbooks & Materials

All materials for classes are provided by the program and included in the cost. To assist in the hands-on learning process, free one-year (time out) student license of ESRI ArcGIS (ArcEditor level) and Spatial, Geostatistical, and 3D Analysts ($9000 retail value) are available to students completing the certificate program. Additionally, students completing the program are provided free access to certain ESRI Virtual Campus courses, online training options for learning ESRI software and GIS concepts, to supplement their training experience through the SF State GIS certificate program.

GIS Certificate Application Fee

Students applying for the Geographic Informations Systems Certificate should complete the Application for Certificate and include a check for $50 to cover this fee. The check should be made out to SF State Extended Learning. This form should be submitted once all classes have been completed.