GIS

Chesapeake Bay Program, Data Center Workgroup April 11, 1996 The development of a doctoral program in Geospatial Information Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas Ronald Briggs Director, GIS Programs Michael A. Domaratz, FGDC Secretariat 56

Geospatial Information Sciences Our first GIS courses, using that name, were initiated in the political economy/ public affairs program in 1989

Rationale underlying its creation Circumstances behind its development Ph.D. in Geospatial Information Sciences to be initiated in Fall, 2005 at UT-Dallas Rationale underlying its creation Circumstances behind its development Objectives of the degree program Its unique interdisciplinary structure And if it sounds a bit like an ad., that’s not totally unintentional!

GIS PhD Models Focused department model Distributed department model GIS as the focus of the geography Ph.D. degree UC Santa Barbara Distributed department model GIS available as a specialization within multiple traditional Ph.D. degrees: geography, engineering, planning, etc.. Buffalo Multi-department model GIS offered as a joint degree involving multiple departments The model being implemented at UT-Dallas

Rationale: generic GIS itself grew from the confluence of work in multiple disciplines Geography, CS, engineering, geology, etc.. Doctoral programs in which it is incorporated invariable based in traditional academic disciples Why not have a truly interdisciplinary degree? One degree incorporating multiple disciplines The UTD degree is a joint program offered by three Schools: Engineering, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences

Rationale: specific Many students came to our GIS Certificate and Master’s programs with skills highly relevant to GIS masters degrees in CS, engineering, geology, planning, economics, etc. Why just a second master’s degree? Why not capitalize on these skills and apply them to advanced work in GIS? Rather than retrofit geographers with IS skills, What not postfit computer scientists with spatial skills?

Rationale: practical Faculty with GIS interests existed in departments distributed across campus Few new faculty needed to be hired Many courses needed for GIS already being taught across campus Few new courses needed to be taught The challenge was administrative: how to harness these existing resources to create a new program

Impediments Faculty cannot disconnect degree program from the department offering the degree One to one relationship is not required! Departments who bean-count enrollments discourage students going outside We won’t get the credit! A mercantilist view Perhaps they could get more credits by allowing others in? A free trade perspective

There are existing models Public affairs/public administration degrees often use a similar model Faculty/courses drawn from multiple existing departments School of Social Sciences at UTD was one such model One administrative unit, no departments, and multiple degree programs Economics, sociology, geography, etc.. at the undergrad. level Public affairs, political economy, geographic information sciences, etc.. at the grad. level

Unique Characteristics of UTD Schools offering multiple degrees, but without departments, already existed Strong interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary tradition Empahasis on non-traditional student: older rather than straight from high school already employed rather than 1st time job seekers, re-tooling not just first degree Rapid growth enrollment almost doubled in last 10 years to 14,000 Desire to add new degree programs A fertile ground existed for growing something different

Individual Circumstances Graduate dean (a physicist) married to a geographer Dean of Social Sciences a spatial econometrician who was using ArcInfo 15 years ago UTD’s only NAS member was a geographer Former IR director We were able to capitalize on some unique circumstances

Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems Initiated in 1994 Master of Science in Geographic Information Sciences Jointly offered between two Schools: Social Sciences and Natural Sciences (Dept. of Geosciences) Some of the kinks with joint degrees already worked out. Initiated in 1998 Doctor of Philosophy in Geospatial Information Sciences Added a third school to the partnership: School of Engineering and Computer Science To begin in 2005

Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems Bachelor of Arts in Geography Master of Science in Applied Economics Master of Science in Geoscience (geology and geophysics) Master of Public Affairs Applied Technology Professional Specialization Master of Science in Geographic Information Sciences Ph.D. in GeoSpatial Information Sciences

Geospatial Information Sciences Baccalaureate Degree Master of Science in Computer Science Master of Science in Geographic Information Sciences Master of Science in Geoscience Other Masters Programs urban planning, statistics, engineering, etc. Ph.D. in Geospatial Information Sciences Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems Graduate Certificate in Remote Sensing The fundamental model proposed is to take a student with existing expertise in a field relevant to geospatial information sciences and focus on the geospatial information sciences component.

PhD in GIS: Program Requirements III. Application Area or Technical Field (12 hours) Normally derived from student’s masters degree. IV. Research and Dissertation (24 to 48 hours) GISC 7389 GIS PhD Qualifier GISC 8V29 Research in GISC GISC 8v99 or GEOS 8v99 or CS 8v99 Dissertation V. Other Related Electives (0 to 24 hours) With approval of GIS program director. May derive from relevant courses in student’s masters program Geospatial Science Core (15 hours required courses) GISC 6381 GIS Fundamentals GISC 6382 Applied GIS GISC 6384 Spatial Analysis and Modeling GISC 6385 GIS Theories, Models and Issues GISC 6387 GIS Workshop II. Geospatial Specialization Area (15 hours from selected area) I. Geospatial Computing and Information Management II. Spatial Statistics and Modeling III Remote Sensing and Satellite Technologies IV Customized Geospatial Specialization Total of 90 hours from the baccalaureate.

Geospatial Specialization Areas II. Spatial Statistics and Modeling 15 SCH from among the following: POEC 5313 Descriptive and Inf. Statistics POEC 5316 Advanced Regression Analysis POEC 5331 Econometrics GEOS 5306 Data Analysis for Geoscientists GISC 7361 Spatial Statistics GISC 7363 GIS Network Modeling GISC 7364 Advanced Raster Modeling CS 5343 Data Structures III Remote Sensing and Satellite Technologies GEOS 5422 GPS Surveying Techniques GEOS 5489 GIS Applications in Geosciences GEOS 5325 Intro to Remote Sensing GEOS 5328 Radar Remote Sensing GEOS 5329 Applied Remote Sensing GEOS 5326/GISC7365 RS Digital Image Processing GEOS 7327 Remote Sensing Workshop EE 6360 Digital Signal Processing I EE 6363 Digital Image Processing IV Customized Geospatial Specialization (15 SCH) Identified by the student with approval in advance by the Director of the GIS Doctoral Program. Geospatial Computing and Information Management 15 SCH from among the following: CS 6378 Advanced Operating Systems CS 6359 Object Oriented Analysis and Design CS 6360 Database Design CS 6V80 Spatial Data Management CS 6364 Artificial Intelligence CS 6366 Computer Graphics CS 6384 Computer Vision CS 6381 Combinatorics and Graph Algorithms CS 6375 Neural Nets and Machine Learning GISC 6383 GIS Management and Implementation GISC 7363 Internet Mapping and Information Management GISC 6488 GIS Application Development *MIS 6326 Database Management Systems (* may not be used in conjunction with certain other courses. Consult GIS Program Director)

Geospatial Specialization Areas: intent Focused on the primary subfields within GIS, and designed to build synergy with the various participating groups: Geospatial Computing and Information Management With computer science Spatial Statistics and Modeling With other social sciences Remote Sensing and Satellite Technologies With geoscience and, potentially, electrical engineering

Application Area/Technical Field: intent Provide a curriculum component to incorporate a student’s master’s degree, which can be in a variety of GIS relevant fields geography, GIS, computer science, criminology, economics, engineering, geology, marketing, planning, etc..

Qualifiers and Exams Dealing with a relatively diverse student body: GISciences Ph.D. Research Project Qualifier (GISC 7389) complete, according to uniform guidelines, a GIS Research Project present to a committee of at least three GIS faculty, one of whom is appointed by the GIS Program Director demonstrates their potential to conduct original research including ability to define research objective, survey literature, develop an appropriate design, analyze data, draw legitimate conclusions Defense of Dissertation Proposal student must: Demonstrate competency in the area chosen for his/her dissertation through a general exam, and successfully present and defend a dissertation proposal through an oral exam Defense of Dissertation A dissertation must be prepared and defended successfully following the procedures established by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Program Administration Program Director for Geospatial Information Sciences Appointed by, and reporting jointly to, the deans of the: Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics School of Social Sciences Program administered by the School with which the Program Director associated. GIS Faculty Coordinator for each participating school/department Dr Edwin Sha (for Computer Science) Dr Robert Stern (for Geoscience) Dr Ronald Briggs (for Social Science) GIS Program Committee Five person committee comprising coordinators plus two additional faculty GIS Faculty Teaching courses relevant to GIS and who approve the curriculum

GIS Faculty at UTD Total: 18 School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Department of Geosciences Mohamed G. Abdelsalam, remote sensing Carlos Aiken, gps Tom Brikowski, hydrology John Ferguson, surface estimation * Robert Stern, remote sensing School of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Computer Science Latifur Kahn, database * Edwin Sha, operating systems Weili Wu, spatial database Kang Zhang, graphics School of Social Sciences Brian Berry, spatial analysis Timothy Bray, criminology * Ronald Briggs, spatial analysis Kevin Curtin, networks and transportation # Daniel Griffith, spatial statistics Karen Hayslett-McCall, criminology Jim Murdoch, spatial econometrics # Michael Tiefelsdorf, spatial statistics Fang Qiu , digital image processing Total: 18 We already had as many, if not more, faculty in GIS as would be found in a university department currently offering a PhD degree in this area. * Faculty coordinator # new hire

GIS-Relevant Courses Courses already being taught School of Social Sciences GIS Fundamentals (GISC 6381) GIS Mngemnt and Implementation (GISC 6383) Spatial Analysis & Modeling (GISC 6384) GISC 6387 GIS Workshop (GISC 6387) GIS Models and Theory (GISC 6385) Urban Apps. of GIS/RS (GISC 6386) GIS Application Dev. (GISC 6488) GIS Apps. in Criminology (GISC 6332) Internet Mapping & Info. Mngmnt (GISC 7363) RS Digital Image Processing (GISC 7365) Spatial Statistics (GISC 7361) Advanced Regression Anal. (POEC 5316) School of Natural Sciences Computing for Geoscientist (GEOS 5303) Data Analysis for Geoscientists (GEOS 5306) GPS Satellite Surveying Tech. (GEOS 5422) GIS Apps. in Geosciences (GEOS 5423) Intro to Remote Sensing (GEOS 5325) RS Digital Image Processing (GEOS 5326/GISC 7365) Radar Remote Sensing (GEOS 5328) Applied Remote Sensing (GEOS 5329/GISC7366) School of Engineering & Computer Science Object-oriented Analysis And Design (CS 6359) Database Design (CS 6360) Artificial Intelligence (CS 6364) Computer Graphics (CS 6366) Neural Nets And Machine Learning (CS 6375) Advanced Operating Systems (CS 6378) Combinatorics And Graph Algorithms (CS 6381) Spatial Data Management (CS6v81.003) Computer Vision (CS 6384) Digital Signal Processing I (EE 6360) Digital Image Processing (EE 6363) School of Management Database Management Systems (MIS 6326) Systems Anal. & Proj. Mngmnt (MIS 6308) Decision Support Systems (MIS 6324) Information Strategy Planning (MIS 6328) Courses already being taught

Conclusion Not claimed as a superior approach, simply an alternative avenue for GIS education The proof will be in the pudding over the next 5-10 years

Thank you for your attention www.gis.utdallas.edu www.utdallas.edu/~briggs