Physical and Earth Sciences
Jacksonville State University
 GEOGRAPHY  
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT) CONCENTRATION IN THE MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DEGREE

Degree requirements. The degree requirements consist of a total of 36 semester hours with 15 required semester hours in public administration courses, 15 required semester hours in the spatial analysis (GIS) and management concentration, and 6 semester hours of electives. All courses are available online via the Internet for those students unable to commute to scheduled classes. Those online courses within the geographic information systems (formerly spatial analysis and management) concentration require access to a PC type computer with at least a 500 MHz processor, at least 128 MB memory, running either Windows NT, 2000, or XP operating systems. Most course work will involve the use of ESRI's ArcGIS but may utilize other GIS software packages.

Public Administration. The following public administration COURSES are required:
    PSC 481G Public Administration (3)
    PSC 502 Research Methods in Public Administration (3)
    PSC 531 Public Personnel Administration (3)
    PSC 532 Public Finance Administration (3)
    and
      PSC 521 Administrative Law (3)
      or
      PSC 545 Seminar in Public Administration (3)
Geographic Information Systems (Spatial Analysis and Management). The following spatial analysis COURSES are required:
    GIS (SAM) 520 Spatial Data Collection and Management (3)
    GIS (SAM) 550 Organization and Management of Spatial Systems (3)
    GIS (SAM) 560 Spatial Data Layout and Design (3)
    GIS (SAM) 580 Directed Research (3)
    and
      GIS (SAM) 530 Analyzing Spatial Networks (3)
      or
      GIS (SAM) 540 Site Location Analysis (3)
Electives. The remaining six hours are electives to be determined through faculty advisement and may include the following:
    GIS (SAM) 570 Advanced Topics in Spatial Analysis and Management(3)



Note. Students having had no undergraduate courses in GIS or with no prior exerience in GIS using ESRI software are required to complete the following course as a prerequisite for the required courses:
    GIS (SAM) 510 Introduction to Spatial Analysis (3)
A tentative schedule of FUTURE geographic information systems (spatial analysis and management) courses is available.
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