A Certificate Program in Geographic Information Systems
Fall 2000

UC Berkeley Extension & Geographic Information Science Center

Click on any popular website portal (Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite, etc.) and you will find resources allowing you to search for a street address virtually anywhere in the country - a handy tool for finding your way to a party, or a business located across town, particularly since your request is presented in the form of a map, with the location conveniently highlighted. What makes this technology possible? You may have never heard of it, but it has been with us for some time now, under various names, but most popularly as "GIS" or Geographic Information Systems. GIS is used by private and public organizations worldwide to perform a broad range of mission-critical tasks including: mapping of a company's sales and product information linked to a customer's address; managing vital ecological systems such as forests and wetlands; analyzing population trends at the local, regional, national and global levels; coordinating transportation functions such as package deliveries and fleet management; and maintaining infrastructure networks in the telecommunications and utilities industries. Anyone who manages land-based resources, whether natural or built, will soon be using GIS.

Our certificate program will begin Fall 2000. The program will consist of a minimum of 8 to 10 classes, each with between 20 and 30 hours of instruction. You could finish the program in about one year. Some classes will be taught on the UC Berkeley campus in the GISC computer labs, others at UC Berkeley Extension classroom facilities around the Bay Area. Total cost of the program will be approximately $4,500 - $5,000, books and materials not included. To get started now, we will be offering a new course this summer, GIS Fundamentals, Applications and Practice, which will be accepted as one option for satisfying the required prerequisites of the program.

Topics covered in these classes include: hands-on introduction to manipulating spatial models and performing basic analytical functions using cartographic principles; an introduction to database management systems used in the production of geographic information; acquiring and managing spatial data; an introduction to programming for GIS applications; spatial data theory, analysis, and management; implementing and managing an enterprise GIS. In addition, you will explore special applications in GIS in an industry of your choosing, and complete a final project in a capstone class to demonstrate your understanding of how GIS is used to solve specific real-world problems.

Required Prerequisites: Previous coursework or experience with GIS. Examples of appropriate prerequisites include:

  • UC Berkeley Extension course: GIS Fundamentals, Applications and Practice
  • At least 3 six hour GISC short courses, plus some project experience
  • UC Berkeley Extension on-line course: Intro to Geographic Information Systems


Recommended Prerequisites: Bachelor's degree (strongly recommended); familiarity with PC-based computer "office suite" applications, basic file management routines (saving, opening, deleting files); comfort with using the WWW as a means for locating and retrieving relevant information; and a basic understanding of desktop relational database management systems (Access, dBASE, FoxPro) is helpful.

For updated information about the program, please check back during the May/June 2000 timeframe.

UCB Extension GIS courses