A new accelerated degree program continues to move the University of Mary Washington’s Geographic Information Science program forward with the addition of the five-year option for the Masters of Science in Geospatial Analysis (MSGA).
When it kicks off next fall, the new program, recently approved by UMW’s University Faculty Council, could save students time and money, said Geography Department Chair Jackie Gallagher.
Qualifying students will now be able enroll in the MSGA program during their senior year by taking two sequential 500-level courses, Spatial Thinking and GeoDesign & GeoVisualization. The four-credit courses will count toward both undergraduate and graduate degrees for those admitted to the MSGA program within five years. Students could then complete the remaining requirements – four more four-credit courses and a six-credit capstone project – and earn a master’s degree in as little as a year.
Launched in fall 2014, UMW’s 30-credit MSGA is one of only two Virginia programs to focus solely on geospatial analysis. The intensive 12-month curriculum, with evening classes, was originally designed for recent graduates and working professionals with training and/or experience in geospatial technology. UMW also offers a GISc – or geographic information science – certificate with requirements similar to those involved in earning a minor, said Brian Rizzo, associate professor and director of the Center for Spatial Analysis and Research.
All of UMW’s geospatial coursework centers around theory and technical training. Regardless of their chosen major, students develop skills in critical thinking, project management and communication, Gallagher said, while learning to analyze and display spatial information. Graduates master geographic information systems, remote sensing, GPS, and other technologies, and go on to work in crime analysis, disaster management, emergency preparedness, regional planning, architecture, engineering, intelligence – any field where location plays a role.
“GIS is huge,” Gallagher said. “There are more jobs in GIS than there will ever be people to fill them.”
Identified by the U.S. Department of Labor as a high-growth industry, geospatial analysis is particularly relevant in nearby Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C, home to such entities as the Census Bureau, the FBI and NASA. But opportunities also abound right in UMW’s backyard, Rizzo said, with Fort Belvoir headquartering the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which employs thousands.
“As our students’ GIS skills grow, we will start to infiltrate even more of the local companies. UMW students should dominate the geospatial workplace in our region,” said Rizzo, who notes that all UMW students who earned an MSGA or undergraduate GISc certificate last year found employment in their field. This alternative path to the MSGA, only available to UMW undergraduates, “provides an even bigger edge to our students when job hunting.”
For more information about UMW’s MSGA program, visit umw.edu/admissions/graduate/degrees/msga.