Moving beyond the Specialization: the Development of a Bachelor of Science Program in Geographic Information Science at Michigan State University

Abstract

Many universities around the world are actively pursuing or have recently implemented professional graduate programs in geographic information science. However, the number of undergraduate programs focusing on geographic information science is far more limited. This is despite the rapid hiring of GIS faculty and the implementation of undergraduate program “specializations.” At first glance, this fact is surprising given the far greater number of undergraduate institutions. Unfortunately, undergraduate curriculum expansion is significantly more difficult than most graduate level, Master of Science/Arts programs. In particular, university administrators have been quite happy to approve professional Master of Science degree programs, seeing them for the financial stars they often are. Michigan State University created a similar, and now successful, MS‐GISc graduate program in 2000. Beginning in spring of 2003, the department of Geography began pursuing the development of a Bachelor of Science degree in Geographic Information Science. Expanding a traditional curriculum to include a BS‐GISc degree places an entirely different set of programmatic demands on both the department and faculty than the theoretically similar MS program. This paper outlines the challenges of establishing an undergraduate program in GISc, details the solutions employed, and provides recommendations for minimizing or mitigating the associated problems.