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Finding a university's place in the community: training local organizations in GIS

Finding a university's place in the community: training local organizations in GIS. Dr. David R. Bowne Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology dbowne@richmond.edu ACS-GIS Symposium, Feb. 28 – March 2, 2003. Background.

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Finding a university's place in the community: training local organizations in GIS

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  1. Finding a university's place in the community:training local organizations in GIS Dr. David R. Bowne Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology dbowne@richmond.edu ACS-GIS Symposium, Feb. 28 – March 2, 2003

  2. Background The University of Richmond was awarded a Jessie Ball duPont Fund grant: Integrating faculty research, student learning, and community problem-solving through geographic information systems (GIS) “Offer instruction in the application and use of mapping and spatial analysis to the non-profit community”

  3. UR commitment to community service • Volunteer Action Council (VAC), a student-created, student-organized community resource center that connects individual and groups on campus with local agencies and organizations in need. • Community Service Day uniting Richmond students, faculty, staff and alumni on a daylong project each fall. • Bonner Scholars program, a special scholarship opportunity available to students who have demonstrated a commitment to community service during their high school years and who seek to continue their involvement in college.· • Serving learning opportunities, which connect classroom learning with community service. • Connect Richmond, an online community information network that unites nonprofit organizations with academic resources and offers leadership opportunities for students. • Virginia Campus Compact. Headquartered at the University of Richmond, this organization works to encourage service at institutions of higher learning through multiple initiatives. • Center for Faith and Service, which coordinates a variety of volunteer programs for students.

  4. Target Audience • Richmond, as the capital of Virginia, is home to many non-profit organizations (NPOs). • Find them through ConnectRichmond & Campus Community Partnership of MetroRichmond (http://www.connectrichmond.org)

  5. “Offer instruction in the application and use of mapping and spatial analysis to the non-profit community”1) GIS primer Many have heard of GIS, but do not know much about it. Had to educate on what GIS is and is not. Held 2 evening information sessions. Think Spatially!

  6. Primer Goals • A basic understanding of what a GIS is and is not • An appreciation of the many applications of GIS • Ideas of how your organization could use GIS • Excitement in implementing those ideas • And confidence in your ability to succeed

  7. “Offer instruction in the application and use of mapping and spatial analysis to the non-profit community”2) GIS Training • Great demand for training with GIS software. • Want “nuts & bolts” but that limits applicability across software. • Teach GIS fundamentals within context of software. • Offered one-day training workshops

  8. Training Objectives • Familiarity with basic GIS concepts and terminology • Working knowledge of ArcGIS 8.1 (ArcView component) • Completion of an entire GIS project

  9. Training Topics Introduction 1)      Basics of GIS 2)      Types of geographic data 3)      Data formats 4)      Coordinate systems 5)      Scale Hands-on with ArcGIS 8.1 (ArcView 8.1) 1)      ArcMap 2)  ArcCatalog Project planning 1)      In general 2)      Today’s sample project

  10. Training Topics Acquiring data 1)      Download from web 2)      Finesse into ArcMap 3)      Join table with coverage Display considerations 1)   Changing symbology 2)      Selection – spatial queries 3)      Creating a new shapefile from selection Map creation 1)      Elements of map design 2)      Printing 3)      Exporting

  11. “Offer instruction in the application and use of mapping and spatial analysis to the non-profit community”3) Beyond Training • NPOs need resources to obtain software and hardware. • Use the GIS resources of the University of Richmond via faculty/student projects. • Demonstrate to bosses and funders utility

  12. Successes • Three formal faculty-npo research collaborations • Several less formal partnerships • ~ 40 attendees to information/training sessions so far.

  13. Challenges • Partnering faculty with NPOs. • Having enough students trained in GIS to help NPOs. • Temporal disconnect • Creativity deficit

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