About the Courses (Syllabi)

This page and its subs-pages act as the syllabi for the following Advanced GIS courses offered through Watershed Sciences:
  • WATS 4930/6920 - Advanced GIS & Spatial Analyses (3 credits) - 10 Weeks 
  • WATS 4931/6921 - GIS Research Projects (2 credits)  - 5 Weeks
  • WATS 6915 - GIS Fundamentals (1 credit) - 4 Weeks

Which Course(s) Should I Take?

WATS 4930/6920 is what you should take if you want to get a comprehensive understanding of GIS and advanced spatial analyses. GEOG 1800 is a prerequisite for WATS 4930.

WATS 6915 is the first four weeks of WATS 6920. The course is targeted at graduate students who want a crash course or refresher introduction to GIS, but don't have the time or need for the full 10 week course. No prior GIS experience is necessary, but the pace is rapid.  Its perfect for someone wanting to know how to make some basic maps for their thesis or dissertation, as well as an introduction to building interactive web maps and doing basic spatial analyses.

WATS 4931/6921 is a five week follow up course to WATS 4930/6920, which puts the skills and principles learned in Advanced GIS & Spatial Analyses into practice through student research projects. WATS 4930 is available for capstone credit to Watershed Sciences students. Students will prepare a poster to present in poster session and a mock manuscript for potential publication. 

These courses are based on the content from the former WATS 4930/6920 course (4 credits, last offered in Spring 2011), but have been expanded and redesigned to better meet the diverse needs of both our undergraduates and graduates. For undergraduates, we have split a 10 week skills portion (WATS 4930) from a 5 week intensive project portion (WATS 4931), which Watershed Sciences majors can take for Capstone credit. This will allow undergraduates just seeking to expand their skills in spatial anlaysis and GIS to do so without the extra time commitment demanded by the project. For our graduates, we've split the course into three options as part of an expanded offering of 'Espresso Courses', which allow students to tailor their programs of study to their specific needs.

Approximate Schedule

We will deliver lectures via a mix of in-person, interactive lectures, versus via self-paced, Pod-Cast lectures you can watch at your leisure. Always check the calendar to make sure you know which dates are in-person, versus which you can watch from home.  Below for WATS 4930/6920/6915, those dates that are in person lectures (i.e. in NR 105) are bolded (n= 11) and those that are PODCASTS are denoted with an * (n=7). 

WATS 4930/4931 Spring 2017 Schedule



NOTE: This is an approximate schedule and will almost certainly change. Check the class calendar for an up to date schedule.