GIS Education in U.S. Public Administration Programs: Preparing the Next Generation of Public Servants

Geographic information systems (GIS), data, and analysis are common and crucial resources for public agencies throughout the United States. Applications of GIS run the gamut from delivery of emergency services to monitoring the spread of infectious diseases and environmental contamination and more....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public affairs education : J-PAE. 2016-04, Vol.22 (2), p.249-266
Main Authors: Obermeyer, Nancy J., Ramasubramanian, Laxmi, Warnecke, Lisa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bureaucracy
Computer software
Curricula
Disease
Emergency services
Geographic information systems
Geoinformatics
Government
Local government
Public administration
Public administration education
Public sector
Services
Skills
Students
Symposium: Information Technology and Public Administration Education
Universities
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Summary:Geographic information systems (GIS), data, and analysis are common and crucial resources for public agencies throughout the United States. Applications of GIS run the gamut from delivery of emergency services to monitoring the spread of infectious diseases and environmental contamination and more. Today's public sector job descriptions often identify GIS knowledge as a must-have skill for new public administration graduates. Thus, public administration programs have a responsibility to their students, to the public agencies who hire their graduates—and to the citizenry—to provide adequate preparation in GIS skills. This article reports the results of a survey of public administration programs in the United States to determine how well such programs have integrated GIS instruction. Our results suggest that although there is interest in GIS among public administration programs, GIS is not yet well integrated into their curricula; however, there is momentum to enhance the role of GIS.
ISSN:1523-6803
2328-9643
DOI:10.1080/15236803.2016.12002244