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
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”
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.
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)
“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!
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
“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
Training Objectives
1. Familiarity with basic GIS concepts
and terminology
2. Working knowledge of ArcGIS 8.1
(ArcView component)
3. Completion of an entire GIS project
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
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
“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
Successes
• Three formal faculty-npo research
collaborations
• Several less formal partnerships
• ~ 40 attendees to information/training
sessions so far.
Challenges
• Partnering faculty with NPOs.
• Having enough students trained in GIS
to help NPOs.
• Temporal disconnect
• Creativity deficit