University of Redlands
Fang Ren teaches graduate courses on GIS fundamentals, spatial statistics and analysis, transportation, project concept and scope, and project implementation. She has supervised more than 40 graduate students on a diverse range of topics involving cutting-edge GIS technologies such as web and mobile GIS.
In addition to supporting the GIS Program development and campus-wide GIS-related activities and initiatives, Ren has also engaged in professional services in the wider community. Her efforts include serving on the review panel for the National Science Foundation's Computing Research Infrastructure program and the Education Committee for the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences.
Her publications have appeared in Transactions in GIS, Journal of Transport Geography, Time and Society, Environmental Planning B, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, and Geografiska Annaler.
Ruijin Ma is an associate professor in geographic information science. Before joining the MS GIS faculty, he was a faculty member of the Civil Engineering Technology Department at SUNY Alfred State College. Ma specializes in image processing and remote sensing applications.
Douglas Flewelling is an associate professor in geographic information science.
Mark P. Kumler teaches courses on cartography, GIS fundamentals, map projections and coordinate systems.
Before joining the M.S. GIS faculty in 2004, he held faculty appointments at the University of Colorado, California State University, San Bernardino, and the University of Auckland (sabbatical appointment).
Online education has become a viable option for many people because of its easy access and flexible scheduling. Very often it is the only viable approach for working adults when they cannot relocate to a residential program. The Department of GIS frequently receives inquiries about online program offerings. In an effort to appeal to the audience for online education and potentially attract such audience to Redlands when time is appropriate, the faculty of the GIS department is working towards offering an online GIS graduate certificate program. GIS611 is the first one to be offered online, with the possibility of being launched in September 2020.
GIS611 provides students with the foundation of theoretical and applied skills in geographic information science and technology. Students work on a progression of tasks and assignments focused on GIS data collection, manipulation, analysis, output, and presentation. The assignments supplement and reinforce the GIS theory and technology concepts introduced through lectures and discussion.
The GIS faculty propose to develop the online course with the following subjects:
| Instructor | Subjects |
| Ruijin Ma | Global Navigation Satellite Systems Aerial and Satellite Images Vector Data Analysis Raster Data Analysis |
| Fang Ren | Spatial Sampling Spatial Interpolation Core Area Uncertainty |
| Douglas Flewelling | Introduction to GIS GIS Data Models Creating and Maintaining Geodatabases Spatial Models and Modeling |
| Mark Kumler | Map Projections and Coordinate Systems Data and Maps Terrain Analysis |
The Faculty Technology Grant will help the faculty gain experience in developing online courses. If successfully implemented, the online GIS611 will be launched in September 2020. It will help expose the GIS graduate program to a large online education audience. The experience gained through implementing this course will in turn help the faculty of the GIS department to develop other online courses, aiming for a successful online certificate program.
The goal is to ensure that all students have a solid foundation of the basic geographic information technology theory and skills that could be used to improve GIS work quality. By the conclusion of this course students should have a working knowledge of geographic data, an understanding of the issues related to spatial data modeling and representation, and a general proficiency with the tools, methods, and techniques necessary to collect, organize, manipulate, analyze, and output GIS data using ArcGIS 10.x and/or ArcGIS Online.
