Certificate Requirements

Admission Requirements 

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by program, please review the application deadline chart for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.

Application

  • Students wishing to obtain this certificate must declare their intention by applying to the program office or director.
  • All graduate certificate applicants—even those already enrolled in a UWM graduate program—must apply to the Graduate School.
  • Graduate degree and previously admitted graduate non-degree students who decide to pursue a certificate program must submit the application before completing 6 credits in the certificate sequence.
  • Applicants must possess a baccalaureate degree and have a minimum 2.75 cumulative undergraduate grade point average to be admitted into a certificate program.

Credits and Courses

A minimum of 6 credits each in Urban Planning and Geography courses are required for completion of the certificate. To earn the Certificate, one must complete six semester-long courses (with a minimum of 18 credits), satisfy graduate school criteria for successful completion and maintain at least a B (3.00) average in all courses. No more than 3 credits of Internship or Independent Study will be counted towards the Certificate. The program requirements are as follows:

Required12
Tier 1 (select one course)
GEOG 726Geographic Information Science
URBPLAN 791Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems for Planning
Tier 2 (select one course)
GEOG 826Intermediate Geographic Information Science
URBPLAN 792Using Urban Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Planning
Tier 3 (Select two courses)
GEOG 704Remote Sensing: Environmental and Land Use Analysis
GEOG 705Cartography
URBPLAN 793Applied Projects in Urban Geographic Information Systems
URBPLAN 794Internet Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
ANTHRO 562Techniques and Problems in Archaeology
BUS ADM 749Data and Information Management
Electives6
Select six credits in courses from the list below:
GEOG 716Watershed Analysis and Modeling
GEOG 747Spatial Analysis
GEOG 798GIS/Cartography Internship
GEOG 804Advanced Remote Sensing
GEOG 999Independent Work (with appropriate topic)
URBPLAN 692Special Topics in Urban Planning:
URBPLAN 791Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems for Planning
URBPLAN 792Using Urban Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Planning
URBPLAN 793Applied Projects in Urban Geographic Information Systems
URBPLAN 794Internet Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
URBPLAN 991Legislative/Administrative Agency Internship
URBPLAN 999Independent Study
ANTHRO 380Anthropological Applications of GIS
ANTHRO 562Techniques and Problems in Archaeology
ANTHRO 768Topics in Advanced Research Design in Anthropology
BUS ADM 749Data and Information Management
CRM JST 520Analysis Oriented Technology: Spatial Data Analysis; Crime Mapping; ArcGIS
INFOST 465Legal Aspects of Information Products and Services
INFOST 691Special Topics in Information Science:
INFOST 714Metadata
Other courses as approved by the GIS Certificate Subcommittee 1
Total Credits18
1

Tier 1, 2, or 3 courses may count as electives once the Tier requirements have been satisfied.

Advising

Students will be advised by the Geography and Urban Planning faculty who teach GIS courses.

Additional Requirements

Transfer Credit

No more than 20% of the required credits may be taken at an institution other than UWM. To be eligible for transfer, the course must have been completed within the last two years. These courses are subject to Graduate School transfer policy and must be approved by the director of the certificate program.

Grade Point Average Requirement

A minimum cumulative 3.00 grade point average in certificate courses taken at UWM is required.

Articulation with Degree Programs

  • Credits and courses required for a certificate may double count toward meeting UWM graduate degree requirements subject to the following restrictions:
    • Degree programs must approve the courses from certificates that can double count toward the degree.
    • All credits taken in completion of certificate requirements may count towards a UWM graduate degree as long as they do not contribute more than 90% of the total credits needed to obtain the degree. (Note: Students in PhD programs must still complete the minimum residency requirements)
    • Certificate courses used toward meeting degree requirements must be completed within the time limit for transfer credit.
  • Courses completed for a degree may be counted toward a subsequent certificate, subject to all certificate policy requirements.
  • A course may count toward no more than one certificate and one degree.
  • Students may not earn a certificate subsequent to a concentration in the same area.
  • Time Limit

    Certificate program time limits shall be established as follows:

    • 18 or fewer credits/Three years from initial enrollment in the certificate sequence.
    • 19 or more credits/Four years from initial enrollment in the certificate sequence.

    For certificates that are designed as add-ons to degree programs and are awarded concurrent with the degree, the time limit shall be the same as that of the degree program.