Here are the latest updates to the draft degree plans. Gary has provided the executive summary, and has requested that we review the information for discussion at the next meeting.
Draft GISC BS Degree Plan
Changes to the BS in Geographic Information Science Suggested Degree Plan
Field Camp II was removed from the GISC Core courses and added to the Electives list of courses. Field Camp II was also increased to 3 credit hours to match the other elective courses. Drs. Lyle and Huang with Mr. Rick Smith have been tasked to create a senior elective in GIS to add to the Electives list of courses.
The net result of these changes is to add one semester hour to make the total for the BS degree now 130 Semester Credit Hours, and to expand the list of Elective courses.
Click here to download this file in its native format (PDF, 10KB)
Draft GISC BS/MS Combined 5-Year Degree Plan
Five-year combined BS and MS Suggested Degree Plan
This is the first time this degree plan has been mapped semester by semester. The result shows that a student pursuing this combined degree would be required to take six graduate courses to substitute for several senior upper degree undergraduate courses. Presently the University Rules only allow undergraduates to take two graduate courses in their final semester as substitutes for upper degree undergraduate courses. We are working with the Graduate Office to rectify these Rules to accommodate the five-year combined BS/MS degree.
Click here to download this file in its native format (PDF, 11KB)
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Billy,
ARTS 1301 Typo is “Society” on both schedules.
Also we are changing the number for GISC 3301 Geospatial Systems II to GISC 2301.
Looks good to me.
Gary
All,
Please keep in mind that these are suggested programs for the BS degree and the combined BS/MS degree without taking summer courses. There are more options for the core curriculum courses not shown in these schedules. Most students do not take more than 15 credit hours per semester, which means that most students take more than four years to complete the BS degree. Enrollment in the combined BS/MS degree should take place at the end of the second (Sophomore) year. Students wishing to enroll in the combined BS/MS degree should have a GPA of 3.00 or greater.
Also, the combined BS/MS degree is already in the catalog. We also have at least two current undergraduate students that wish to enroll in the combined BS/MS degree.
Gary :smile:
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I have outlined an argument as to why the committee ought to consider removing Calculus II from the degree plan.
1.Hinders recruiting efforts:
When freshman students are deciding what major they are going to
choose, seeing the excessive number of math classes required for in
GIS (Algebra Geometry Pre-Calculus, Calculus I, Calculus II, Applied
Statistics and Probability, Geospatial Math Techniques, and
Computations and Adjustsments.) This large load of math and
math-equivalent classes will heavily hinder the number of students who
wish to enroll.
2.Application of Calculus II to the GIS Major
In my opinion, the content in Calculus II does not apply to the majors
and professions associated with the GIS program. I have never heard
any applications that would require the knowledge of Complex
Integration and Derivative involved in Calculus II. From a surveying
sense, the vast majority of work done in the surveying community
doesn’t rely on math that exceeds trigonometry. And even in the case
of vertical curves, the knowledge required to calculate that is
covered in Calculus I.
3. Additional pressure on current GIS students
Students already enrolled in the GIS program have a rather large
workload to run through. Requirements in our major are ask us to learn
programming techniques along with a slew of other closely related GIS
fields such as cartography, photogrammetry, remote sensing,
hydrography, computer systems etc. So why add unnecessary course work.
4. Difficulty of enrollment
With the growing enrollment number of TAMUCC, attempting to get into
core classes such as Calculus II are very difficult to enroll. Within
the couple of days of enrollment all these classes fill up.
Additionally, now with the Engineering Major, almost all of the
Calculus I and Calculus II classes are reserved for those majors only,
leaving only 1-2 classes open to enroll in, which then often overlap
with the GIS classes that are only offered once a year!