Grant brings GIS courses to Mat-Su College

MAT-SU -- A $211,000 grant awarded recently to Mat-Su College will allow the institution to offer courses in geographic information systems, eventually leading up to a GIS certificate, said Continuing Education Director Cathy Baxter last week.

"Through our efforts to diversify our funding stream, we applied for a grant through ESRI, a geographic information systems software provider," Baxter said.

ESRI, founded as Environmental Systems Research Institute, started out as a land use analysis company in 1969 in Redlands, Calif. The company, owned by Jack and Laura Dangermond, now focuses on producing and providing software and service to users.

"We at ESRI believe that better information makes for better decisions," Dangermond said in an online company history synopsis at the company's www.esri.com Web site. "Our reputation is built on contributing our technical knowledge, our special people and valuable experience to the collection, analysis and communication of geographic information."

The grant will allow the college to purchase software and books to offer ArcGIS and ArcView courses, software that is becoming more widely used in a variety of fields.

"GIS is something that is used across many industries," Baxter said, citing natural resources, government, and planning, along with other uses for the minutely accurate mapping capabilities. Businesses looking to expand are beginning to use information available through GIS, Baxter said, to provide demographic data, such as how many 18- to-25-year-olds live in and are likely to shop within a certain area.

Baxter, who wrote the grant, said classes in the subject will likely begin around the first of the year. More information about the GIS course offerings should soon be available at the college's Web site, www.matsu.alaska.

edu.