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| Subject: | Re: [gislist] masters vs. certificate |
| Date: |
06/16/2005 10:45:02 AM |
| From: |
Anthony Quartararo |
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Dean
Glad to see your post and the implied enthusiasm in the subject matter.
Could you not do both simultaneously ? I mean, the program work toward a
Master's would likely give you the necessary skills to get a certificate as
well, and no sense duplicating efforts if it is unnecessary. There is a
subtle, but important distinction I think in what you may be asking, and
therefore, the choice could be mutually exclusive. If your only interest is
in "GIS" [again, this opens up a long and somewhat esoteric discussion about
what "GIS" is or is not, but set that aside for the moment], then I would
say go for a certificate [whatever this means ? ]. If however, your
new-found passion for GIS is actually a manifestation of a
"closet-geographer" then I would say, go for the Masters. It is a rare case
these days where you could go through a competent Master's program in
Geography without being saturated with "GIS": there is a reason for this
that is often lost. Geographers "do" GIS all the time with the most
powerful computer in the world, the human brain [last time I checked,
neither Microsoft nor ESRI had a hegemony on that....]. The point being is
that, I would argue, you cannot "do" GIS [certificate or not] without
geography. If your goal is to learn how to operate ArcInfo and manipulate
that and all it's potential to solve interesting computer-science problems,
there are numerous technical training courses that you could take (free and
paid) to strengthen your skills-set (for the implied purpose of getting a
better job...). If your goal is to solve fundamentally "geographic"
problems from a more "academic" perspective, and you "sleep, eat and breath"
geography every day, then, in my opinion, you won't be satisfied with a
certificate.
Best Regards
Anthony
-----Original Message-----
From: gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com
[mailto:gislist-bounces@lists.geocomm.com] On Behalf Of Dean P Chauvin
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 9:49 AM
To: gislist@lists.thinkburst.com
Subject: [gislist] masters vs. certificate
Hello everyone. I am excited as this is my first post to this forum.
I'm trying to decide what my next step should be. I am currently a lab
technician (non-GIS work) with a bachelors degree in conservation biology.
I am sold on GIS and want to pursue the rest of my career based on this
technology. I'm debating between getting a full-blown masters degree or
going after a GIS certification. I've talked to people on both sides of the
fence that offer different opinions on my best course of action. Right now
I am leaning towards completing a certificate so I can get a job sooner, but
I don't want to limit my opportunities by not going all the way and getting
a masters. What can you suggest to me? Do GIS employers generally look for
people with lots of diplomas or with years of experience? Also, I'm looking
for the right institution to apply to. Currently, I'm interested in Hunter
College (City University of New York) which offers both a masters in GIS and
a certification program.
Any and all suggestions will be appreciated!
Thanks.
--
Dean P Chauvin Jr.
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
8124 Highway 56
Chauvin, LA 70344-2124
Office (985)223-7421
Fax (985)851-2874
http://www.lumcon.edu
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