Space Grant Consortium - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

curriculum development, to provide additional professional development opportunities to faculty
in various disciplines, and to train additional faculty. The funding from this grant allowed faculty
at A lverno C ollege t o w ork out side t heir a reas of e xpertise a nd t o l earn a bout, de velop a nd
integrate some of the many possible ways of using spatial analysis in their courses using GIS.
Faculty members were able to participate in GIS training and professional development, and to
identify and design curriculum activities that integrate GIS concepts and applied skills. This has
fostered multiple experiences for students in diverse majors to learn more about the applications
of space and geospatial technology using GIS across the institution.
The W SGC H igher E ducation Initiatives G rant is i ntended t o f und “ undergraduate e ducation
projects w hich s upport t he m ost i nnovative i deas on how t o i ncrease t he space an d aerospace
content of unde rgraduate uni versity and c ollege of ferings”, and t o a lign w ith t he g oals a nd
objectives o f t he N ational S pace G rant C ollege and F ellowship P rogram. This pr oject
specifically meets the following goals: (1) to enable the development of a diverse workforce of
future scientists, engineers, technology professionals, and educators; (2) to stimulate and nurture
innovative programs to assure the development and transfer of practical applications in aerospace
research and education; (3) to provide access to the excitement, knowledge, and technology from
America's E arth, Air a nd S pace p rograms; and ( 4) t o educate s tudents at al l l evels b y
encouraging and s upporting i nterdisciplinary a nd m ulti-disciplinary r esearch ex periences an d
education programs. In addition, it fits with both the Goddard Center activities to develop and
maintain a dvanced i nformation s ystems f or t he display, a nalysis, a rchiving a nd di stribution of
space and Earth science data and to develop National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) satellite systems that provide environmental data for forecasting and research; and the
Stennis S pace C enter A pplied S ciences P rogram t hat s eeks t o b ridge t he g ap b etween E arth
science r esearch r esults an d t he u se o f d ata t o help i ts p artner ag encies make b etter i nformed
decisions.
Project Activities and Accomplishments
The f aculty and s taff feel t hat t his pr oject ha s be en ov erwhelmingly successful, and i t ha s
received support from the administration to continue to expand its impact and reach across the
campus. T he f ocus of t his pr oject w as t o provide A lverno f aculty and staff w ith a n
understanding of how G IS t echnology i s us ed i n m ultiple di sciplines, a nd then to pr ovide
training and professional development for those faculty and support staff interested in learning
more about GIS. In turn, the faculty and staff would develop curriculum using GIS, to afford
Alverno s tudents w ith a n unde rstanding of how G IS i s us ed i n t heir di sciplines, a nd pr ovide
learning opportunities to student using GIS. Essentially, we hoped to make geospatial science
and technology an integral component in our curriculum content and instruction, but we w ere
starting from scratch, with no specific geospatial content in any area of the curriculum.
Alverno ha s s trategically used t he grant f unds a warded b y W SGC t o pr ovide t he m ost
advantageous oppor tunities to p repare b oth f aculty a nd s tudents. Faculty me mbers in itiated
curriculum research, planning, and development in collaboration with a program consultant. Our
developing und erstanding of t he pot ential us es of G IS ha s be en r egularly s hared w ith t he
Alverno f aculty a nd s taff a t faculty i nstitute s essions, w hich oc cur pr ior t o t he s tart o f e ach
semester an d at t he end o f s pring s emester, an d ar e a f ormalized t ime f or f aculty t o s hare
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