2016 SAG Award Winners

Austin Community College

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Project Goal

ACC GIS will be a distinguished workforce program valued by employers, educators, and students as a source for skilled and knowledgeable GIS professionals. We are committed to teaching the technical, analytical, and professional competencies required to complete an ACC GIS award, find employment in a GIS-related profession, and/or attend a four-year college or university.
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Business Problem Solved

ACC GIS began in 2000 with a single Introduction to GIS course created and taught by Dr. Mary Beth Booth. Since then, the program has grown into a full-fledged department that offers 13 GIS courses, a GIS Associate's degree and two GIS certificates. The curriculum is synchronized with the Department of Labor’s Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) and coordinated with a GIS Advisory Committee consisting of local public and private sector GIS employers. Students learn both core and advanced GIS skills, implemented within the GIS analytical process, and practiced as professionals using industry-leading GIS software including a full suite of Esri ArcGIS products.

Technology Implemented

Students utilize Esri ArcGIS Desktop, Network Analyst, Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, Geostatistical Analyst, Collector, SDE Technology, Server, and ArcGIS Online along with other industry-standard GIS software to solve a number of real-world challenges, including Selecting a site for a new regional park; performing a feasibility analysis for a new spaceport; creating a ten largest islands wall map for 4th graders; collecting light pole locations and analyzing changes in illumination; mapping and building a demographic profile for single member council districts; performing a change detection analysis around regional lakes; using geostatistical analysis to identify gang-related crime hot spots correlated with truancy; creating a 3D visualization and calculating the volume of a spring fed pool using LiDAR data; contributing ACC campus maps to the ESRI Living Atlas; developing and publishing an interactive hurricane map on a cloud-based server; and completing a service learning project.

Development Team Biography

The ACC GIS Faculty consists of industry-leading full-time and adjunct instructors. Sean Moran, GISP is the Chair of the GIS Department. He has over 20 years of professional planning, GIS, and GPS experience. Mr. Moran has a BS in Forest Science from Texas A&M University and an MS in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas. Dr. Mary Beth Booth, a Geography professor for 17 years, has a MAG degree in GIS from Southwest Texas State University, a Doctor of Optometry degree from the New England College of Optometry and a BS in Biology from Stonehill College. Before becoming a geographer, she was an optometrist for 15 years, including 6 years on active duty in the U.S. Army. Sally Holl began teaching GIS at ACC while she was a Geographer at USGS and has taught full-time since 2015. She has led development of successful tools to help ArcMap users access water data and to engage citizens in USGS science. She has an MS from UT Austin, a BA from Oberlin College.