FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Roger Patocka, professor and GIS Coordinator, Iowa Lakes Community College, (712) 362-7950
Bill Hierstein, UNI Consultant for Community College Affairs, (319) 273-7767
Iowa Lakes Marketing Office (712) 362-7944
Philip Suckling, UNI head and professor of geography, (319) 273-2772
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa— The University of Northern Iowa and Iowa Lakes Community College signed an agreement Friday, Nov. 10, that will benefit students in the growing field of GIS— Geographic Information Systems.
GIS is a new computerized method for farmers, city planners, engineers and others to work with data such as populations, land elevations and utility lines.
The agreement, which was signed by Iowa Lakes President Jim Billings and University of Northern Iowa President Robert Koob, allows for a formal arrangement where UNI accepts the credits of students in the Iowa Lakes GIS program. This allows students a smooth transition into UNI.
“Numbers of GIS users are currently growing at about 15 percent per year. The job market demand for people with GIS training is about 75,000 per year,” said Roger Patocka, professor and coordinator of the GIS program at ILCC. “In 1998 Iowa Lakes Community College was the first college in Iowa to offer an associate in science degree in GIS.”
Patocka had been working on articulation with UNI's Bill Hierstein, consultant for community college affairs, and Philip Suckling, department head and professor of geography, since the fall of 1999.
“While we have had three previous agreements with Iowa Lakes related to technical disciplines, this agreement marks the first with one of the traditional social sciences,” said Northern Iowa's Koob. “UNI has proven very friendly to community college transfer students, and shows a higher graduation rate for these students than any other public Iowa university. The more opportunities we can offer to community college students to move into a four year program, the more those students and the people of Iowa benefit.”
Today's action is a “wonderful opportunity” for students in the program, said Ellengray Kennedy, executive dean of the Estherville campus and a member of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.
“This provides a direct transition into a four-year program where their `major specific' courses taken at Iowa Lakes will be accepted to fulfill their requirements at UNI,” Kennedy added. “We're pleased UNI is taking the lead in developing these agreements.”
The agreement was announced at a news conference Friday morning in Estherville.
Individuals interested in more information about the GIS program may contact Suckling at
(319) 273-2772 or Patocka at (712) 362-7950.
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