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Eastern Illinois University
Archived catalog. This is a historical catalog kept for reference. View the current catalog.

Political Science: Certificate in Public Planning

The Certificate in Public Planning provides students and professionals working in the public and nonprofit sectors with an online curriculum focused on geographic information systems, public administration, and public policy research. The theoretical and scientific training included in the certificate program allows students to enhance their skills in public planning, particularly in the areas of city/urban planning and state and local government.

Admission Requirements:
To be eligible for admission to the certificate program, applicants must meet all of the requirements for admission to the Graduate School (see "Admission to Graduate Degree and Certificate Programs"). All applicants must submit a statement of personal goals and two letters of recommendation from faculty or professionals familiar with the applicant's academic training and potential for success in graduate school.

Courses Applicable Toward a Specific Concurrent or Future Degree Program:
Within parameters set by the Graduate school and Department of Political Science, courses taken toward completion of the Certificate Program in Public Planning may be counted toward the Master of Arts degree in Political Science or other related degree programs. However, acceptance into the certificate program does not guarantee placement into a graduate program. Students in the certificate program will be required to apply separately to any graduate program.

Certificate Course/Curriculum Requirements

Total Semester Hours: 18

GEO 5810
Introduction to Geographic Information Science  (3 credits)
GEO 4910

Choose six semester hours from the following:

GIS Programming  (4 credits)
GEO 5820
Remote Sensing I  (3 credits)
GEO 5830
GIS: Building Geodatabases  (3 credits)
GEO 5860
Geographic Information Systems II  (3 credits)
GEO 5870
Remote Sensing II  (3 credits)
GEO 5880
Geospatial Data Models  (3 credits)
GIS 5970
Special Topics in Geographic Information Sciences  (3 credits)
PLS 4763

Choose nine semester hours from the following:

Environmental Politics and Policy  (3 credits)
PLS 4793
Civic and Nonprofit Leadership  (3 credits)
PLS 4893
Budgeting in Government and Nonprofit Organizations  (3 credits)
PLS 5153
Cities and Urban Policy in the U.S. Federal System  (3 credits)
PLS 5163
State Governments and Policy in the U.S. Federal System  (3 credits)
PLS 5543
Proseminar in Public Administration  (3 credits)
PLS 5843
Proseminar in Public Policy Research and Analysis  (3 credits)

Information sourced from the 2019-2020 EIU Graduate Catalog.