A New Collaborative Model for Geospatial Technology Education and Workforce Studies in a Rural Region

University Of Maine At Machias, Machias ME

Investigators

Abstract

This collaborative project, led by the University of Maine at Machias (UMM) with partners in five other colleges and universities and an extended community of GST educators, is designed to meet the growing demand for workers skilled in geospatial technologies (GST) in Maine. The approach includes developing educational programs that are more accessible and applicable to the needs of a rural workforce and increasing the number of students enrolling in courses, receiving two-year degrees and certificates, and pursuing further higher education. The model for GST education takes into account the lack of access to high-speed Internet and computing capacity in rural areas and the limited enrollment in rural community colleges across the state. This project is filling important gaps in understanding the educational needs of the rural geospatial workforce, particularly the skills needed by ancillary users of GST in government, natural resource conservation, and economic development. Information obtained from the workforce study is being used to inform the development and testing of curriculum, program structure and instructional methods for technical education that blend the best of distance education and on-site, inquiry-based, service learning. This project is demonstrating new modes of cooperation among institutions of higher education to meet the needs of the rural geospatial workforce nationally. Through outreach via the National Consortium for Rural Geospatial Innovations in America, this project serves as a model for GIS education in rural regions.