About

The School of Computing and Information Science offers leading-edge research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs in Spatial Information Science and Engineering and an all coursework, all e-learning master’s degree program in Spatial Informatics. Almost all SIE required and elective courses are available simultaneously online as well as on campus.

From mobile phone technologies to robotics, geographic informations systems (GIS), the Internet of Things (IOT), and sensor networks, most modern information systems are now highly dependent on location and spatial concepts for organizing and tracking data and information. Spatial Computing describes the overarching research and scholarly domain that is being advanced by our academic programs. While the terms are often used interchangeably, we use Spatial Informatics to designate the academic learning domain intersecting spatial topics that extend primarily from a computing foundation. Spatial Information Science and Engineering is used to identify our research-based degrees that advance understanding in handling location and time in emerging information systems and applications.  Geographic Information Systems is a domain focused on learning and applications in a popular and wide-spread software approach to handling location-based data.

The Ph.D. degree is the highest academic degree. The Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science and Engineering is awarded to those demonstrating outstanding achievement in scholarship and, primarily, the ability to conduct independent research in the field. The preparation and defense of a dissertation, embodying the results of an original investigation in a specialized area, are essential features of the program.

All work for a doctoral degree must be completed within eight years, starting from the first semester of registration after admission to the program. Students must be admitted to candidacy within four years of registering for their first coursework applied toward the degree. To achieve candidacy, students must develop a dissertation proposal and successfully defend it orally before their graduate advisory committee. This defense must demonstrate the student’s knowledge related to their dissertation topic. The dissertation must be completed within four years of candidacy admission, culminating in a full oral defense.