The University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco (USF) is the “home base” of the GIS Education Center. The generous team at USF provides our Center with access to Zoom (where most of our workshops are conducted), as well as ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro for workshops focused on Esri’s wide range of GIS tools.

USF also provides classroom space in their modern Geospatial Analysis Laboratory (link) where we hold occasional workshops and social events.

Our Teaching Approach

We don’t believe in “crash courses”. Our workshops give students time to absorb and practice the lessons. The Center’s practitioner-instructors design custom curriculum and use real-world data to help students learn new skills effectively. Our students are typically working professionals of any age, university students, and general enthusiasts in search of short, focused, and affordable training.

Most workshops are small (10-12 students). Because you won’t be learning from a textbook or by watching a video recording, you’ll receive immediate support and guidance throughout the learning process.

The GIS Education Center workshops are 9-15 hours in length and taught in real time by our terrific instructors in weekly 2- or 3-hour sessions.

We foster a “no pressure” approach to learning: there are no assignments, grades, quizzes, or tests - though you’ll be encouraged to practice skills between class meetings.

Why Learn GIS Skills at our Center?

Have you heard about this thing called "GIS" and wondered what it is, exactly.......or do you have experience with GIS and want to broaden your skills to include Python, web mapping, professional map design tips, or using the statistical package R?

If any of these questions apply to you, we encourage you to register for our workshops!

Geospatial literacy and related skills are fast becoming indispensable tools for analysts, engineers, data scientists, and managers. Our workshops are suitable for students who are just starting their geospatial education all the way up to experienced open source developers. The workshops range from Esri's ArcGIS platform to cartography and storytelling with maps to powerful open-source tools.

We are a friendlysupportive and knowledgeable group of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) practitioners (some may say "geeks"...and we're OK with that) whose mission is to de-mystify GIS technology by offering low-cost, targeted, hands-on workshops, many of which are taught live on Zoom.