Indiana University of Pennsylvania

1998-1999 Undergraduate Catalog
Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Geography and Regional Planning

Robert P. Sechrist, Chairperson; Begg, Bencloski, Benhart, Buckwalter, Patrick, G. Sechrist, Shirey, Watts; and professors emeriti Forbes, Gault, Kulkarni, Miller, Tepper, Weber

The Department of Geography and Regional Planning offers three separate degree programs for the geographer, planner, and teacher.

Geography has several traditions of study. Two of the more important traditions are the study of relationships between humans and environment or the ecological tradition and the study of spatial organization, which involves the way people use space on the earth's surface. In both traditions the focus is on understanding regions of the world and the interactions within and between them. Geographers make important contributions to the understanding of all aspects of humankind's use of and impact on the earth's surface.

Regional Planning involves preparing for the future. The demands and effects of a large and growing population require that land use, resource use, settlement patterns, transportation systems, and economic activity be planned. Regional planning is concerned with the social, locational, and environmental aspects of these planning decisions. In the 1990s, economic development has become an important focus for planners

The geography track in social science education offers a geography major equivalent for the student interested in teaching at the junior or senior high levels. New education requirements instituted for the commonwealth specify that geography be taught at all levels in Pennsylvania. Nationally, geography is one of the core subject areas named in the National Education Goals program.

Geography and Regional Planning are in the same department, because "Planning is the art of which geography is the science." Employment opportunities for geographers and regional planners are excellent. Geography and planning occupations have been identified among the fastest growing job fields by U.S. News and World Report. Alumni occupy a wide variety of positions in government, business, industry, planning, and education available. Environmental and locational knowledge gained in the department's programs provide skills needed in the job market. Students interested in obtaining additional career information should visit the departmental office in Room 10, Leonard Hall.

Three degree programs are offered by the department:

  1. Bachelor of Arts in Geography
  2. Bachelor of Science in Regional Planning
  3. Bachelor of Science in Social Science Education/Geography Track
In addition to geography core (GE), there are four tracks for specific geographic competencies: GIS/Cartographer, Environmental Geographer, Economic Geographer, and General Geographer. The regional planning (RP) major offers specific career opportunities in four somewhat parallel tracks: GIS/Cartographer, Environmental Planner, Economic Planner, and Town Manager.

A minor in geography or regional planning is appropriate for majors in all other fields of the natural and social sciences. Students in marketing may also find a minor in either field relevant. A minor consists of 15 semester hours in GE or RP courses. The department suggests students take the core in either program if graduate study is anticipated.

Geography and Regional Planning department resources include the James E. Payne GIS/Cartography Lab workspace, which has twelve computers linked via our Windows NT network server to the university VAX mainframe with peripheral devices which include color printers, digitizers, large-format plotters, a scanner, and appropriate mapping software. The most heavily used software includes ARC/INFO, ArcView, MapInfo, Atlas*GIS, IDRISI, AutoCAD, and MiniCAD. The department also houses a lab dedicated to the digitization of Pennsylvania soil data with ArcInfo NT software on a Dell 4000 Windows NT workstation. An important part of student involvement and faculty interaction in the geography and regional planning programs centers around department lab facilities. The Spatial Sciences Research Center (SSRC), directed by Dr. Robert Sechrist, has production facilities for GIS database development using ARC/INFO, MapInfo, and Intergraph. These packages and twenty-five workstations run on the SSRC NT network.

The Census Documents Library, in conjunction with Stapleton Library, houses population/housing/socioeconomic/mapping database CDs and other publications used for teaching, research, and planning in community service and local and county governments. The department is also an affiliate of the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Census Bureau.

The department houses both the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), which serves geography educators at all levels with activities and programs that address geography learning and instructional and research issues in North America, and the Pennsylvania Geographic Alliance (PGA), which is supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. PGA provides leadership and professional development opportunities in geography teaching and learning in Pennsylvania. Dr. Ruth Shirey is executive director of NCGE and one of two PGA coordinators in Pennsylvania.

A strong internship program directed by Dr. John E. Benhart offers placement in conservation, land management, and planning agencies at the local, state, and federal levels.

Specific core requirements in Geography and Regional Planning offer a structured approach for majors. Appropriate subfields or tracks are available in both programs to prepare students for graduate work and to support different career options for majors. There are four tracks for the geography major and four tracks for the regional planning major.

  • Geography - General Geography Track
    The General Geography Track encourages the major to sample courses from different subfields of the discipline. This track prepares the major for graduate work in geography and related fields of employment. Job options include report writing, research analysis, and data gathering. In government employment, the State Department, Department of Commerce, and the Census Bureau are significant places for geography skills.

  • Geography - Geographic Information Systems and Cartographer Track

  • Regional Planning - Geographic Information Systems and Cartographer Track
    The Geographic Information Systems and Cartographer Track prepares students for employment as Geographic Information System Specialists, Facilities Managers, Cartographers, and Remote Sensing professionals. Coursework includes methods for identifying, modeling, and analyzing the spatial organization of human and environmental systems from both practical and theoretical perspectives. Data collection, spatial information management, and graphic presentation are integral skills taught in track courses. Such skills could be used, for example, for analysis of wildlife habitat, utility facility management, or transportation system design and maintenance.

  • Geography - Economic Geographer Track

  • Regional Planning - Economic Developer Track
    The Economic Track provides a broad framework of ideas and theories in addition to a task-oriented approach to location analysis. Site planners articulate the needs of the community for economic space, the demands for convenient transport, the role of private enterprise, and the management of growth. This interrelated group of courses is useful to students, because economic geographers and developers are expected to analyze the interactions of concepts and variables. Market analysis for the location of new shopping centers, for example, requires understanding of economic principles, population characteristics, and the local political milieu, all in a spatial context.

  • Geography - Environmental Geographer Track

  • Regional Planning - Environmental Planner Track
    The Environmental Track is designed to prepare majors in geography or regional planning for careers in environmental fields or graduate study that leads to a variety of environmental positions. Students who elect this track will acquire knowledge of the physical and human processes that shape the environment, strategies for analyzing environmental issues, and concepts that underlie strategies for ameliorating environmental problems. The skills acquired in this track will enable students to assess the causes, consequences, and solutions to a wide variety of environmental issues such as water pollution, acid rain, or tropical deforestation.

  • Regional Planning - Town Manager Track
    The Town Manager Track is designed to prepare planning students for careers in local government and graduate work in public administration. Students electing this track will become familiar with the structure, operation, and actions of municipal government and the political, organizational, and institutional basis of municipal management and decision making. Skills acquired with this track will enable students to undertake a variety of analytic activities designed to describe, project, and prescribe courses of action for municipal improvement.
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