We previously announced an effort through a partnership between GEO Jobe, Accelerate Mississippi, and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, that a 6-8 week non-credit training program for Tier 1 GIS support has been created. At this time we are pleased to share that the course has been successfully completed with the first cohort of ten students. Through this training program, participants received specialized instruction in certification areas required by the GIS industry to provide Tier 1 Support for GIS software and applications.
Of the ten students for this first-time course offering, 6 of 10 had no prior experience with GIS. It was exciting to see the interest from these first-timers because the training opened up a new world for them with the introduction of geospatial relationships. We took a deep dive into the use of ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online for visualization and analyses, and the students were introduced to concepts of map navigation, display, attribute queries, and the use of geoprocessing tools.
Coursework was provided in the form of Esri Learning Plans, instructor-created labs, and interactive demonstrations using web conferencing. The primary lectures were instructor-recorded videos, and we used the Canvas online learning platform to organize all resources and provide a centralized location for course content, review, and communication.
The Tier 1 Support course lasted eight weeks, and 9 of 10 of the students successfully completed the course. What is most exciting for us at GEO Jobe is that three of the students that completed the training are being hired into our Customer Support Division. Throughout their coursework, these three excelled in the exercises and successfully completed all of their assignments. In addition to the course work, they developed a passion for GIS and showed a strong desire to pursue professional development in geospatial technologies.
Blake Bilbo, Head of Customer support with GEO Jobe had the following to say about the program:
“The cooperation between GEO Jobe, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and Accelerate Mississippi is aiming to be a very powerful force for change on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our company is already benefiting from the qualified applicants that come from this certification program. I believe these Tier 1 GIS support technicians will serve as a successful case study to bring transformative careers and economic advancement to the region.”
The GIS Tier 1 Support training program is designed to be stood up when there is a need for workforce training, and ongoing curriculum development will continue to be refined with student feedback. We look forward to a future announcement of the next offering and are grateful for the support of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and Accelerate Mississippi.
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