Yichun Xie
Eastern Michigan University
EMU, in coordination with Henry Ford Community College and Detroit Case Tech High School is developing a joint GIS curriculum facilitating students of various career expectations to develop GIS knowledge and skills to meet their needs. EMU has set up a campus-wide GIS user-group and steering committee, consisting of faculty and staff of broad interests from College of Arts & Sciences, Institute for Community and Regional Development, College of Learning and Technology, and Business School. EMU has also played a central role of organizing a GIS Consortium in South East Michigan. EMU regularly sends its faculty under the Inter- Government Personnel Act to the US Army Corps of Engineers and USEPA to foster GIS technology transfer, and brings back practical skills to classrooms. EMU invites specialists from leading GIS industries as adjunct professors, provides consulting and training services, and places an increasing number of interns and graduates to local governments, agencies, and industries.