Increasingly, IR data contains spatial information that enables researchers to ask where in addition to what, when, and why.

Physical location can be one of the most important dimensions in visualizing certain patterns, correlations, and trends – especially in the areas of student recruiting/admissions, alumni donations, and institutional performance.

This program will focus on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), incorporating maps and public domain data sources (e.g. census data), in the IR function. This will be an orientation and requires no previous GIS experience. A case study, using an IR data set that has been geo-coded, will be used in order to create a “real world” understanding for the practitioner.