Herndon, VA, June 27, 2016 —James Madison University’s (JMU) Department of Integrated Science and Technology in Harrisonburg, Va., was recently named an accredited program by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF). The department is now offering the USGIF GEOINT Certificate to students achieving a bachelor’s degree from either JMU’s geographic science (GS) or intelligence analysis (IA) programs.
Through USGIF Academic Accreditation, colleges and universities around the globe have the opportunity to receive accreditation of their geospatial intelligence programs. Graduating students who meet high academic standards receive USGIF’s GEOINT Certificate, which helps ensure the GEOINT Community has a robust workforce now and in the future. To date, more than 650 students have graduated with USGIF GEOINT Certificates.
“The certificate program ensures students are familiarized with a broad set of technical and critical thinking skills, as well as provided with knowledge relevant to entering and fostering a career in the geospatial intelligence profession,” said Dr. Helmut Kraenzle, professor of geographic science at JMU. “The interdisciplinary nature of our department and of the GS and IA programs will ensure a cutting-edge education for the students in the USGIF GEOINT Certificate program. We are proud of our faculty that have many years of professional experience in the Intelligence Community as well as in remote sensing, GIS, global positioning systems, and digital cartography.”
“We’re thrilled to have James Madison University join the ranks of our accredited GEOINT Certificate programs,” said USGIF CEO Keith J. Masback. “Historically, JMU has offered a superb integrated geosciences curriculum, and they will contribute meaningfully to the larger USGIF educational mandate.”
USGIF has accredited 14 collegiate programs to include JMU, Fayetteville State University, George Mason University, the University of Missouri, Northeastern University, the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Redlands, the University of South Carolina, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Utah, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Several more programs are in USGIF’s academic accreditation pipeline.
About USGIF
USGIF is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT Community with government, industry, academia, professional organizations, and individuals who develop and apply geospatial intelligence to address national security challenges. USGIF achieves its mission via its strategic pillars: Build the Community | Advance the Tradecraft | Accelerate Innovation.
For more information, please visit www.USGIF.org and follow USGIF on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
