How to set up a GIS program at a Minority University/College

This presentation provides detailed ideas on how to set up a GIS program and how to develop it for maximum benefits in the areas of education, research, and community outreach. We draw our experience from setting up the GIS program at Oglala Lakota College (OLC), Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and work at the University of the Virgin Islands. GIS can be useful in many fields and is inexpensive to set up. Native Americans applied science in the past and now embrace GIS technology for everyday decision making. This presentation shows the wide range of GIS applications using OLC's GIS program as an example. We present our educational activities, research and community outreach. This presentation will give detailed advice of what works (and what doesn't) and to promote geospatial technology to other tribal or non-tribal colleges and universities.