PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
March 2015
183
Workforce Development Initiatives
Virginia’s workforce development efforts include an
array of initiatives geared toward local government,
state and federal government employees, region-
al planning district employees, as well as the pri-
vate sector. Workshops are held at various locations
across the Commonwealth on an as needed basis.
Workshops are typically held in an environment that
provides a hands-on educational setting, integrates
tutorials, exercises, real world examples and experi-
ences. VirginiaView and the Virginia Geospatial Ex-
tension Program (VGEP) have also developed a variety
of educational curricula to address the varying levels
of training needs – written tutorials, lesson plans,
data and videos on geospatial technology basics and
how to use software and conduct analyses.
Public Outreach
Public outreach programs have a different purpose,
and are designed to provide an awareness of geospa-
tial technologies, as opposed to developing specific tech-
nical skillsets or leading participants through regiment-
ed exercises. In some instances, planning for public out-
reach programs occurs over the course of a few weeks, not
months. Examples of annual geospatial public outreach
activities include: GIS Day, Earth Observation Day, Geog-
raphy Awareness Week and Kids’ Tech University.
Geography Awareness Week is an international event pro-
moted by the National Geographic Society. Geography Aware-
ness Week activities are conducted by Virginia Tech’s un-
dergraduate Geographic Society in local K-12 schools during
November. Geospatial faculty support student organizers by
providing necessary supplies and equipment to conduct geo-
spatial outreach educational activities. Examples of previous
activities include demonstrations of ESRI’s
Change Matters
,
lessons from
Getting to Know ArcGIS
and
ArcGIS Online.
Kids’ Tech University (KTU) is an annual event funded
through the NSF and conducted by the Virginia Tech’s Vir-
ginia Bioinformatics Institute
). The mission of KTU is
to provide middle school students
with an awareness of Science,
Technology, Engineering, and
Math (STEM) related careers. This
program attracts students and par-
ents from Virginia and surrounding
states (Figure 4). For this outreach
opportunity, a geospatial display
provides a hands-on interaction to
geospatial fields, including forestry,
meteorology, remote sensing, water
resource planning, and medical geography. Volunteers for
this event are solicited four weeks prior to the event, through
announcements to students in geospatial courses and geo-
spatial majors. The lower center of Figure 2 shows student
volunteers for the February 2014 KTU event.
Lessons Learned
Each geospatial educational event is unique. Some ed-
ucational venues, including hands- on workshops for
precollege educators, higher education faculty and staff,
and workforce development opportunities for local, state,
and federal agency employees, require intensive planning
four or more months in advance. Planning for public out-
reach programs are typically organized only weeks before
the event. The educational challenge is not only associat-
ed with “sweat-equity”, but also includes identifying and
managing the long lead times that are required to organize
and coordinate a successful workshop. Table 2 provides
Figure 4. Home locations of middle school students attending Kids’ Tech
University in February 2014. Red numbers are state totals, black num-
bers are totals by Virginia Counties.
Table 2. Planning Timeline
Item
Length of Time Before Event
Develop budget
6-9 months
Workshop venue location and booking 6 months
Advertising and Marketing
6 months
Registration period
Open 4 months out. Close 2-3 weeks before event.
Notification to attendees of enrollment Start notifying asap. Preferably 3 months prior.
Reminder notices to attendees
1 month, 2 weeks, and 1 week prior
Course outline preparation
6 months
Instructor preparation
4 months
Design pre/post workshop evaluations 3 weeks
