Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a computer system that links data in a relational database with geographic information. Data is displayed, manipulated, and analyzed based on location in a map environment. The strength of GIS is the ability to visualize relationships, patterns and trends in datasets to facilitate communication, presentation and decision making.
SUNY is using GIS to store, analyze, model, and communicate the large amount of institutional data collected (enrollment, degrees, academic programs), employment projections from the New York State Department of Labor, degree production of non-SUNY institutes of higher education in New York from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), high school enrollment and graduate data from the New York Department of Education, and numerous demographic variables from the U.S. Census. To assist non-technical users, SUNY is using the software ArcGIS to build applications that are easy-to-use and allow the user to perform simple queries on large, complex datasets to visualize relationships, patterns, and trends.
The first tool is a publicly accessible application called Map Your SUNY Future. It is an academic program-career tool used to clearly visualize the thousands of academic programs offered at all 64 SUNY campuses, how specific degrees in specific majors can translate into a career, and the outlook for those careers in New York. Users can begin a search on a specific academic major or an occupation, find which SUNY campuses have degrees in those fields, and what the associated job prospects are for certain careers.