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GEOG 487Management Issues in Geographic Information Systems

Units
0.50
Faculty
Environment
Subject
Geography and Environmental Management
Cross-listed
PLAN 487

Not in the current Undergraduate Calendar. Shown as it appeared in 2025–26.

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Built around a set of key issues in the management of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Focuses on middle management concerns and covers topics including GIS needs assessment, benchmarking, the law and spatial data, spatial data warehousing, multi-user GIS modelling, and GIS application development. Uses of GIS in both public and private sector organizations are covered.

Prerequisites

  • Complete 1 of the following
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • GEOG381 - Advanced Geographic Information Systems (0.50)
      • PLAN381 - Advanced Geographic Information Systems (0.50)
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Reviewed on UW Flow

67% liked it58% easy83% useful

From 6 ratings and 4 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Like a lot of 400-level courses you kind of get thrown into the deep end with the programming-related first assignment and RFP-related second assignment. That said it is a very interesting course and I learned a lot.

    Apr 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Would not recommend taking this course if you don't have to. Long and boring lectures + long and unclear assignments made for quite an unpleasant experience.

    Apr 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This semester, GEOG 487 was not managed very well, with varying assignments shifted around. As a result, not a good learning experience but assignments were confusing because of that.

    May 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • A lot less GIS, a lot more management. Classes were dull. It did teach how to use ArcGIS javascript API which is a really useful skill during coop and work environment.

    May 2017 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

3 posts and comments in 3 threads mention GEOG 487, June 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Winter 2016

Geomatics to now be offered under the math faculty for 2016-17, students in the Geomatics in the environment faculty can transfer given few prerequisites 105 points, 19 comments

u/Huex3: “… GEOG 410 Global Navigation Satellite Systems GEOG 483 Geoweb and Location-Based Services GEOG 487 Management Issues in Geographic Information Systems CO 342 Introduction to Graph Theory CO 351 Network Flow Theory CO 353 Computational Discrete Optimization CO 367 Nonlinear …”

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Free Talk Friday 25 points, 120 comments

“Welcome to Free Talk Friday, where you are able to talk about whatever you want. Please keep it respectful and remember that subreddit rules still apply.”

u/Huex3: “… I had a friend tell me that one of their GEOG487 assignments was a group effort to map a bunch of unsafe sidewalks around the Kitchener area. …”

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Spring 2011

Anyone in Geog&Enviromental Management? 8 points, 16 comments

“If so, could you tell me what the program's like, especially with Level 200+ courses? Prospective transfer student here. I'm particularly interested in Geomatics/GIS.”

u/Mackinstyle: “… The GIS stream goes: GEOG 281 --> GEOG 381 and GEOG 387 ---> GEOG 481 and GEOG 487. 281 = intro to GIS. You'll learn ArcGIS basics. Spatial and attribute queries and basic analysis 381 = Spatial Analysis using GIS. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar