In the present century, computer scientists have joined geographers, cartographers, geodesists, surveyors, landscape architects, mathematicians, statisticians, engineers, and others in the age-old quest to represent, analyze, and understand real world places and processes. Together, we have created revolutionary new capabilities for simulating and investigating landscapes, regions, and environments from local to global. Chief among these new technologies are geographic information systems which support spatial data acquisition, processing, and analysis, but our quest goes far beyond current technology. We seek to extend the geographic representation of three-dimensional space and time, improve the representation of diverse physical and cultural entities, and simulate dynamic earth processes. Ultimately, we hope to create a new scientific milieu in which all disciplines and fields can readily incorporate geographic information, interpret spatial evidence, and employ spatial logic to advance their sciences as well as our own. Simultaneously, we hope to serve society at large by improving access to geographic information, encouraging more and better use of geographic technology, and providing new insights.

Our model is a challenging, complex undertaking which integrates the models and paradigms of many other disciplines while generating new paradigms of our own. Perfecting this model will require greater understanding of places and processes than anyone has today. We seek this understanding just as any other branch of science searches for new knowledge and formulates new theory in its field. We call this field geographic information science (GIS).

Worldwide and touching all sciences, there is a pervasive need for leadership. Geographic technology is changing the way people think and act in fundamental and lasting ways from the highest research endeavors to the routine conduct of government, business, and education and to the daily lives of individuals. Yet, the collective resources provided by government, business, and academia have failed to keep pace with the growing demand for research, education, training, access, and equipment. The United States is the world's leading exporter of geographic technology in a global market constrained by shortages of qualified researchers, teachers, analysts, and software engineers. To date, the greatest market for this technology has been government, itself. Clearly, all sectors would benefit from improved resources and policies.

The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) exists to serve a multitude of needs. First and foremost is the need to unify the GIS research and education communities and to speak with a strong voice on matters affecting resources and policies. Already, we have formulated research and education priorities, disseminated white papers on each, and promoted them to Congress and federal agencies. We assess progress in relation to major federal programs and national interests.

UCGIS serves as the principal advocate for the GIS research and teaching community. This strategic plan assesses our strengths, summarizes our needs, states our objectives, and proposes actions.

The Consortium is a new organization, only a few years old. Prior to and during its formation, extensive discussions and debate occurred about its purpose and membership. Founding delegates reached consensus on a definition of interest mission and goals which are incorporated in the bylaws. These define our niche in an exciting and dynamic field, where many academic, government, private, and non-profit players are active. The Consortium has enjoyed considerable early success, with fifty member institutions, two exciting summer assemblies that produced priorities for research and for education, and ongoing research collaborations with federal agencies. It has developed a secure but modest financial base.

The Bylaws give much of the responsibility for direction setting to the Council of Delegates from the member institutions. The Council comprises a body of 100 busy, top flight individuals from many disciplines impacted by the rapidly evolving field of geographic information science. To assure continued success, a consensus among the delegates must exist, and evolve, as to what the organization should become. Given the broad and deep expertise of the many researchers involved, many alternatives are possible. The need exists for consensus on strategic direction, and for incorporating that consensus into a plan. The Council has the responsibility to accomplish both.

We separate strategic planning from operational planning. These two activities are distinct. Strategic planning requires visionary and directional thinking. Operational planing requires short-term, specific thinking; and responds to periodically reviewed goals. (cited from The Executive Guide to Strategic Planning, p. 2) The strategic plan sets the context for annual operational plans.

The Strategic Plan will operate on an annual cycle occurring within the context for the Council’s two major meetings, the Summer Assembly and the Fall Council Meeting. Each year an annual operational plan will be developed to adopt objectives, and allocate resources and responsibilities for achieving strategic goals. That plan will be approved at the Fall Council Meeting, along with an annual budget which serves as a financial expression of that plan. The Strategic Plan review and update will occur at the Summer Assembly. The President-Elect leads that activity. The operational cycle ends at the next Fall Meeting, with an annual report summarizing success of items in the annual plan. Adoption of a new Annual Plan will be based on a revised Strategic Plan.

The mission of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) is:

• to unify the geographic information science research community;

• to serve as advocate and voice for the geographic information science community;

• to foster multidisciplinary research and education in geographic information science; and

• to promote the informed and responsible use of geographic information systems and

geographic analysis for the benefit of society.

UCGIS is formed exclusively for educational, scientific, research and other similar nonprofit purposes. UCGIS remains dedicated to the development and use of theories, methods, technology, and data for understanding geographic processes, relationships, and patterns. We view the transformation of geographic data into useful information as central to geographic information science. Our activities are intended to unify the geographic information science research community, to foster multidisciplinary research and education, and to promote the informed and responsible use of geographic information.

The goals of UCGIS are:

The goal of creating this strategic plan is to encourage scientific activities in a professional forum where educators and academic researchers interested in mapping and GIS systems, equipment, software, products, services, and applications can share experiences, insights, and information. To that end, a strategic analysis of five areas of activities are outlined to identify strengths, critical issues, objectives and action items. The five areas include membership, functions and services, external relations, facilities, and finances. Following this strategic analysis, long term objectives are reviewed, in order to outline a program integrating the identified action items.

3.1.1 Membership Strengths

UCGIS membership currently includes an excellent representation of high quality research universities, and most of the prominent GIS programs in the nation. This is a strength in providing a credible external image for promoting organization goals, and for attracting new members. New applications have been submitted every year: five were accepted the first year, one was accepted the second, thhirteen were accepted in 1997, and five were accepted this year. Our strength lies in the potential for sustained growth.

2. Membership Critical Issues

In terms of membership strategic planning, the following needs are seen as critical:

3. Membership Objectives

The strategic activities should address the following membership objectives:

The following action items are identified:

Three types of functions and services can be identified. In terms of benefits to members, UCGIS provides a leadership role in setting national agendas for research and education. Moreover, UCGIS members participate actively in prioritizing these agendas, and in this sense, it is the members themselves who provide national leadership. A second strength with benefits to UCGIS members is organizational stability and cohesion. Through the mechanisms of Annual Assemblies and Council Meetings, members decide upon and approve the organizational mission, the strategic plan, and other special activities. A third benefit to members is provided in the delivery of instructional materials, as for example with the UCGIS Virtual Seminar held in the Spring of 1997.

A second type of UCGIS service benefits the GIS community at large. This is the provision of research and educational agendas developed to date. These are made available on the Internet, published in professional journals, and presented at national conferences such as GIS/LIS, AAG, and ACSM national meetings. UCGIS maximizes news dissemination and professional communications using a variety of media conduits. The Academic Pursuits column in GeoInfoSys, Past President Jerry Dobson’s columns in GIS World, and the UCGIS Web site distribute news and perspectives throughout the GIS community. Members and non-members present position papers on education and training innovations, newly designed curricula, and research projects at the Annual Assemblies, and these are disseminated in Proceedings.

The following existing functions and service issues are seen as critical to maintain and augment:

The following functions and services should be initiated to add new benefits for members:

Two additional critical needs are identified in context of functions and services:

• the need for resources to deliver services -- money, people, facilities, infrastructure

To address the critical issues described above, strategic activities should meet the following functions and services objectives:

The following action items are identified:

UCGIS is recognized by the national and international GIS community. The organization’s Web site is acknowledged nationally and internationally as a credible source of information. Prospective graduate students around the world regularly contact member universities through the Web site for information on degree programs. As a principal advocate for advancing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) for the national GIS research and educational communities, UCGIS has gained a recognizable stature within academic and business communities, and with government at all levels. For example, UCGIS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National State Geographic Information Council (NSGIC). UCGIS has secured funding for members to collaborate on NSDI with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). These demonstrate the level of outside recognition, and also demonstrate the organization’s ability to undertake strategic research.

In terms of membership strategic planning, the critical issue is:

3. External Relations Objectives

The strategic activities objectives relate to expanding opportunities for networking:

The following action items are identified:

3.4.1 Facilities Strengths

Three types of facilities include physical facilities, electronic resources and human capital. In terms of physical facilities, our strength relates to the national distribution of member sites; effectively, UCGIS has physical facilities on every member campus, including lab space, teaching space and limited administrative facilities. Any UCGIS member could be welcomed for short-term needs on over thirty sites nationwide.

Electronic resources are described in sections above. The Web site is nationally acknowledged to be effectively designed and operated. An Internet list-server (GIS-L) has been highly visible in recent years.

In terms of human capital, UCGIS has a very large volunteer pool, of extremely qualified GIS professionals. Executive Officers contribute some or all of their UCGIS time, gratis. Elected officials and delegates travel to Annual Assemblies and to Council Meetings covering expenses out-of-pocket. These statements document the commitment of member campuses and of delegates to the vitality and the continuity of the organization. In a time of decreasing university budgets, these facilities commitments are one of the greatest strengths of UCGIS, and few other professional organizations are doing as much with such a limited base of dedicated resources.

The following needs are seen as critical:

Strategic activities should address the following facilities objectives:

The following action items are identified:

The financial strength at UCGIS is that the current budget is adequate for current level of operations.

The following needs are seen as critical:

The strategic activities should address the following financial objectives:

The following action items are identified to support financial objectives:

To meet continuing needs of our members, the following services are provided:

To integrate the UCGIS Program, Committee Chairs should draft a timetable for the action items in the Strategic Plan prior to the end of each Calendar Year. Most of the recommendations in this plan have immediate relevance, o maintain currency and keep abreast of UCGIS member institutions’ changing needs in the longer term, the Strategic Plan should be reviewed and updated regularly, on a two year cycle.

In theory, the Financial Projection section of a Strategic Plan should summarize the planned financial results and the measures of performance required to implement the plan. In practice, the Council prioritized a wide range of desirable activities in the Plan. The purpose of the Financial Section is to add fiscal context using the current budget. The 1998 budget as approved by the Board is shown below and illustrates the current financial reality.

UCGIS has a small but secure financial base, with total revenue estimated at almost $93,000. While it appears revenue is almost doubling, that impression comes primarily from the policy decision to integrate the Summer Assembly budget into the Consortium's. Factoring the Assembly out, revenues increased by 40 per cent. Current cash reserve situation is excellent, with reserves totaling three-quarter anticipated expenditures. This reflects the requirement for a large initiation payment on becoming a member.

The primary current financial engine for UCGIS is members fees, comprised of an initial entry fee of $3,000 plus annual dues of $1,000. In 1998, each accounted for about a third of total income. A total of 5 new members joined in the summer of 1998, adding to a base of 48 starting that year. A third major component, the Summer Assembly, is not a net revenue generator, actually being subsidized to 'break even'.

Forecasting the potential market for members is difficult. Affiliate membership for private sector organizations was approved in 1997. As the association becomes more mature, reaching the majority of potential members, initiation fees goes to zero, leaving dues alone as the major income generator under that current financial scenario. Thus, increasing the membership 50 per cent to 72 institutions would translate into a mature annual income stream of $72,000 under the current dues structure. This figures is only slightly greater than the current $65,750 total income from dues and initial fees.

On the expense side, the largest expense is for a part-time executive director. With expenses and bonuses for new member recruitment, this currently accounts for close to half the total expenses.

In the association community, a rule of thumb is an association needs about $100,000 income for each staff person. Using that guide, UCGIS does not generate enough income for one full time staff person, especially a full time executive director. The Planning Team feels that to achieve the Consortiumís potential, UCGIS needs to move to a full time executive director contract as soon as possible. Dues alone will not support that. Thus, in evaluating new activities, the revenue generating potential is of major importance.

The second major point is that additional revenues are necessary to add new activities if they require financial support.

INCOME (ACCRUAL) 1997 Est 1998

Dues, Fall 1995 Members (29) 29,000 29,000

Dues, Fall 1996 Members (6) ---- 6,000

Dues, Fall 1997 Members ----

Subtotal Dues 29,000 35,000

Initiation Fees, 1996 Fall Members (6) 18,000

Initiation Fees, 1997 Members (13) 39,000

Bonus Paid on 1997 Members 8,250

Subtotal Initation Fees 18,000 30,750

Subtotal Dues and Initation Fees 47,000 67,750

Sales 100 100

Interest 300 300

Assembly ---- 26,539

TOTAL INCOME 47,400 92,689

EXPENSE

Staff Costs

Salary/Fees 19,250 21,000

See Bonus under Income Below

General Expenses 1,539 1,200

Travel to Assembly 1,000 1,000

Travel to Meeting @ GIS/LIS 1,000 1,000

MEETINGS

Congressional Event 3,025 3,000

Fall MEeting @ GIS/LIS 1,500 1,500

Assembly Advance (1997) 1,000

Strategic Planning Meeting 2,800

Committee on Operating Procedures 3,000

Finance 500 3,500

Insurance 2,000

Member Expense Reimbursement 2,400 6,000

Promotional/Display 1,571

Printing/Pubs/Editing 7,238 3,000

Misc.

Expenses Subtotal w/out Assembly 47,771

Subsidy to Assembly 5,000

Assembly Expenses 27,831

TOTAL EXPENSES 39,252 80,602

TOTAL INCOME 47,400 92,689

TOTAL EXPENSES 39,252 80,602

NET (accrual w/out Modeling Project) 8,148 12,087