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 Wapakoneta Elementary School fourth grade teacher Jason Brandt, above, teaches his class on the first day of school. Staff photo/ William Laney By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
With a few technology and communication glitches and parents learning along with students where they need to go, Wapakoneta City Schools students’ first day of class went without any major problems, administrators say.
“The school day is going fine,” Superintendent Keith Horner said Tuesday afternoon.
He said one of the biggest hurdles to overcome was a new pick-up and drop-off system at Wapakoneta Elementary School.
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County GIS coordinator gets certified |
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Monday, 13 April 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Auglaize County’s GIS (Geographic Information Systems) coordinator has obtained professional certification making him one of the top recognized leaders in his field.
Joe Collin recently was certified as a GIS professional by the GIS Certification Institute. The certification means he met the minimum standards for educational achievement, professional experience and ethnical conduct as established by the institute.
Before he was accepted, Collin had to meet strict requirements for continuing education, experience, community and professional involvement, and on-going training. His background also was scrutinized and reviewed by an independent third-party organization, an institute comprised of leading non-profit associations focused on the application of GIS and geospatial technology.
With the certification, Collin joins the ranks of 160 others in Ohio and 4,300 nationwide.
“They are held to a higher degree, looked at with a higher standard,” Collin said.
Every five years he is required to be recertified and is expected to attend conferences, where he should help mediate, for training, and submit articles for publication.
Collin is experienced in the production of GIS maps for the utility industry, municipalities and governmental agencies. He has been responsible for leading Auglaize County’s GIS department in a wide range of GIS projects, including GIS data management for the entire county; creating, coordinating and tracking numerous spatial datasets, both for internal and internet use; and serving as GIS lead in converting and updating existing CAD (computer-aided design) data into a GIS format.
Using the latest GIS and graphics software and high-end print media, Auglaize County’s staff, led by Collin, has the tools and creative ability to design and produce extremely effective map products. The county’s experienced GIS staff provides needs analysis, system planning and implementation, data conversion and development of user interfaces with an emphasis on ease of use and error-free data entry, according to a release.
“Almost every discipline within Auglaize County uses GIS technologies for a wide range of projects to provide better service to clients,” said Collin, who maintains and updates that information daily.
Not only does he try to keep up the existing information, but improve what they have, for more accurate mapping.
“It’s a new challenge every day,” Collin said. “There’s always something new. Not everything works the way you want it to. It’s satisfying to figure out how it works.”
Specific goals for the future Collin said include creating a “map book” and helping cities more with detailed mapping and inventories.
Having at first studied architecture, Collin was hired to do CAD work, locating pole locations for Dayton Power & Light, which got him interested in GIS.
He worked for more than six years as a GIS specialist before joining Auglaize County more than eight years ago as GIS coordinator.
“I’m pleased he’s able to obtain that certification,” Auglaize County Engineer Doug Reinhart said. “I promote all my employees to further their education. The more certification and training employees have, the more valuable they are to citizens of the county.
“He does have the qualifications, he’s shown that to us,” he said. “A lot of people probably don’t even realize how much he does.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 15 April 2009 )
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