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Bylaws & Structure

Organization Documents & Structure

URISA Bylaws - describe the organizational structure of the Board and officers, committees, membership requirements, voting procedures, and other essential guidelines for operating the association.

URISA Constitution - generally, a statement of purpose

Organization Chart (PDF)

URISA depends on the active participation of...

  • our public sector members and their private sector partners,
  • research, academic and educational institutions,
  • other organizations that routinely interact with public organizations to provide better products and services to the community,
  • other professional organizations whose missions compliment that of URISA.

URISA's organizational structure...

  • relies on the active participation and volunteer activities of our members,
  • is governed by a Board of Directors that provides leadership, vision and policy direction,
  • is advised by an Executive Committee, a Strategic Planning and Policy Committee, and an Industry Relations Council,
  • is structured into operating divisions, each directed by a URISA Board member, for effective management and operation, and
    1. The Education Division focuses on educational product development, delivery and quality control;
    2. The Publications Division provides high quality journals, reports, books, newsletters, and web-based information;
    3. The Operations Division oversees important organization functions including membership, awards, elections and external relations;
    4. The Outreach Division oversees programs and communication with Chapters, SIGs, Industry, the Public and Government;
  • is supported by a professional staff

URISA Strategic Plan 2005-2006

URISA's Mission

URISA promotes the effective and ethical use of spatial information and information technologies for the understanding and management of urban and regional systems.

URISA's Vision

  1. To lead and be a key partner in advancing the effective use of spatial information and geographic information technologies (especially geographic information systems) across a wide range of disciplines for the understanding and management of urban and regional systems, and to focus on issues, create policies, and define standards related thereto.
  2. To offer opportunities for professional camaraderie, education, exchange, service, advancement, and recognition.
  3. To create and disseminate high-quality professional educational materials.
  4. To increase URISA's membership, and to extend URISA's influence beyond the United States and Canada.
  5. To secure URISA's long-term financial stability.
  6. To foster strong chapters, and establish mutually beneficial relationships with allied organizations.
  7. To provide for sound, responsive Association management by relying on member volunteers for subject expertise and overall association direction, and professional staff for administrative, business, and conference management expertise.

Technology and Policy Context: Ten-Year Forcast

URISA's Strategic Plan will be implemented in the context of ongoing technological change and shifting policy priorities.  Data, software, and application advances will alter the nature of the user community and pose new policy and management issues.  This forecast summarizes the predominant trends and changes anticipated by the URISA Board of Directors:

Data and Data Collection

  1. Geo-referenced data will continue to proliferate in types and amount:
    • Satellite imagery
    • Commercial geo-databases
    • Web products
    • Mass-market products
  2. Innovative field data collection devices will multiply the streams of data.

Software Structures

  1. Geographic location will become embedded in the fabric of ordinary data structures.
  2. Pieces of GIS programs will commonly be embedded in other software as program objects, ActiveX controls, Java applets, etc., when and where they are needed.
  3. Standard spatial data types will be extended into more specialized data objects and integrated with standard SQL data types.

New Application Dimensions

  1. 3D imagery.
  2. Temporal databases.
  3. More sophisticated specialized analytical and simulation tools.

Emerging Sectors for GIS Applications

  1. Homeland security/emergency management
  2. Mobile GIS/location-based services
  3. Public health
  4. Retail/real estate/economic development
  5. Embedded GIS/GIS portals

Spatial Information User Community

  1. There will be a growing mass market of casual GIS users.
  2. Subject specialists will have a more sophisticated array of geo-analytical tools.
  3. Many GIS professionals will work as part of an IS/project  team.

Policy Issues

  1. Public access and privacy in the use of government spatial data.
  2. Removal, or restriction of use, of spatial information from the public domain for security reasons.
  3. Commercialization of government spatial information.
  4. Government use of commercial data for public purposes.
  5. Certification of GIS professional skills; workforce training and continuing education.
  6. Valuing spatial data as an asset in meeting corporate and government accounting standards.
  7. Spatial data archiving and preservation policies.
  8. GIS standards (including metadata) policies.

Management Issues

  1. GIS and geographic data will become increasingly available to users with widely varying technical skills, data needs, and applications.
  2. GIS data will increasingly be created and disseminated by consortia of agencies (as opposed to individual agencies or departments).
  3. GIS will be deeply integrated with IS.
  4. GIS professionals will need to balance specialized GIS skills with a broader array of more general database, applications programming, and web skills.

 Goals

  1. Secure URISA’s long-term financial stability.
  2. Offer increased opportunities for professional education and exchange.  Build on URISA’s outstanding record of providing high-quality annual conferences, workshops, specialty conferences, publications, and a refereed journal that are important to the profession.
  3. Increase URISA’s membership, and provide responsive, cost-effective services to the membership.
  4. Offer opportunities for professional service, advancement, and recognition.
  5. To provide for sound, responsive association management by relying on member volunteers for subject expertise and overall agency direction, and professional staff for administrative, business, and conference management expertise. To foster and grow strong chapters and to establish mutually beneficial relations with related organizations.
  6. Lead and be a key partner in addressing issues, policies, and standards of concern to the membership