Prairie View A&M University’s Continuing Education Program
Using GIS, Geographic Information Systems (ArcView) in Community Development
On November 17, 2007, Prairie View A&M University started its first series of
Continuing Education courses in GIS, Geographical Information System. The November
17th class was attended by the City of Prairie View employees from the police and fire
departments, and city administrators. Follow-up classes, specific to each department’s
use, are scheduled for the month of December 2007 and January 2008.
The cost for a class of 25 or more students is $100.00 per student. These classes are
supported by the School of Architecture’s Community Development Graduate Program,
and are held in the GIS Lab at the School of Architecture.
Faculty: Lynn Henson is a Planner Leader with the City of Houston’s Planning and
Development Department. Mrs. Henson, a native Houstonian, has a bachelor’s in
Economics from Spelman College and a master’s in City Planning from Texas Southern
University. In her planning life, she has worked for the City of Austin’s Planning
Department in the Neighborhood Planning Division. She left there to move back to her
hometown of Houston to join Houston’s Planning Services Division, where she has
worked for the past nine years. Mrs. Henson has worked with the Land Assemblage Pilot
Program for the extent of her service with the Planning Department. She has participated
in the urban redevelopment planning process as well as research and analysis. This
project has led her to develop database systems, create maps use GIS, lead project teams
and project management. Mrs. Henson also works with various Super Neighborhoods in
the Super Neighborhood program. That includes helping organize emerging super
neighborhoods, building consensus, creating action plans, and following those plans
through to completion. Other duties include program development, research, GIS
analysis.
Faculty: Alfred B. Henson is a Houston native who has received his Bachelor of Science
in Architectural Construction and Master of City Planning at Texas Southern University.
He is currently a doctoral candidate for Urban Planning and Environmental Policy while
teaching at the School of Architecture at Prairie View A&M University. He has 17 years
experience in design-build contracting and working relationships with non-profit housing
and community development agencies since 1994, the Houston Area Urban League and
Southeast Texas Housing Finance Corporation. His areas of study are Affordable
Housing and Collaborative Planning. His teaching contribution for Community
Development students, at Prairie View A&M University’s School of Architecture, is the
basic use of Geographic Information Systems better known as GIS.