The University of Arizona is a land grant institution located in Tucson, Arizona. The University of Arizona currently enrolls around 35,000 students and is listed as one of the top twenty research universities in the country with nationally recognized programs in planetary sciences, management information systems, anthropology, hydrology, optics, remote sensing, and arid land studies.

GIS educators reside in different departments, schools, and colleges throughout the University. As a result, The University of Arizona Geographic Information Systems User Group (UAGIS) was established in 1994 to develop a forum for faculty, staff, and students to share knowledge and ideas pertaining to Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) software applications.