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PLSO Issue 1 2016 January February

the reality seems to be that you can’t obtain your license without a four year degree. In many cases that is probably true depending on the individual, but I would challenge if it is really necessary to only set the bar in this way. ere are many merits to the degree track, but if we poll those who are about to exit the profession we will nd that historically surveyors have not found surveying as a high school graduate who was dying to be a surveyor and went o to college to pursue it. People oen discovered surveying through many other career elds such as military service, civil engineering, construction, forestry, mathematics, and many more. Many of these “discoveries” occurred later in life. Aer that discovery they worked, learned and eventually licensed, but likely never went back to school full time if at all. I would further challenge the four year degree concept and say that those who t this discovery description are some extremely good surveyors The next step to growing the profession is self-promotion. This is a two-fold process that includes the societies as well as all of us as individuals. who have made many contributions to our profession. ey would not be here if a four year degree was the only path to licensure. Even growing up in a surveying family I was bound and determined to become a Forest Engineer and not a surveyor. Late in my college career, I made a right turn and went back to surveying. If I had been required to totally change paths and pursue a surveying degree, I probably would not have done it and would have missed out on a profession that is one of the true passions of my life. What do we need to do in order to grow the profession again? Apprenticeship seems to be a dirty word within the surveying profession because aer all, ‘we are a profession’ aren’t we! For many, the very mention of apprenticeship brings forth visions of the blue collar worker, a member of a trade. I have never really bought into this line of thinking and aer much consideration, I would challenge you that we need both a degree track and an apprenticeship track to ll our dwindling ranks. While surveying is a profession, we are not brain surgeons and there should be no reason we could not create a path to licensure using an apprenticeship model. Maybe we need to think out of the box and split the license much like our engineering counterparts. A college The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 39, No. 1 12 track leads to one part of it and an apprenticeship leads to everything else. When I say apprenticeship I don’t mean some haphazard process by which someone comes to you and says they are ready to license so you sign their application. at’s pretty much what we have now isn’t it? How many of you really “know” the full breadth of experience of the person for whom you sign the license exam application? Clearly you are supposed to, but at the end of the day you must take them at their word to one degree or another. erefore the standard continues, someone passes their fundamentals exam and aer the allotted time they nd the required number of licensees to sign their application and if they can pass they become an LS, though it’s questionable how much or what experience they may really have in the various aspects of land surveying. What I really mean by apprenticeship is a process that is regimented and clearly documented (just like union programs today). It is monitored and tracked by the State or some governing body and it clearly documents what you have done and haven’t done. is would be a very valuable step between where we were and what we currently have and I think we should pursue it without delay. We must nd a way to get more people to enter the profession who also have a formal path to licensure that may or may not include a 4-year degree in Geomatics. e next step to growing the profession is self-promotion. is is a two-fold process that includes the societies as well as all of us as individuals. When was the last time that you told someone under the age of 21 what it is you do and why it is important? For that matter, when was the last time you told anyone what you do with some degree of excitement that might make them or someone they know want to consider a career change? For some of you this is probably a daily occurrence, but for others it’s time to change the paradigm. is means a conscious decision at parties, career fairs, on social media and with our friends in competing professions to get the word out. Not only about what surveying has to oer, but the peril that our » Reviving the Surveying Profession continued from page 11 »


PLSO Issue 1 2016 January February
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