PLSO May June 2019

15 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Featured Article as such, ODOT provided a Statement of Work (SOW) that held the students’ per- formance, conduct and deliverables to current industry standards. They had to come up with a realistic plan to satisfy the SOW while keeping their hardware, software, strengths, limitations, and long term relationship with ODOT in mind. Throughout the project ODOT used the opportunity to educate the students about both the technical side of the pro- cess as well as organizational dynamics in the professional world. ODOT surveyors worked with students in class and in the field to teach geodesy, map projections, GNSS, RTK, photogrammetry and aerial mapping. Once the students started re- hearsing and executing field operations ODOT professionals observed and deliv- ered feedback on how specific examples of good and bad performance could im- pact the relationshipbetweenanemployee and supervisor, an agency and contractor, or a client and business owner. Imagine the difference between teaching surveying to a captive audience versus students who are hungry for informa- tion because they are excited about a real-world project that involves land sur- veying. They actively listen and learn because they are truly interested, and you are giving them a skill to put on their resumes. The goal is not just to create a fictional project and run it, but also to spend time in the field and classroom getting to know the students and treat- ing them like young professionals. This gives them the opportunity to interact with industry professionals, exercise the soft skills CTE instructors cultivate, and peer into the nuts and bolts of different career paths. This type of project should not be unique to ODOT; every single surveying company in this state could do something similar. It is a small investment to make to build our future workforce. The CTE students and educators are un- like anything I’ve ever experienced. Their curiosity and drive are contagious. I rec- ommend reaching out to your local high school to see if they have a CTE teach- er. Chances are they do, and they would be ecstatic if you wanted to come in and teach their class about what you do ev- ery day. A class project or field exercise involving survey could be of any size or scope to accommodate any program’s configuration. You might be surprised what they already know about survey- ing and that they may have some survey gear to teach with. CTE is not traditional vocational training or just about learning how to paint a car or pound nails into a board. It’s also not anti-college or anti-intellectual. In fact, it’s more fundamental than that: the programs teach the students to find a career path and how to get there. If the path requires college then they will be ready. No more going to college just be- cause and figuring it out later. CTE is all about technical skills and teaching the youth purpose at an age where many of us are lost. Interacting with CTE stu- dents and educators has me excited for the future of surveying. I highly encour- age all of you to find your own local CTE opportunities.  x CTEC instructor working with students – photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation