PLSO The Oregon Surveor September/October 2021

3 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org State Experience Education Alaska 8 years (education / experience combo) 8 years (education / experience combo) Arizona 6 years N/A California 6 years N/A California 2 years 4 year degree Board approve Colorado 10 years None Colorado 2 years ABET accredited 4 year survey curriculum Colorado 4 years non-ABET accredited 4 year survey curriculum Colorado 6 years 2 year surveying curricula per board approval Colorado 7–9 years Coursework from Board approved surveying but not graduation Hawaii 3 years 4 year geoscience, LS, Civil Engineering or general engineering curriculum from approved school Hawaii 7 years 4 year arts & science curriculum with a math, science or related major from an approved school Hawaii 7 years 2 year civil engineering technology curriculum from an approved school Hawaii 11 years N/A Idaho 4 years Board approved 4 year program Idaho 4 years No degree, must submit evidence that they possess knowledge and skill similar to graduate of a Board approved program Montana 4 years Baccalaureate degree program in LS that meets Board approved curriculum Montana 6 years Associates degree program in LS that meets Board approved curriculum Montana 6 years Baccalaureate degree programw/ minor in LS that meets Board approved curriculum Nevada 4 years 4 year land surveying curriculum approved by the Board New Mexico 4 years 4 year Board approved surveying curriculum Utah 6 years AAS in LS or Geomatics program Utah 4 years Bachelors, masters or doctorate in LS, Geomatics, or a related field w/ 30 semester credits or 42 quarter credits in LS Oregon 4 years ABET accredited surveying curriculum Oregon 12 years Experience only From the PLSO Chair Oregon also has a number of other paths: https://www.oregon.gov/osbeels/obtaining/Pages/Licensing-Process-in-Oregon.aspx As you can see, the Western states have a variety of requirements with few com- mon elements. All the suggestions brought to the PLSO BOD that were submitted from the chapters, were forwarded to OSBEELS. The Board did not attempt to boil the suggestions/ideas down to a sin- gle PLSO suggestion. The Boardmembers wanted OSBEELS to see all suggestions, and to make a single suggestion would have been too cumbersome and ultimate- ly limit the feedback. After reviewing all the feedback, I identified three common themes: 1) a four-year ABET degree with two years of experience, 2) no school with eight years of experience, 3) time credit- ed for schooling that relates to surveying (i.e. AAS, math, science etc.). To be clear, this will not be our only chance to provide feedback to OSBEELS on their potential rule changes. OSBEELS is gath- ering feedback from a number of sources and will consider all feedback prior to deciding how to move forward. Once OS- BEELS feels it has had enough feedback, they will likely draft new proposed rules. I spoke with Mr. Barbee and he made it clear to me that PLSO will have an op- portunity to stay involved and to provide more feedback before final decisions are made. This will take some time and pa- tience, and I understand that in today’s world that can be a difficult concept to deal with. Keep in mind that the end re- sult will be worth all our efforts and will hopefully assist us in taking our profes- sion to the next level. x