2 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 46, No. 3 From the PLSO Chair MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR This issue of The Oregon Surveyor is composed mostly of the report by the Surveying Taskforce 2022 that came together under the leadership of City Engineer of Portland Steve Townsen, PE, PLS, and by Pat Gaylord, PLS of David Evans and Associates Inc. This taskforce was formed to address the shortage of licensed land surveyors in the state of Oregon, and really, a shortage in all 50 states. You will read in the report many interesting facts, issues pertaining to the shortage, and suggestions on how to resolve this shortage of license surveyors. As you have noticed, since I have become Chair of the PLSO Board of Directors this year, I have tried to encourage and inform our members on the need to boost our membership of would-be surveyors and mentor them into the profession, along with reaching out to those people who may have an interest in surveying to inform them of our profession and the advantages of being a land surveyor. The old method of marketing our profession through working with survey crews during the summer has gone by the wayside due to the new technology of robotic field practices, which need fewer people (maybe only one) on a crew. Our new technology, on the other hand, has made how we gather our data and process in the office more exciting, so this has lent itself to making it attractive to the prospective individual entering our profession. This report will give us guidance on how to proceed with attracting new people into our profession. Please read this report and discuss it among your peers and let your chapter presidents know your thoughts and ideas. There is never a bad idea, just an idea that is not discussed. Tim Fassbender, PLS PLSO Board Chair This Surveying Taskforce report will give us guidance on how to proceed with attracting new people into our profession. The report has some statistics on how many licensed land surveyors are in Oregon and the breakdown of land surveyors by age group. I do have a few more statistics I would like to add that I received from OSBEELS. Since 2019 the average number of examinees is 45.8. The average passing rate is 31.5. The average passing rate is 68.9%. The average number of licenses issued per year is 19.6. As of March 1, 2023, there are 572 licensed land surveyors with Oregon addresses. There is a total of 776 licensed Oregon surveyors. Some of these nonresidents could be living just out of state but working in Oregon. Also, remember that a person can take all the necessary tests and wait for their experience requirements to be satisfied before receiving their license. Oregon Land Surveyor Exam Statistics Year How many took the exam Passed Received licensed 2016 - - 17 2017 - - 22 2018 - - 24 2019 48 31 18 2020 41 28 9 2021 49 30 36 2022 55 37 19 2023 36 not known 12 How to Send Us Your Work Please email the editor Vanessa Salvia with submissions. vsalvia@gmail.com Your submission should be in .doc format. Please send images separately (not embedded in the document) and at the highest file size available (MB size range versus KB size range—larger sizes are encouraged). Please include the author’s name and email address or phone number for contact.
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