7 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org Featured Article 2014 1022 2017 963 (711 Oregon residents) 2018 875 (640 Oregon residents) 2020 774 (665 Oregon residents) Breakdown of Licensed Surveyors in Oregon by age groups: • 21–30: < 1% • 31–40: 10% • 41–50: 21% • 51–60: 26% • 61 and over: 43% The typical requirements for Surveying and Engineering careers are the same and are administered by the Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying (OSBEELS). The requirements are as follows: • Obtain a 4-year degree in the appropriate discipline or gain the requisite experience without a degree. • Pass the national exam (Fundamentals of Engineering (FE), Fundamentals of Land Surveying (FLS)). • Pass the national exam, and in the case of Surveying also a state exam to become a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS). • These exams can be taken at any time. However, they must obtain four years of experience before they can receive their PE or PLS. The only school in Oregon to offer a 4-year degree option in Surveying is Oregon Tech (OT). At Oregon State University (OSU), people can get a degree in Civil Engineering and also fulfill the requirements to sit for the FLS. • OIT graduates 5–15 students per year in Geomatics/Surveying. • OSU has about 15 students per year from OSU’s Civil Engineering Department and another 10–15 in Forestry Engineering complete the necessary classes to take the FLS exam. • Anecdotal evidence from the past few years is that very few, if any, of the OSU students get their PLS given only 11% of people with a PLS are under the age of 40 based upon OSBEELS’s data. • The number of new people obtaining their PLS by either experience or degree programs has not kept up with the number that have been or will be retiring. Comparing compensation for an engineer and a land surveyor with similar experience, education and training, the Engineer typically makes 15–20% more than a Surveyor. This must change! Surveyors play a critical role in design and construction of projects • Utilities (water, sewer, stormwater, etc). • Infrastructure (roads, bridges, airports, etc). • Buildings (residential, commercial, schools, hospitals, factories, and other facilities). • All aspects of platting new subdivisions to meet the housing demands. Without surveyors: • Property, Road, and Easement boundaries cannot be reliably located or created. • Engineers don’t have the information they need to design plans for construction. • Without design plans, contractors can’t order materials from suppliers and can’t build projects. • Construction layout cannot be completed with certainty. • These impacts would have significant consequences on the economy of the region and the country. Surveyors are the sole profession licensed to determine boundaries in the United States. If Surveyors went away, who could do the work? • Surveyors must know both the laws related to surveying and mathematics. • Lawyers can learn the law, but don’t know the required math. Engineers know the math, but don’t know the required survey laws. The lists above are just the tip of the iceberg that the declines of the surveying profession will have on the economy and society. Because of these issues and concerns a Surveying Taskforce was formed. Purpose of the Surveying Taskforce: Assemble a broad coalition across industries to see what could be done to get more people into Surveying and to let people know about the shortage. Mission for the Surveying Taskforce: To broaden the level of awareness of the critical role Surveying plays and increase the number and diversity of Licensed Surveyors for the benefit of the community, industry, and the economy Vision for the Surveying Taskforce: To create public/private partnerships through internships and scholarships to incentivize students into surveying. Taskforce Participants Surveying Organizations • Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon (PLSO). • Land Surveyors Association of Washington (LSAW). • National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). Construction Organizations • Associated General Contractors (AGC). • Construction Managers Association of America (CMAA). • Home Builders Association (HBA). • NW Utility Contractors of America (NWUCA). Engineering Associations • American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). • American Public Works Association (APWA)—Oregon Chapter. • Civil Engineering Cooperative Opportunities Program (CECOP). State and National Licensing Boards • Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying (OSBEELS). • National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). Consulting Firms • David Evans & Associates (DEA). • KPFF Consulting Engineers. • PBS Engineering & Environmental. • RQ4D Surveying. • Westlake Consultants. Public Agencies • City of Portland. continues
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