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Young Professionals Corner working? Some students felt that college experience allowed

for a wider exposure to the profession to students that an
individual would not receive in a firm. The students also
believe mentoring in the workplace is a valuable part of a
surveyors education but college course work offers students
the advantage of an in depth study of the information that
would be found on the LS exam. The cost of college will
always be a significant challenge for some, however colleges
Attending NYSAPLS’ have programs to assist with the cost to attend. There was also
2024 Education Summit the point made that those in other careers that are considering
switching to surveying would have to go back to college, a
By Ashley Harrison new barrier that those who were looking to get more people
Young Professionals Committee Member interested in switching careers will have to overcome. The
The 65th annual conference had a number of beneficial classes, education of our future surveyors is incredibly important and
discussions and demonstrations. One of those was the Education having conversations about the students’ experiences can
Summit, which took place during the first day of the conference. positively influence the future of surveying education.
The summit focuses on the communication between Students, The surveying programs in the state are limited, however
Educators, and NYSAPLS Members/Committee representatives. knowing a college education is now a requirement the colleges
The goal of the summit is to have an open conversation about in the state are reaching out to NYSAPLS to develop courses
the current state of the education of land surveying students. to achieve the 15 credit hour minimum. There are challenges
There were productive conversations about different topics, the that the law created such as: The vague description of 15
2021 education requirement, the advantages and disadvantages “surveying” course credit hours and the time it will take the
of college education, and the ways colleges in New York are Board of Education to review the course work from each
working to provide online education to surveyors who can’t go school as different schools will have different survey courses
to school in person. with varying levels of surveying training. There is always an
The new educational requirement established in April, 2021 option of online courses like those for many other degree
eliminates the all-experience pathway to licensure and created programs. Colleges across the country have started to offer
an education pathway requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher in online course work to students who can’t live on campus or
land surveying, or an associate’s degree in land surveying or adults who find they want to change their career and can fit
related science with 15 acceptable credits in land surveying.. courses into their schedules. This begs the question: Is online
This was a long sought after goal by NYSAPLS Board of survey course work possible? Colleges say yes! There is course
Directors and Legislative Committee, who drafted the language work available online in a few colleges already, the best known
based on NCEES model law and firmly believed the educational example is The University of Maine which offers an online
requirement would benefit the profession. The education surveying course. This has led SUNY Alfred to begin
requirement has led some students to our ABET accredited developing online course work. The largest struggle any
programs in the state (SUNY Alfred and ESF Ranger School). college program will face will be the hands-on lab work that
There are a few students who are now enrolling into the will need to be overcome. SUNY Alfred plans to use licensed
surveying programs specifically knowing there is an education land surveyors who sign off on student workers “assignments”.
requirement. There are varying opinions of the new requirement, The program would use the company’s equipment to complete
some believe the formal education requirements reduce the time the lab. It was pointed out that this is similar to the experience
it takes you to get your license. Allowing prospective surveyors section of the licensure application, where Professional Land
to learn more in 4 years focused on surveying than 8 years of Surveyors already verify that prospective land surveyors have
self-study. There is also the opinion that land surveying is viewed completed a number of hours of experience.
more as a profession with the education requirement. A surveyor
who has been licensed in multiple states gave a positive review The surveying education summit that took place this year
of the structure of the mixed approach to licensure. the benefit covered some important issues that young surveyors face.
of the different ways to licensure allow those who have received Education requirements, college experience, and access to
an associate’s degree and those who received Bachelor’s degrees college education are just a few of the conversations that need
the same opportunity to become land surveyors. to be had. The future of our profession is really in the hands
For students across the state, graduating from high school is of the young surveyors, therefore we should be doing all we
can to educate and mentor these students. Making sure the
only a stepping stone in their education. College is becoming a education of our future surveyors is the best it can be is
requirement for many job opportunities, and our profession is something everyone in the association should have an interest
one of them. The education summit asked students about their
college experience, did they think it was helpful or did they find in. The education summit is an excellent example of the way
they could have learned the profession from mentors while we can have these important conversations.

EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 60 • NO 2 2024 • MARCH/APRIL 25