Nobody rides the bus for free.
There were very few scholarships available in 1971 for surveying students if any.
I was not a scholarship recipient myself. My support came from selling the small herd of cows and a couple of horses that I owned and working 40hrs a week, first at a place called Plantation Diner as a cook and then as draftsman and survey crew member at Marr Engineering while serving as Assistant Post Master Tyler Junior College Post Office.
When I began college, my professor Col. Hendrix applied for me to be in the running for a scholarship. We went to meet with several different groups that were supporting the fund and he took me as his guest to an awards event when the scholarship was awarded. Everyone was amazed when it was awarded to an engineering student going to an out of state college.
The work that Col. Hendrix put into helping me and other students was very commendable and started the fire among many of his friends and associates within the Surveying industry and TSPS and his students after their graduation, who together started funding scholarships all across Texas.
That and the many surveying companies that employ students while they are in college and them and other groups that help provide funds for housing and other necessities for a student to work toward a surveying degree.
Most every graduate is guaranteed a position with a reputable surveying company after graduation.
All of this does not come free and it takes a lot of hard work from everyone involved.
I have not met one student in the last 35yrs that has been interested in going into business for themselves. They all went to work for some large firm.
What your education and 3.8GPA will give you is the knowledge that will carry you thru the rest of your life and the ability to see what many other graduates do not see and the opportunity to prove yourself capable above that of others.
The future is yours to make.
good luck
greence.com offers up video courses and there are many no cost ones available HOWEVER none are survey courses if that is a concern. Most seem to be about building, design or architectural stuff with a serious angle towards sustainable (ie: green building) design.?ÿ
I guess, I am still missing the point. The way I see it is an exception is being made to a specific group of surveyors with no defendable reason.
Is the intent that someone that has 20 years of experience is now trained in all that they ever need to know about surveying? Or that someone over the age of 60 is no longer teachable? I have been surveying for over 30 years, I know for a fact that I can always learn something new and sometimes from people that are much younger than I am, and sometimes from guys that are much older than I am. We all need to stay sharp with our education.
I would suggest, with the utmost respect for all, that we need to focus less on finding ways around continuing education requirements, but find ways to insure they are of a higher value to the participants, and not profit making schemes for licensing boards, businesses and professional societies.
First, a little Arkansas ??Surveyor? history:
Prior to Act 101 of 1967 a surveyor did not need a registration, a license, an education, or a test. There were some good surveyors and some bad surveyors.
I earned my Land Surveyor ??registration? number in 1985 at the age of 30.
AARLS (Arkansas Association of Registered Land Surveyors) had two meetings a year. One was the convention with banquets, music, and socializing (networking). The other meeting was known as the ??Short Course? taught by the esteemed Dr. David Knowles, PLS. We didn??t have to go to these meetings, but felt it a privilege to attend.
In 1987 the ??young bucks? thought it would be smart to have mandatory continuing education so the ??old heads? would come to the short course and get ??educated?? like we were. We convinced the Arkansas Legislature to pass Act 1070 of 1987. The funny thing was that the ??old heads? had this act amended to read:?ÿ ??The Board, in its discretion, may exempt registered land surveyors sixty (60) years of age or with twenty (20) or more years experience as practicing land surveyors within this State, from the provisions of this subsection.?
ASPS (Arkansas Society of Professional Surveyors??renamed from AARLS) decided we would become the purveyors for Land Surveyors and started offering 16 credit hours at each meeting. It was surprising how many of the older gentlemen attend. I would attend all the lectures, but also learned a lot from just visiting with these old mentors. Times were good.
Act 1178 of 2005 made me a Professional Surveyor by taking LAND out of my title, but the same ????sixty (60) years of age or with twenty (20) or more years experience??? was still in place and, with my 20 years experience, became exempt at age 50. I started picking which lecture/class I was interested in and traveled to many states to attend. I kept on going to the ASPS functions, but spent more time looking at and learning about the new equipment.
Act 444 of 2009 took away my ??registration?, but gave me a license to practice surveying??and it still says ????sixty (60) years of age or with twenty (20) or more years experience???
A new generation of ??young bucks? are now call me an ??old head? ?? and I was only age 56. The youngsters got the exemption law changed! Act 898 of 2011 now reads ????sixty (60) years of age or older with twenty (20) or more years experience???. Just the addition of two words changed things a lot.
Here it is 2019 and I still go to the ASPS functions with a lot of ??old heads?.
Dan B. Robison, RLS, PLS, PS, DDSM
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I am fine with someone who has been Surveying 20 years plus to skip out on CE Hours, in fact some of the classes I have been to, the Speaker has no clue what they are taking about and its a waste or 4 or 8 hours. Other times I have learned plenty in the CE classes.
