I brought this up in another thread, but it got me wondering about it. Does anyone have a Masters of Surveying or Geomatics, or whatever you call it where you are? If so, why? In what way did it benefit you?
I'm kind of interested in it, but since I am already licensed I can't really see why I would spend the money and time to earn another degree.
I don't have a masters in surveying (I refuse to type that word"geomatics"....oh....dammit!), but I do have a masters in civil engineering.
At the time, I thought it would open additional doors for me, but apart from netting me an extra $2k in salary my first year, it has done nothing.
If I could do it over, I would skip it. It was not worth the extra year without a salary, and, 35 years later, nobody cares about your old degree.
Bragging rights.
I took a year of Law School. It was worth what I learned - which was that I didn't want to graduate and become a member of the Bar Association ...
Does anyone have a Masters of Surveying or Geomatics, or whatever you call it where you are?
One of my employees has a Masters in Geodesy
In what way did it benefit you?
Three words: Qualifications Based Contracting
Many members of my family have been involved in Law Enforcement in one form or another from local to national.
My oldest son had two Master Degrees and was not able to get his dream job with a national law enforcement group so he went back and gained a Doctorate of Law and now his last name is "Esquire" and opened a Law Office.
His wife dropped out of medical school to enter Law.
Their income has risen and so has their student debt.
What you want to hang on your wall is a personal agenda and the best advice I give on education is to never stop learning in or out of the classroom.
😉
Education is a wonderful thing. It has its place, however.
Having worked for a few different companies of varying size, I've seen those "diploma holding" new people come in. Their heads are often filled with the propaganda from the college about how their degree will allow them to "start in a managerial position" and so on.
Well, as a person of some education, I can say that even though that education gave me a kickstart when it came to learning how to survey, there is absolutely nothing in the world, no classroom course, no field trip, that could have taught me how to actually survey. All of the stuff I learned in the classroom was awesome to know, but it didn't do me any good until I was out in the field, feet on the ground, actually setting up that instrument and turning angles and measuring distances (both with an EDM and a steel chain).
One of the best project managers and designers I've ever worked with has no more education than a high school diploma and some vocational certifications. He works hard, is sharp as a tack, and gets things done efficiently.
Conversely, one of the worst project managers I've ever worked with had a fancy diploma on the wall, but he had bounced around from one company to the next, and had no abilities beyond taking calls from clients and then tell them he'd "look into it and get back to them". He didn't design or draft or anything like that.
So my opinion is that education is awesome and I encourage everyone to pursue it at some level. But a piece of paper hanging in a frame on the wall can never substitute for actual job experience.
I done a masters in GIS recently. It has opened up some new business ideas for the future. I learned some valuable skills in programming as well. What I like about the masters route is that you can focus on something fairly specific. I done 2 semesters full time and the dissertation part-time so it wasn't too long. I have a degree in Civil Engineering as well that took 5 years part time. While it is valuable I feel the Civil Eng degree just took up too much of my life and was more for the sake of having it than what was learned.
I had the opportunity to either earn a masters degree in mathematics or earn certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Neither was required for licensure; I earned that status fairly easily by passing exams and completing the experience requirements. Since I was approaching age 60 when I explored these paths, I chose National Board because I knew enough math to teach advanced high school classes and would never be able to teach college full time.
Although completing the requirements did give me a significant pay boost, the real benefit was that I became a much better teacher. Watching myself teach on video tape, critiquing my lessons from the viewpoint of how well students learned
instead of mathematical rigor, and incorporating technology effectively were requirements. They became habits when the program was done.
I don't think that you will know the value of the degree until after you earn it. It's just a calculated risk. You may find it worthless, you may find it simply intellectually rewarding, or you may find that it adds to your income in some way. But, you won't know unless you do it.
I believe in education and I believe in experience. You would likely bring as much to the classes as the classes bring to you. Jump in, man, do this, and benefit yourself, some professors, and some wannabe surveyors!
TAMU-CC does.
MathTeacher, post: 358137, member: 7674 wrote: I believe in education and I believe in experience. You would likely bring as much to the classes as the classes bring to you. Jump in, man, do this, and benefit yourself, some professors, and some wannabe surveyors!
+1
I have a MS in Biology with an interest/focus on Urban Ecology. Grad school really taught me how to learn and also motivated me to be a lifelong learner. While I can't say for sure if I have financially gained from this endeavor, I am a better surveyor for it. You'd be surprised how the scientific method, natural history as well as other natural phenomena relate to surveying. As MT pointed out, you will get out of it what you put into it.
I think you will find most people will get an MBA in our field or the engineering field. What it does for you? Beats me, since I only have a 4 year degree.
Dan Patterson, post: 358089, member: 1179 wrote: I brought this up in another thread, but it got me wondering about it. Does anyone have a Masters of Surveying or Geomatics, or whatever you call it where you are? If so, why? In what way did it benefit you?
I'm kind of interested in it, but since I am already licensed I can't really see why I would spend the money and time to earn another degree.
Remember getting licensed is just the beginning - a minimum level a competency is all it signifies...
I am working on my Master's Degree from the University of Maine. The degree is a PSM (Professional Science Masters) in Survey Engineering. It is a unique program and is a hybrid degree being a 50/50 split between a MBA and Advanced Surveying. There are a few of us here on this forum in the Program and we all like it.
I graduated from my undergrad in 2000. Since then I have reinvented myself as a surveyor taking Land Surveying classes at my local Community college and then the University of Wyoming. I now have a BA with over 30 hours of Land Surveying courses, and I am now 15 hours into my Master's Degree.
This program has helped me understand the business aspect of management, accounting, etc. and taking Graduate level Advanced Surveying classes from Dr. Raymond Hintz has kept me thinking, reading and looking at new technology. I am a regional Manager at the firm where I work and everything I have learned thus far is applicable, and my work loves that I have decided to continue my education and stay on top of new technology.
Why, well why not? I take at least one class per semester. It satisfies all the PDU requirements and I can write the expense off in taxes, and from a QBS it doesn't hurt. Plus, you can be billed out at a higher rate, which means your company can afford to pay you more...
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00 PLS - MO, KS, CO, MN, KY
A Masters degree would normally be considered a minimum for teaching at a community college. Consider you are a PLS with a BS in Civil Engineering(surveying concentration) or Surveying, you should have a MS in Engineering, Surveying, GIS, Geodesy, Engineering Management or even Municipal Planning. I once considered an ideal education for a community college level survey instructor would have a BS Surveying, MS Municipal Planning and JD Juris Doctorate. Rutgers University has a combined Municipal Planning or Municipal Administration MS and Juris Doctorate program. The MS/JD being a close fit education wise.
New Jersey is one State that has a Professional Planners license. In order to qualify to take the exam one must have a BS CE and be a PE or have an MS Planning degree. For certain variances in New Jersey the law says only a PP can make the case. Most Municipalities have a Municipal Engineer, Professional Planner and Attorney. Some times the Municipal Engineer is not the Planning/Zoning Board Engineer. The applicant to a Zoning Board may well have an Engineer, Land Use Attorney, Professional Planner and Soil Scientist to represent their case. That is not cheap and a good Land Use Attorney commanded twice a typical fee and were worth it. Planning Board and Zoning Board members are required to take classes.
I have seen some GIS/Geodesy Masters at various universities, and in fact most such degrees can be tailored to suit the student with options for up to 50% of courses.
The following is from Penn Sate's online MS GIS program about choices:
"By advancing your education online while you work, youÛªll be well on your way to designing, specifying, and managing complex geographic information infrastructures as a leader in such fields as:
environmental resource management
urban and regional planning
local government
surveying and cartography
facilities management
transportation planning"
Paul in PA
if you are going to be self employed a Masters in Surveying isnt going to help you or bring in more money. If you are working for a medium to large size company the masters in surveying wont help you because at some point in your climb up the ladder your above the norm education in surveying wont be worth it. Your ability to most importantly lead people, run a business, market new customers, forecast revenue and expenses will out weigh your knowledge of surveying because you will have transitioned from making surveying decisions to making decisions that affect an entire organization today and tomorrow.
if you just want to learn more about surveying you could probably learn more at self study. If you just like being involved in the "learning" aspect of surveying, put together a rpls prep class in your area.
disclaimer: i have a bachelors in surveying and i thought i wanted a masters in surveying for awhile or even the almighty LSLS stature in Texas and then i realized neither were worth the effort, time, or money for where i was headed in my career (i work for a large publicly traded company and im no where near the top but i long for the day i can run my own 1-5 man company)
TXSurveyor, post: 358737, member: 6719 wrote: if you are going to be self employed a Masters in Surveying isnt going to help you or bring in more money.
I disagree with the above I learned a lot more on my masters degree than what was in the title and it has opened up some new business opportunities/ideas for the future as a self employed surveyor. For example I learned html which has enabled me to produce top notch professional websites to market my business. This is just one example of what was learned outside the core curriculum. While I am also in favour of self study the masters opened up areas of learning I would never have considered myself.
Totalsurv, post: 358747, member: 8202 wrote: I disagree with the above I learned a lot more on my masters degree than what was in the title and it has opened up some new business opportunities/ideas for the future as a self employed surveyor. For example I learned html which has enabled me to produce top notch professional websites to market my business. This is just one example of what was learned outside the core curriculum. While I am also in favour of self study the masters opened up areas of learning I would never have considered myself.
Interesting and thanks for sharing. Out of curioisity how long did it take you to get a full return on your investment in the masters degree?
Dan Patterson, post: 358089, member: 1179 wrote: "....In what way did it benefit you?..."
I would not ask what it did for you, but what you did with it.
I have found that more education typically helps people "learn" more quickly, grasp concepts more quickly and adapt more quickly.
StLSurveyor, post: 358199, member: 7070 wrote: Remember getting licensed is just the beginning - a minimum level a competency is all it signifies...
I am working on my Master's Degree from the University of Maine. The degree is a PSM (Professional Science Masters) in Survey Engineering. It is a unique program and is a hybrid degree being a 50/50 split between a MBA and Advanced Surveying. There are a few of us here on this forum in the Program and we all like it.
I graduated from my undergrad in 2000. Since then I have reinvented myself as a surveyor taking Land Surveying classes at my local Community college and then the University of Wyoming. I now have a BA with over 30 hours of Land Surveying courses, and I am now 15 hours into my Master's Degree.
This program has helped me understand the business aspect of management, accounting, etc. and taking Graduate level Advanced Surveying classes from Dr. Raymond Hintz has kept me thinking, reading and looking at new technology. I am a regional Manager at the firm where I work and everything I have learned thus far is applicable, and my work loves that I have decided to continue my education and stay on top of new technology.
Why, well why not? I take at least one class per semester. It satisfies all the PDU requirements and I can write the expense off in taxes, and from a QBS it doesn't hurt. Plus, you can be billed out at a higher rate, which means your company can afford to pay you more...
I am in the same program at Maine. I have had people ask me why, since I own my own company and can't really advance...I am doing it for the additional knowledge, and the MBA part should help me on the business side.
Since graduating with a BSCE 30 years ago I have been constantly learning, but having it structured helps to understand things, so I have definitely gotten some benefit out of the survey side of it.
I might also add that compound interest has a profound effect on a $2K bump in salary the first year of your 35 career.
TXSurveyor, post: 358762, member: 6719 wrote: Interesting and thanks for sharing. Out of curioisity how long did it take you to get a full return on your investment in the masters degree?
I finished it in 2013. I could not quantify an exact return on investment but it has definitely more than paid for itself a few times over. When I was doing my dissertation I got a company on board with it to see if GIS could help improve their operations and they even paid me for my time on it.