Surveyor Poll - Non Traditional Students ?

Wendell ?

I really have no idea why they aren't accepting applications, but I have heard that the economy is really bad down there.

I do not have a card, but I do have credits frozen with IUOE for retirement.

I'll Reply To The Older College Credits Question

> The gizmo technology has increased the minimum required knowledge based but nothing prior to gismos can be discarded. That is why there is now enough knowledge to really fill out a 4 year degree program. Geodesy has become the realm of all surveyors rather than the few governemnt programs that had tons of staff people

Somehow I knew that you would nicely sum things up. And I agree 100% with you, knowing that there are many that don't agree. I'm one of those old timers with the old school degree (Mich Tech BS in Forestry, Surveying major 1977). I could pull my transcript to see how many surveying credits I had, but I know most of my jr & sr year were surveying related. MTU is on 3-12 week quarters as opposed to 2-18 semesters, which I think is better. (at least it was in those days)

I don't know if I'd want to sit through some of the semester long 4 credit gizmo classes of nowadays, but I've been to dozens of good 1-2 day seminars to teach me enough to know a lot of it. I'll never be a guru, but do know enough to know I don't know enough.

Like I've said many times - I liked it better when the world was flat.

D) I reckon. Attended college after high school, earned a BS in agriculture (was also an extended college career due to working, beer, and women, though not necessarily in that order). I then worked ag related jobs for several years when, after nearly starving to death, I found surveying (or did it find me?). Worked for surveying/engineering firm for 7 years to meet the experience requirement, passed the tests with flying colors and the rest, as they say, is history.

I'll Agree About Some Of The Longer Courses.

I would like to see some intense 1 credit courses for future PDHes. If one takes a 3 or 4 credit course it translates into many more PDHes than one can use. In PA I could apply 24 hours for the current cycle but can only carry 12 into the next cycle. The balance is thrown away.

A 1 credit course could occur over a weekend, with several weeks for some internet classes and a finals weekend. Some internet work could precede the first weekend.

Almost any college level surveying course could be broken into such segments without much need to have a specific sequence of segments till one completes the full 3 or 4 credits. Advanced statistics can be a stand alone 1 credit course, with the prerequisite of almost any 3 credit sophomore or community college stats course. Most engineering programs and some surveying programs have a 4 credit stats requirement. I have come across a few with 1 credit advanced stats catchup course. Without it, some instructors must take time away from certain other surveying courses to bring some students up to statistical speed.

One suggestion is a 1 credit GNSS course for those that have had any of a variety of GPS courses over the years. Getting into the specific advantages of GLONASS, Galileo and/or Beidou (Compass). Is 4 each of 3 systems as good as 6 each of two systems or 12 of one system? What are the various clock or precise orbit issues and how are they resolved? If I have a 2 or 3 system receiver how best do I utilize our 1 system CORS network? I could envision certain courses requiring certain computer programs for a limited time. That program could be on a special hardware lock flash drive that is only in your possession for the duration of the course. I can envision 24 students paying the Penn State undergrad rate of $700 per credit, meeting at 4 to 6 Penn State campuses for a weekend of data gathering, then do campus to campus GNSS processing, compare and analyze versus single system GPS and CORS.

A totally different 1 credit GPS course would be Do It Yourself OPUS-RS. You would use the latest version of RSGPS with available CORS data having the capability to reduce your time interval to 5 minutes or less, increase your epoch rate to 1 second and vary your atmospheric parameters.

Paul in PA

B

B-As a teenager, I worked for my dad's surveying company then went off to a semester of college/partying after high school. Then I took a break from all of that hard schooling(about ten years). I went back to school to get my Associates in Land Surveying then transferred to a 4-year school and completed all but two classes when I realized that I needed to get working full time. Five years later, I finally completed those two classes and got my Bachelors which I needed to sit for the exam in my state.

If I have any advice to the younger folks, it is to stay in school and finish before you have a wife and kids! It's much easier to move a few garbage bags full of clothes and memorabilia than it is to move a family home.

C + E, non-student in the surveying world, but a student in other fields, but I am and always have been enrolled full time in the school of hard knocks.

a)traditional w/ some gaps and changes in majors (ended w/ a BBA), d) ended up in surveying after college and a divorce. you know, the six year plan w/ additional pain.

A

Four years of USMC after High School, took the summer to relax a little, then off to college. Graduated College and Passed Survey Exam for PA.

A

Did 4 years at Mississippi State in the surveying program. This program was in the ag engineering college. I forget how many credits we got in surveying, but I want to say about 22 hours~ 7 classes. I took a ~5 or 6 land law or real estate law classes. And then there was statistics, or as I liked to call it f&*^%@! statistics; boy I hated that class...

I feel like I was really prepared for the surveying profession, but then again experiance comes with time.
I have worked with a guy (that I graduated high school with) that acted like I was "below" him in the surveying world; this guy was about as cool as a dentist...
Anyways, I worked summers farming and surveying during college. After college went to work with a small mom/pop outfit in my hometown. It took me about 3 months to flat line at that company. At 8 months I realized that I had filled the hole that they needed filled; and I was hitting the "glass ceiling" and it wasn't moving. So i hired on with a mid sized firm and have been here since then. This was by far the best decision in my career thus far. Now licensed in MS and TN; but watch out GA,AR,AL,LA, I will get to you in due time.

Sorry for such a long post; I'm trying to build up my street cred... It seems like the word bacon gets used a lot on this sight for some reason.?.

A

(a)

B-Currently attending UNH while working full time. 30 and no degree yet, working on it.

Non traditional. Degree in Geography, then hired by an Engineering company right after college.

B

a

I got my license with experience only, THEN I went back to college and got a degree.

I have no idea what that makes me. I was in school from the time I was 5 until I was 29 excepting a semester here and there. I also got married at 19 and had a kid at 20, so there really isn't anything traditional about me. 🙂

B
Alaska for a year (field crew), military, aerospace for 15yrs - layoff, 2 yr. civil degree, LSI, hope to sit soon for LS.

A/ - Started surveying right out of high school. Worked for 7-8 months then enrolled part time in an Associates Degree program for Civil Engineering Technology at the local community college. During my second semester I hit the a lottery jackpot. The draft lottery that is.

B/ - After basic training, I completed 82 Charlie (artillery surveyor) training at Ft. Sill OK., then shipped off to Vietnam.
After the army, I took the ICS Surveying & Mapping course. Since then, education has been limited to the state conference, seminars and the school of hard knocks.

I purchased a hand held GPS, license, and stamp on ebay a few years back... been a surveyor ever since