Winston Salem State University Summer Technology Institute (SciTech)

Station 1 Station 2

The North Carolina Society of Surveyors Education Foundation was invited to participate in the Winston Salem State University Summer Technology Institute (SciTech). Anxious to introduce students to the surveying community an agenda was developed to provide a general overview of the many facets of surveying along with hands-on field applications. SciTech was held on WSSU campus with access to a state-of-the-arts classroom and an adjacent park area for field applications. The morning was kicked off by Doug Suttles, PLS presenting the NSPS video. After the video Doug gave a general overview of the Be-a-Surveyor and NCSS websites. The group moved to the park where six stations had been setup to allow the students to interact with a Professional Survey and practice some basic skills. Lewis Moore, PLS manned the first station discussing measuring angles and distances utilizing a total station. Clint Osborne, PLS was collecting GPS data along with demonstrating handheld GPS devices at station two. Clint taught a brief session on latitude and longitude and had the students record a GPS Lat and Long then find themselves on a flood map. Station three dropped back in time for surveyors; but what would we do without a good compass and the knowledge to use it. Doug Suttles, PLS used handheld compasses to teach the students direction and had them locate preset points using a compass, tape and metal detector. They all left station three knowing which direction north was. Gale Brown, PLS and Roger Johnson taught the fundamentals of stakeout at station four. The students had an opportunity to turn angles and tape to establish triangles and measure the missing sides. Station five by manned by Sid Autry, P.E., PLS and had the students count the number of paces in a 100 foot length and then count their paces in an unknown distance. Many were amazed at how close they came to the actual distance. The snack tent, station six, became very popular as the morning heat increased. Brett Abernathy, P.E., PLS and his two daughters gave out beverage and light snack to each student and their adult team leaders. Several old survey plats of the WSSU campus, circa 1945, were provided by Dickie Bennett, PLS. Brett had these at the snack tent and pointed out platted features along with a recent plat Allied Associates had completed of a portion the WSSU campus. The event was concluded in the classroom with Sid Autry discussing the educational opportunities in the Triad for careers in surveying.

May 2012

New Features,Updates @ BEASURVEYOR.COM

The beasurveyor.com site had really started to take off, we now have two survey firms that are advertising on the site, Google Analytics are showing great advances in our organic search results, the newsletter is now in place and you can sign up for the newsletter that will be published containing:

Articles about Surveying
Job Listings
Internships Available
Updates and News from Colleges and Universities
Scholarships Application Deadlines
Seminar Schedules

And lots more to follow. We are excited about the newsletter, the surveying community is really starting to take hold of the beasurveyor.com site and it will become an invaluable tool, in the surveying profession. If you would like to be a part of the beasurveyor.com site or effort, contact us via our contact form and we will most definitely get you involved.

We can see the future is very bright for the beasurveyor.com site and encourage everyone that is involved with the surveying profession to check it out.

March 2012

No grace period after January 1, 2013.

Talking to a young fellow at the NCSS Conference a few weeks back I was shocked to learn that he was planning to utilize the grace period, after 2013, to apply for licensing. He was shocked to learn the grace period began with the revisions to GS 89C-13 during the 2005 General Assembly. The revision of GS 89C-13 allowed anyone with a high school diploma to complete the required seven years apprenticeship before the revisions became effective. Having served on the Task Force to recommend revisions to the licensing requirements I can say with certainty that it was no east undertaking. Those of us in the profession that feel strongly about the totality of a Professional Land Surveyor requires skill sets that are most easily obtained through formal education favor more education. There are those who strongly feel that surveying is an apprenticeship derived skill and reject the reduction of apprenticeship time in favor of a four year degree. This is no new argument and will not be settled by this generation of surveyors. There is no amount of education that will replace the ability of an experienced boundary guy that just knows when it feels right. The ability to interrupt timber lines, ridge lines, old field lines, natural realignments of waterways, etc. is by far best learned from mentors. However; technical writing, data interpretation and integration, interacting with other professionals during project development, etc. is best learned in an academic environment. So yes, a well rounded Professional Land Surveyor of today and tomorrow will have both a solid educational foundation coupled with ample apprenticeship. I am familiar with the concept of outliers and know that there are self educated individuals that do well as surveyors. Understanding this concept the Task Force recommended always providing a licensing route for folks with only a high school education. That provision remains in GS 89C-13. Those interested in obtaining licensure this year or in the next few years are strongly encouraged to visit the NC General Assembly website at www.ncleg.net/gascripts/statutes/statutelookup.pl?statute=89C and become familiar with the January 1, 2013 requirements in GS 89C -13.

April 2012

Scholarships,BEASURVEYOR, where to start?

It’s that time of year again! Here at the North Carolina Society of Surveyors Education foundation, we are all excited as the March 15, 2012 Scholarship priority deadline has come and gone. This is the season where all the planning and hard work starts to pay off. It’s the moment where we get to look toward the future. I, for one, can tell you that being a part the NCSS Education Foundation Scholarship committee is special! I get an amazing front row seat to hear directly from the next generation of North Carolina Surveyors, and to help them in their scholastic pursuits. The stories they share are nothing short of inspirational, and the excitement they bring is contagious. So it’s safe to say, that I am really looking forward to our NCSS Education Foundation board meeting this month at Central Piedmont Community College!

I love this quote by Wayne Gretzky who said “You will always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” With that in mind, it’s Ok if you missed the deadline this year, just go ahead and start working toward next year. It’s super simple! First, go to www.NCSSEducationFoundation.com look on the left where it says “online application Form”. Fill in the boxes and click submit, then you’ll have already completed step one! Also, we are always available for questions and would love to hear from you! You can contact the NCSS Education Foundation by going to the website above and clicking on the “contact us” tab. Also the www.BeaSurveyor.com site is evolving daily, and if you haven’t been by to check it out, you need not waste another minute. There is so much information available right at your finger tips. You can find Continuing Education classes, contact the North Carolina License Board, and find links to Community Colleges and Universities nationwide, and so much more. It is really a wonderful resource. It’s also a great place to advertise (just check the search engine rankings). I mean what’s better than knowing your advertising dollars are flowing right back into helping maintain and promote the future of Land Surveying in North Carolina.

I want to also send out a huge “THANK YOU” to everyone who stopped by and saw us at the North Carolina Society of Surveyors Convention; you are truly what makes the profession of surveying so great in North Carolina! And don’t forget that our 2011/2012 Gun Fundraiser is still underway, tickets are going fast, so make sure you’ve got yours. Tickets are $20 each / or 5 for $80 and as soon as there gone… we draw!

February 2012

What are we Leaving behind for the Future?

As my hair grays, and the reality that my fun productive days searching for boundary evidence that has not been discovered in decades are truly more behind me than those remaining, I pondered; what footprints am I leaving. Sure I know the value of estate planning; I have truly seen the destruction of families where proper care was not taken. The appropriate documents are drawn, signed and stored for that inevitable day that we all will face. I waste very little time thinking of my own demise, it is still decades away, but I do mediate on the future of the surveying industry, and on what I am doing to ensure a solid future for those who choose this path.

I write this blog having just completed an almost full day’s meeting with the NCSS Education Foundation’s Board of Directors. The meeting required the better part of a four hour round trip, but why?

During the 2010-2011 school term I found myself standing before high school math students and sharing surveying stories from my experience. Administering the Trig Star exam, grading the exams, reporting the results, returning to the schools to award the prizes, but why?

Last year I was invited to assist our Chapter President, David Whit, PLS, teaching basic surveying techniques to a local Boy Scout’s Troup enabling them to receive a Surveying Merit Badge. I found myself in a grass field teaching several young boys how to read a level rod and the concepts of differential leveling, and later in the classroom reducing notes and explaining applications for what they had just learned, but why?

As I draft this I have the registration form for the upcoming NCSS Convention lying on my desk. I have had it for weeks, I have given it much thought as to at what level I would participate. As a Professional Surveyor, and a member of NCSS may I just choose not to participate?

I sincerely trust that the answers to these simple questions are as easy for you as they are for me. I have a passion for surveying. I am committed to the truth that Professional Surveyors are an intrinsic part of every community in North Carolina and the profession must be maintained and strength as we move forward.

May I challenge those of us practicing today to leave behind more than dusty files and reproducible plats, and yes binary data?

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