THE NEVADA TRAVERSE - Nevada Association of Land Surveyors

Nevada’s Four Year
Degree Surveying/
Geomatics Program
Part III -
Preparation for Study in
Nevada’s Online Four-Year
Degree Program
By James A. Elithorp, Ph.D., PLS
Program Supervisor, GBC Land
Surveying/Geomatics Program
In the last issue of The Nevada Traverse (Vol. 39, No. 1,
2012) we traced the role of online course delivery in survey
education. In Part III - Preparation for Study in
Nevada’s Online Four-Year Degree Program, we look at
the educational preparation necessary to gain the four year
degree from Great Basin College. It would be easy to simply
list the entrance requirements to the Program, but students,
mentors, professionals, and those managers of survey firms
and departments reimbursing student expenses deserve an
explanation of typical curriculum design found in survey
education.
Let us begin with a big picture view. I believe a fair estimate to
be that over 90% of surveyors do surveys involving boundaries,
construction layout, or land development. Technical
knowledge and experience in these areas is not enough. To be
competitive, surveyors need to be able to understand and apply
the various tools provided by technology. A short tool inventory
is computer-aided drafting software; least squares adjustment
software; GIS software; GPS systems and software; and in
the developing area of remote sensing-- terrestrial scanners,
orthophotographs, and/or LIDAR imagery. Many of these tools
are associated with training on their use. But education is
more than training. Training focuses on the use of a specific
tool/or measurement system to do a specific task. Education
provides an understanding of the underlying concepts and
principles used by the tool to accomplish the task so that the
tool can be used again for un-related tasks. The professional
land surveyor is expected to apply fundamental concepts
and principles to associated problems presenting a new and
different challenge. This is the nature of our profession.
Each task or problem can present a new face requiring the
application of basic principles and concepts for a solution that
meets the standards of practice and a satisfied client.
What are these fundamental concepts and principles:
1. The knowledge and application of law, regulations, and those
survey instructions and practice used to create the boundaries
to be retraced. For example, the Standards of Practice for
Surveying in Nevada are regulations containing specific
positional tolerance requirements. To understand positional
tolerance requires a fundamental understanding of statistics.
18 The Nevada Traverse Vol. 39, No. 2, 2012
2. Geodetic positioning is facilitated by the use of the Global
Positioning System (GPS). To understand geodetic positioning
requires the study of mathematics, statistics, geodesy, least
squares adjustment, and physics.
3. Unless you are using rules of thumb for survey design,
actual survey design to meet contractual specifications requires
the determination of how the error in the field measurements
will propagate into computed products. Survey design requires
the use of calculus which is used to map the mathematical
relationships between the measurement errors and the
resulting precision of the computed products. The problem
with using heuristics or ‘rules of thumb’ is that they may
not provide the best outcome for your particular problem or
application.
4. Least squares adjustment is rapidly becoming an
indispensible tool in the surveyor’s toolbox. The use of offthe-shelf
least squares programs requires an understanding
of statistics, the ability to determine a reasonable estimate
of measurement precision, and the understanding of
measurement science. To program specific least squares
applications requires the additional application of linear
algebra, calculus, and computer programming skills.
Although the above list of fundamental concepts associated
with survey practice is not exhaustive, it begins to dimension
the typical survey curriculum created to satisfy the educational
requirements for the licensure of professional land surveyors.
Before we discuss the preparation needed to gain the four year
degree, we need to approach these educational requirements
from another perspective. What do we expect from a graduate
with a four year degree?
We expect the graduate to pass the NCEES and Nevada
State Specific licensure examinations on the first attempt
demonstrating minimum competence as a licensed
land surveyor. We expect that graduate to demonstrate
such potential that surveying and mapping firms find it
economically feasible to invest the time and resources
necessary to bring the new hire into a profitable relationship
with the firm.
We have waited long enough--let us get on with the list of
fundamental knowledge and skills needed to study surveying
and mapping. This list corresponds to the list of required
lower division prerequisites detailed in the attachment. The
attachment is a statement of the course requirements for the
Great Basin College Four Year Degree in Land Surveying/
Geomatics.
1. Computer-aided drafting
2. Trigonometry
3. Geographic Information Systems
4. Physics
5. Statistics
6. Classical Survey Fundamentals
7. The Urban Development Process
These requirements are ideally gained in the first two years of
college. The courses taken in the first two years of college are
typically referred to as ‘lower division courses.’ The completion
of the first two years at most two-year colleges results in an
earned associate degree. At four-year colleges and universities
the path is similar. The first two years of lower division
courses focus on required general studies and prerequisites to
the upper division courses in
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