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2022 Surveying Education Award winners

NCEES recognizes the 2022 NCEES Surveying Education Award winners with a profile dedicated to each winning program. Profiles of the winning submissions will be posted as available and will include details on how the prize money will be used and additional information provided by the schools about the programs.

$25,000 grand prize
New Mexico State University
Department of Engineering Technology and Surveying Engineering
Geomatics/Surveying Engineering program

Program history: 

The surveying engineering program at New Mexico State University (NMSU) was established in 1990. The program started with input from the New Mexico Professional Surveyors (NMPS) to fulfill a legislative mandate. The program was originally accredited by ABET in 1994 under the Related Accreditation Commission. In 2000, the program changed its accreditation to EAC. In 2016, with the support of the NMPS, New Mexico State University redesigned the program to meet current and future industry demands, thus creating the new geomatics program designed to be a 2+2 flexible program. The new program started in Fall 2017. Currently, there is significant interest in the new program as more than 40 students are now enrolled. The new program is currently accredited by the ABET-ANSAC commission.

Program’s mission statement:  

The Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) are aligned with the institution’s mission to serve the educational needs of New Mexico’s diverse population through comprehensive programs of education, research, extension education, and public service. As the state’s land grant university, it is the responsibility of educational programs, especially those in engineering technology, to prepare students to enter the local and regional workforce and engage them in community service along the way.

The program educational objectives of the geomatics program at NMSU are:

  1. NMSU Geomatics program graduates will acquire the ability to become a licensed professional surveyor or a recognized geospatial professional.
  2. NMSU Geomatics program graduates will demonstrate leadership potential by becoming actively involved with local, state, or national professional organizations and will demonstrate growth and advancement in the surveying or geospatial professions.

 Program uniqueness: 

  1. The program offers two distinct paths:
    1. From a high school, a student can start at NMSU-DACC, an in-town, two-year college, and physically pursue the degree on campus.
    2. Transfer students can enroll directly in the upper division courses after their classes have officially transferred. Many articulation agreements have been made with two-year schools to facilitate this transfer process.
  2. Students can enroll in classes through one of two modes: face-to-face or online.
  3. Many connections have been established between surveying professionals, as represented in our Industry Advisory Board and the individuals that work within the surveying program.
  4. Two full-time faculty and four adjunct faculty (from the industry) work within the program to teach, perform outreach, and recruit for the university.

How will your program use the prize money to engage your students with other professionals, introduce them to both historical and new technology, and promote licensure? 

  • Promoting the program through advertisements in professional magazines, traveling to regional and national conferences and events, and visiting community colleges and K-12 schools
  • Offer courses on more regular levels of flexibility that allow students to select class times that work best for them
  • Continue the process of transferring all geomatics courses to online delivery and the process of certifying them through Quality Matters

The previous award helped the program to increase its visibility, which led to an increase in enrollment, more support from NMPS and industry, and regional and national recognition.

https://etse.nmsu.edu/academics%20/geomatics-surveying.html

https://www.facebook.com/NSPSNMPS/

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:6910423226330312704?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_share&utm_content=post

 

 

 

$15,000 prize
Florida Atlantic University
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geomatics Engineering

Mission of FAU Geomatics Engineering Program

The Geomatics Engineering program strives to deliver a quality educational experience in surveying, mapping, and emerging geomatics technologies throughout the FAU service area and beyond, and makes a significant contribution to the needs of a growing southeast Florida community. Program faculty focus on student-centered learning methodologies that requires students to be active, responsible participants in their own learning. This program values ethical behavior, critical thinking, innovation, individual responsibility, thoughtful risk taking, teamwork, and leadership. http://www.cege.fau.edu/undergraduate/geomatics/mission.php

How will your program use the prize money to engage your students with other professionals, introduce them to both historical and new technology, and promote licensure?

The NCEES Surveying Education Award will be used to improve and promote the BSGE Program of FAU by enhancing the recruitment of potential students, advancing the professional licensure and providing the most current surveying technology to the current students in the program.

One third of the award will be used to support the recruitment activities to maintain the momentum of student enrollment increase and to support the student travels to regional and national conference. Another one third of the award will be used to provide an incentive to encourage the current students to take the FS exam before their graduation. We plan to reimburse the exam fee for the students who pass the FS exam before their graduation. The remainder of the award will be used for equipment repairs and calibration to support the laboratory courses to provide the best technology and equipment to our BSGE students.

$15,000 prize
Idaho State University
College of Technology
Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Technology program

$15,000 prize
University of Maine
College of Engineering
Surveying Engineering Technology program

How will your program use the prize money to engage your students with other professionals, introduce them to both historical and new technology, and promote licensure?

The prize money will be used to:

  • 1. Pay for students to attend the NSPS national student competition
  • 2. Pay for students to attend regional and state surveying society meetings
  • 3. Pay for students to attend national, regional, and state vendor meetings/shows
  • 4. Encourage access to study materials and training for professional licensure exams
  • 5. Pay for scholarships so students can complete their degree and thus seek licensure efficiently
  • 6. Pay for upgrades to existing technology which has become dated
  • 7. Pay for better technology for building our multimedia education facility
  • 8. Pay for advertising of education options in surveying at the University of Maine

Our mission statement and everything about surveying at the University of Maine can be found at https://umaine.edu/svt/ and https://online.umaine.edu/surveying/.
(Note: on the second link, you can click on one of the four degree options at the bottom to get all of the information about the degree or certificate option.)

In spring 2022 (January–May):

  • 25 students passed the Fundamentals of Surveying exam
  • 10 graduates received surveying professional licensure
  • 40 students received degrees or certificates
  • 40 scholarships were awarded

Even online students come to graduation and enjoy a free meal!

Graduation night at Governors Restaurant (Old Town, Maine) for graduates, their families, and University of Maine faculty, staff, and significant others. This was also to celebrate online students and their families coming to campus for the first time. Students represented AK (Nome), CA, PA, NH, NJ, NY, MA, and ME.

2022 NSPS Student Competition Team running 3-wire levels in Benjamin Banneker Park, Washington, D.C. (left to right: Tyler Bealieu, Katie Wade, Emily Mitchell, Gideon Wheeler, and Sean Burke)

$10,000 prize
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
College of Science and Technology
Department of Built Environment

$10,000 prize
Oregon Institute of Technology
College of Engineering, Technology, and Management
Geomatics program

$10,000
University of Akron
College of Engineering and Polymer Science
Surveying and Mapping program 

How will your program use the prize money to engage your students with other professionals, introduce them to both historical and new technology, and promote licensure?

The University of Akron Surveying and Mapping program is beyond grateful for the award money from the 2022 NCEES Surveying Education Award. The money from this award is placed in a special account only to be utilized by our program and for the benefit of our current and future surveying and mapping students. The award money will be partially used to help offset fees for the student attendance of the Professional Land Surveyors of Ohio Annual Conference. This event gives our students the opportunity to meet industry professionals as well as sit in on various continuing professional development seminars. The award money will be also used to partially fund new hardware and software to keep up with the constant expenses associated with new and advancing technology. Lastly, we will use the award money for marketing and outreach to attract new students from local high school and career centers. We are building curriculum and working with instructors to establish surveying modules to help educate them on the career path of a professional land surveyor.

The University of Akron Surveying and Mapping Mission Statement

The mission of the Surveying program is to provide high-quality, career-focused education that meets the specific needs of the students as they prepare for careers in the surveying, mapping, and (GIS/LIS) industries nationwide. Our goal is to provide them with the skills and knowledge they will need to obtain professional registration or technical certification, as appropriate, in their relevant geographic science discipline, and to instill a desire for life-long learning.

Video

Surveying flyer