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Thoughts on possessed on boundary law, measurement adjustment, and so
on. Therefore, the best chance for passing the FS exam that tests
Professional Practice on a broad range of surveying topics is immediately prior to or
shortly after graduation.
and Education I have heard students claim they will be better able to study
for the FS exam later after they are employed and without the
academic burdens of course attendance, homework, and course
Prepared by Knud E. Hermansen, P.L.S., P.E., Ph.D., Esq. exams. I caution otherwise. My experience shows that the new
Article 2: FS Exam as a Student Graduation Requirement graduate is often immersed in long hours at work and is soon
distracted with marriage, home ownership, child raising, and
(This is a follow-up to Article 1 published in the Traverse Edition 48.4) family commitments. All too often the graduate who has not
This is the second article focusing on professional practice and taken and passed the FS exam while in college, fails to pass the
education. While I suspect there is support for the thoughts exam later or cannot commit the time to prepare and take the FS
I am going to reveal among the profession, many academic exam later.
administrators and faculty will disagree with what I am about to For a third reason, I believe a graduate that has passed the
say. Agreement of all is never possible. Even the best of advice is FS exam, and placed this achievement on their resume at
often dismissed. (Not that my advice is always the best.) There graduation, has many more opportunities for employment and
is an old Jewish saying “If God lived on earth, people would break advancement upon graduation than a graduate who has not
His windows.” taken the FS exam. An employer will seek out graduates and
By way of introduction and upon which my thoughts will be pay a higher wage to those that have already passed the FS
measured, I introduce myself briefly. I taught surveying for more exam. These students have proven a mastery of topics deemed
than 30 years and still do contract teaching for surveying and necessary for professional practice and advancement.
engineering programs. I was a surveyor and engineer for over While other compelling arguments can be made, I believe these
twenty years in the military before retiring. I have been licensed three arguments are sufficient for those reading this article to
in several states as a surveyor, engineer, and attorney - almost understand the basis for my opinion. So why don’t all survey
fifty years as a surveyor. I still have an active license for each programs incorporate the requirement that students take the FS
profession in at least one state. exam as a pre-requisite for graduation?
The focus for this article will be to advocate requiring the I will give two reasons that seem to be prevalent reasons told to
fundamentals of surveying exam in order for a student to me. The first reason is that some programs rely on large number
graduate from a surveying or geomatics program. Note and I of foreign nationals to increase enrollment numbers and finance
emphasize that I am not advocating the student pass the exam university coffers that rely on tuition money. Foreign nationals
in order to graduate, merely be required to take the exam.
have no interest or need to pass any professional exam that is
I suspect those reading this article are familiar with the three not recognized or necessary in their counties of residence. Such
exams required for licensure. Briefly, the first exam is the is their disdain for this requirement that when forced to take
fundamentals of surveying (FS) exam. The second exam is the the exam, they select answers without contemplation. These
professional surveyor’s (PS) exam. The third exam is the state programs fear the foreign student will switch their studies
specific exam. The FS exam tests the examinee on topics that a to another program that does not require the FS exam for
quality surveying program should cover in its curriculum. Most graduation.
states, if not all states, allow senior college students to take the The second reason, perhaps partnering with the first reason,
FS exam. Therefore, there is no barrier to prevent a surveying is that program administrators do not want the FS scores to
program from requiring students take the exam as a pre- be used to judge the extent of their graduate’s knowledge and
requisite for graduation.
ultimately the quality of the surveying program. It is no secret
I provide three arguments for a surveying program to require among the profession that many surveying programs are on
students take the FS exam. tenuous grounds due to low enrollment or faculty deficiencies.
Often students that should not be in college, let alone a
First, I believe a primary purpose for any surveying program surveying program, are admitted and moved along much as
is to provide graduates to feed the needs of employers and many public schools move students along to graduation. Perhaps
the profession. Whether the graduate seeks employment in this happenstance is the eventual outcome of a society that
the private or public sector, licensing is generally required to gives a trophy to all participants, not just the winners. I will say
achieve more pay and higher positions. Licensing is required to no more as rational arguments sometimes get lost or ambushed
own or manage surveying firms offering services to the public. when placed in this arena.
What better way to begin the transition from academics to a
professional stature than require the first professional exam Having given my opinion, I now offer advice. My advice is for
while still involved in academic learning. professional societies to press their local surveying programs
to initiate this requirement if the requirement is not already a
Second, the breadth and depth of surveying knowledge will never mandate. If the program seeks the support of the profession
be more retentive than at or near graduation. After graduation, than the profession should seek the commitment of the program
the graduate tends to increase their depth of knowledge in toward the profession by demanding students take the FS exam.
limited topic areas of surveying while forgetting knowledge in
other topic areas. By way of example, the new employee that † Other books and articles by Knud can be found at https://
spends the next four years after graduation doing drone mapping umaine.edu/svt/faculty/hermansen-articles
is likely to have forgotten a great deal of knowledge they once

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