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NSPS Nevada 2023 Student Surveying Competition:
The 2023 Student Surveying Competition was held in con-
Directors Report junction with the spring meetings of NSPS. The competition
consisted of a social exercise and a technical field exercise. The
social exercise, a monument hunt, was a scavenger-type hunt
where student teams traveled around the Washington, DC area
By: Nancy J. Almanzan, PLS
recovering monuments. Each monument had a different point
The Spring 2023 Meetings were held in Arlington, Virginia from value depending on the difficulty or distance the students had
March 28-April 1, 2023. to travel to find the monument. The second portion of the
competition was a measurement exercise that evaluated the
The 2023-2024 NSPS Officers were installed: student’s technical ability and knowledge of historical concepts.
President: Bob Akins, Ohio Students had to perform a three-wire level loop, a 4-sided
President-Elect: Davey Edwards, Texas traverse with a steel tape or chain and compass, and finally a
Vice President – Linda Foster, North Dakota triangulation exercise. There were three divisions for the com-
Secretary: Craig Amey, Michigan petition: one for Associate degree programs, one for Baccalau-
Treasurer: Bob Miller, Pennsylvania reate Degree programs, and one for nontraditional combina-
Immediate Past President: Amanda Allred, Washington tions of students sponsored by a state association. There was
even a high school team in the competition. There were over
The following were elected as Directors to the Executive Com- 25 teams that participated, and Ferris State took top honors.
mittee:
ExCom Director (2 years) – Jeff Clendenning, South TrigStar Program:
Carolina The 2023 National Awards for TrigStar were recently an-
ExCom Director (2 years) – Tim Murphy, Indiana nounced. First place was Zachary Clark from North Dakota,
ExCom Director (1 year) – Tim Brewer, Mississippi Second place was James Willden from Utah and Third place was
Dhruv Goyal from South Dakota.
Committee Meeting Highlights:
Workforce Development Committee:
NSPS Foundation: The Workforce Development Committee is working on provid-
ing standardized presentation materials for various potential
The 2023 NSPS Foundation officers are: target audiences including middle and high schools as well
Rick Howard – Chair as service men & women transitioning out of the military. A
Danny Martinez – Vice-Chair recent study regarding the difficulty of promoting the survey-
Nancy Almanzan – Secretary ing profession identified communication and resources are the
Cotton Jones – NSPS Trustee primary identifying factors. The committee is engaging with
Danny Martinez – NSPS Trustee the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), the As-
sociation of Career Technical Education (ACTE), and the Future
The NSPS Foundation awarded 17 scholarships for the 2023- Farmers of America (FFA) to expand outreach to potential
2024 school year. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) avenues to the surveying workforce. The committee also cre-
between the NSPS Foundation and The Alabama Society ated a recruitment video which is posted on the NSPS website
of Professional Land Surveyors (ASPLS) to create The Ala- and can be edited for states.
bama Scholarship Fund was approved at the Spring meeting.
$12,000 was approved for the NSPS Outreach Fund. The NSPS Education Committee:
Foundation has 4 categories of membership depending on the A motion was made and passed unanimously for NSPS to adopt
contribution amount: Regular Member ($50/year), Century a policy on graduate education in surveying to complement its
Member ($100/year), Sustaining Member ($500/year), and existing policy of baccalaureate education in surveying: “NSPS
Lifetime Member ($5000/one-time). Trustees are not auto- strongly supports and encourages both the creation of new and
matically members. Dues are paid every year (except for life the expansion of existing, masters and doctoral degree pro-
members) and go to the general fund for the operation of NSPS grams in surveying in the United States.” The policy is intended
Foundation. Anyone can be a member of the NSPS Foundation. to promote opportunities for graduate degrees to bolster higher
Please visit https://www.nsps.us.com/ and select the Founda- education programs with a larger pool of qualified faculty.
tion tab for more information on membership and the NSPS
Foundation. Western States Directors Council
Nominations and elections for a new chair and vice-chair for
CST Program: WSDC were held since the previous chair, Doug Schneider from
The Certified Survey Technician (CST) program is now provid- Arizona, retired from NSPS. Nancy Almanzan from Nevada
ing all exams online. The committee is exploring ways to make was elected Chair and Matt Morris from Montana was elected
training materials more accessible, including web-based, Vice-Chair. The on-going business included discussions on
in-person, and developing training manuals. There were 937 licensure/”Sense of Congress”. Threats to licensure are ongo-
applicants in 2022 for CST exams. ing at the state levels. The “Sense of Congress” initiative is at
the federal level. John “JB” Byrd, the CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE u
The Nevada Traverse Vol.50, No.2, 2023 37