The Case of the Missing Curriculum

Surveying, mapping, and geodesy have traditionally fallen within the realm of civil engineering. However, in recent years, the technological advances in all areas of civil engineering have caused considerable stress on civil engineering educational programs. Some areas, such as surveying and mapping, have suffered with a reduction of emphasis. However, progress in surveying and mapping technology has continued to develop rapidly. The civil engineer, like the forester and geologist, needs a certain amount of basic instruction in surveying and mapping. But it is not enough for the engineer who wishes to specialize in the surveying and mapping sciences and desires to enter the professional field as a land surveyor or cadastral engineer, geodetic engineer or geodesist, topographic engineer, hydrographic engineer, cartographic engineer, or photogrammetrist, or even as a survey engineer on elaborate construction projects. This paper supports a popular belief that the time has come for a four-year curriculum in surveying and mapping technology to be established at a few universities in the United States. A proposed curriculum and an extensive bibliography on geometronics education are included.