I am sending this email to request that anyone (PLS) who has not done the survey for the referenced Surveying-Geomatics education research project please complete the survey as soon as possible. In an attempt to email the entire stakeholder group, several request emails were kicked back due to filtering and system controls. Therefore, I want to give everyone one more chance. Therefore, please complete and submit the survey according to the directions below as soon as possible.

Survey on SURVEYING-GEOMATICS in GEORGIA

Thank you in advance for completing the following survey! We have developed questions that we hope will enhance our understanding of Surveying-Geomatics in Georgia and will help us improve the quantity and quality of Surveying-Geomatics education for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the State of Georgia. The research for this project is funded by GDOT under Research Project, RP #18-10, “Meeting the 21^st Century Surveying-Geomatics Education Needs of GDOT and Georgia”.  The research is being performed by the Civil Engineering and Construction Department at Georgia Southern University. The research project contact is Roger Purcell, gdotsurvey1@georgiasouthern.edu , Phone: 912-478-5001.

Information that you need to know for the survey:

·          You are under no obligation to complete this survey. Your participation is voluntary!

·          If you would like a copy of the Georgia Southern Institutional Review Board (IRB) Consent Form for this survey, please contact Dr. Purcell by email.

·          If you encounter a question that you do not know the answer to or that you do not understand, please disregard this question and complete the other questions in the survey.

·          If you feel that you are not the right person to complete the survey, please feel free to forward the link to the survey to the right person in your organization.

·          Once you have completed all the questions (through Question 4-12b), please click the submit button as directed. Your survey file will be forwarded to the research group for summarization and analysis.

·           The deadline for your completion of the survey is Wednesday, February 10^th at 11:59pm.

·         GETTING STARTED:

 
We recommend you use a personal computer (PC) to complete this survey. If so, click on this PC-LINK .

If you prefer to use a Smartphone, click on this PHONE-LINK .to start the survey. Please, know that if you use a smartphone, in some questions you may need to scroll your screen toward the left to access the columns hidden on the right-hand side.

·          Please submit only one completed survey per participant.

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP!

Roger C. Purcell, Ph.D., P.E., R.L.S.
Retired Chair & Part-Time Instructor
Surveying-Geomatics Coordinator
Department of Civil Engineering and Construction
Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing
Georgia Southern University
P.O. Box 8077
Statesboro, GA 30460-8077
Office: Engineering Building-Room 1101A
Phone: (912) 478-5001
Fax: (912) 478-1885
Email: rcpurcell@georgiasouthern.edu
Department Webpage:  https://cec.georgiasouthern.edu/cengc/
Surveying-Geomatics Webpages:
https://cec.georgiasouthern.edu/cengc/surveying-geomatics/

          Many of the questions seem pretty-much unintelligible or require statistical information that I do not have. I answered only a few of the questions, and then submitted.

          Here are examples, out of several, that illustrate the problems:

QUESTION: “From this analysis, most of the new surveying-geomatics jobs reviewed require no in-house experience.  Do you think this lack of in-house experience will impact the new employee’s performance on the job?”

PROBLEM WITH THIS QUESTION: If “surveying-geomatics jobs ... require no in-house experience,” then “lack of in-house experience” cannot possibly “impact the new employee’s performance on the job.”  On the other hand, if a person with no experience is hired at entry level, and they stick with the job, they will gain “in-house experience” and their job performance should increase.

QUESTION: “Many of the surveying-geomatics jobs require some number of years of prior experience. Do you think hiring should be based on the number of years of experience of the new employee?

PROBLEM WITH THIS QUESTION: Number of years of experience is a very important criterion for hiring but it is not the only criterion and no one is hired purely on that basis.  This question can be answered only in conjunction with and in the context of other factors which are not stated in the question.

QUESTION: “Given your experience in Surveying-Geomatics select an answer for each of the below questions on the new S-G employee’s performance in the professional field, at the current levels of educational background.

PROBLEM WITH THIS QUESTION: This question is pretty undecipherable to me.  Exactly what is it asking?

QUESTION: “Given the following options, please select what you think is the most effective method of class presentation for student learning?....

Acquisition/Assimilation of knowledge     

Knowledge sharing and problem-based learning 

Time flexibility    

Presentation        

PROBLEM WITH THIS QUESTION: I basically do not know what the choices mean, or they are so broad in meaning that I cannot answer them in a specific context like this one.

QUESTION: Please, compare and rank (from 1st = Maximum to 4th = Minimum) the four Surveying-Geomatics educational institutions in Georgia, according to their availability of S-G courses.

PROBLEM WITH THIS QUESTION:  What is meant by “availability of S-G courses”?  Is it with reference to how close potential students live to the institutions, the extent to which potential students are willing to pick up and move to the institutions, the presence or absence of online instruction, how affordable they are, or how often S-G courses are offered at each institution within an academic year?  Also, the circumstances of persons desiring to pursue S-G courses are so varied that I don’t see that a firm answer can be given, regardless.

          Another thing:  Shouldn’t Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia be included?  They both offer considerable S-G courses, though perhaps not under that label.