ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Surveying Engineering at New Mexico State University was established as the Department of Surveying in 1990. Dr. James P. Reilly was brought in to be the program’s first Department Head and to establish a recognized Surveying program. Dr. Reilly did this, first getting ABET accreditation under the Related Accreditation Commission (RAC, now called the Applied Science Accreditation Commission) in 1995. Work with faculty, students, and outside advisors convinced the program to apply for and receive ABET accreditation under the Engineering Accreditation Commission in 2001 (for more about ABET, see the “Links” page).
The Department currently has three full-time professors and two part-time instructors. We are located in the east end of Engineering Complex I at the corner of Stewart and Espina Streets. Equipment for lab exercises include several digital theodolites, a digital level, several static GPS, a RTK-GPS unit, manual theodolites, automatic levels, a BC 8 photogrammetric stereoplotter, numerous computers, and software, including AutoCad, TerraModel, Star-Net, and ArcView.
The Surveying Engineering degree is divided into several sections. There is a core section of 31 credit hours that are required to meet University standards. These include courses in communication and humanities. There is a Math and Science section that also includes 31 credit hours. These courses satisfy the ABET criteria for Math and Science. Next are the Surveying Engineering courses consisting of 48 credit hours. Finally, there are other courses, including electives, that make up the remaining 18 hours of the 128* hour degree requirement. See the course listings and descriptions below.
The Department is relatively small with about 50 students at any given time. We typically graduate about 10 students per year. Most graduates go on to work as surveyors in either construction or boundary surveying areas. Those who choose to pursue a boundary surveying career must become Licensed Professional Surveyors. A report on the success rate of NMSU Surveying Engineering graduates passing the Fundamentals of Surveying and Practice of Surveying exams is linked below.
The Department welcomes input from professional surveyors and has formed a Surveying Engineering Industrial Advisory Committee (SEIAC) that meets twice a year to discuss directions the program is planning to take. Feedback from the Committee is important to us in deciding things such as setting priorities for equipment and software acquisition, planning changes in the curriculum, and adding changes to individual courses. A link to the SEIAC is listed below.
The Department faculty encourage active student participation in professional surveying societies. Faculty and students are active at the local, state, national, and international levels. The Surveying Engineering Department is an "Academic Member" of the International Federation for Surveying (FIG). There is a link to the FIG site listed on our "Links" page.
2003-2004 Surveying Engineering curriculum
2003-2004 Surveying Engineering course flowchart (PDF)
2003-2004 Surveying Engineering course descriptions (PDF)
* This requirement is expected to change to 129 hours in the 2004-2005 academic year.