ORONO – In recognition of the high demand for surveyors by private firms and government, the University of Maine has established a surveying engineering technology program. Jason Racette, a UMaine graduate, surveyor with the Bureau of Land Management and member of the SVT industrial advisory committee, recently delivered the first of five $50,000 BLM contributions to support the program.

“There is more demand for surveyors than can be filled by current graduates,” said Ray Hintz, SVT coordinator. “And the BLM expects a lot of turnover in the next few years. That’s why they’re supporting this program.”

In addition to Hintz, faculty in the program include Knud Hermansen, Louis Morin and Steve Adam. Hintz has written several software programs that are used by more than 25 state departments of transportation and consulting firms in the country. Hermansen also is a registered professional engineer and attorney.

“We are receiving financial support from all of the New England state surveying societies and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping-New England Section through the Surveying Education Foundation of New England Inc. SEFNE was set up primarily as a nonprofit organization which could receive donations to support the program,” said Hintz.

Students in SVT will learn fundamental surveying skills -determining property boundaries, locating them on the ground then creating maps. Students will combine surveying skills with engineering, business and communication skills. Students often enhance expertise by working during the summer with engineering companies or government agencies.

“Surveyors are needed by BLM as that agency is mandated to be in control of all boundary surveys of federal domain land, approximately 27 percent of the United States,” said Hintz. “There’s a lot of work in Alaska, for example, associated with land acquisition and oil development.” Beyond the traditional image of the surveyor striking out across an open landscape, there are career opportunities in private consulting firms and industry, he added.

In the past, UMaine has offered a surveying program through civil engineering and most recently through spatial information science and engineering.

The new program is part of the school of engineering technology, which offers construction management, and electrical and mechanical engineering technology degrees. Starting salaries for graduates vary widely, but they average more than $42,000 a year. Some 550 surveyors work in Maine. Among recent UMaine surveying graduates, about 40 percent stay in the state and 20 percent work in New England. The remaining 40 percent take jobs in other parts of the country.

“People in this field report a high level of job satisfaction,” said Hintz. “They might be out in the field one day, in the Register of Deeds office checking property descriptions the next and creating maps after that. There is a lot of variety and independence in this work.”

To graduate, students must take the Maine state surveyor fundamentals exam. Before receiving a license, however, surveyors must have additional supervised work experience.

UMaine offers the only four-year surveying program in New England. An agreement with Central Maine Technical College in Auburn enables graduates of that school’s two-year surveying program to transfer course credits directly to UMaine. Efforts are underway to develop similar agreements with two-year programs in other New England states.

More information is available on the Internet at www.umaine.edu/set/svt or by calling Hintz at 581-2189.