After my long hiatus from writing for The American Surveyor, its publisher, Marc Cheves, has persuaded me to again start contributing articles to…
Category: Column
04.18.2021
From the Editor: Licensure Mobility
Retracement surveyors are practitioners. Our education is ceaseless but measured at minimum competence through licensure. Let’s face it, geodesy, construction staking, and topographic…
04.18.2021
The Myth of Mobility for Professional Land Surveyors
For a long time, I thought land surveyors enjoyed the same mobility as engineers and architects. After all, state licensing boards created NCEES…
04.18.2021
The Business of Surveying: Strategic Planning for a Survey Firm
A strategic plan is a document that outlines the results of an organization’s (including a firm, a nonprofit organization, or any other form…
04.18.2021
Vantage Point: Micro Countries, Macro Property Questions
I recently watched a movie called “Rose Island” that sparked my curiosity. The plot is based on the true story of an Italian…
02.08.2021
From the Editor: Rules for Tools?
What and why are you measuring? Your answers define the offer of professional services. If you don’t own the “what” and the “why”…
02.08.2021
The Business of Surveying: Creating Your Firm’s Business Plan
Last month, I wrote about business planning in general. This column is specifically about a business plan. Whether you are the principal, owner,…
02.08.2021
Vantage Point: Getting “To” the Point
Author’s note: The following is a lightly—but only lightly!—fictionalized version of true events. It was a real argument, and my closing salvo was…
12.31.2020
2021 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys Adopted
After two years of concentrated effort and the input of many interested persons including several hundred surveyors, the American Land Title Association and…
11.29.2020
A National Test
Different states license surveyors to provide different services relevant to each respective jurisdiction. Our common function in every state is focused on boundary…
