how one college has benefited cst exam

his is a story of how an Indiana College has taken advantage of the Certified Surveying Technician (CST) Program since 1991. Vincennes University (VU) has been in existence since 1801. It is Indiana’s first college and is the only col-

lege in the nation founded by an individual who would later become President of the United States. William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. President, founded VU while serving as governor of the Indiana Territory, when he was instrumental in negotiating many treaties with Tecumseh, the great Chief of the Shawnee. It is not only appropriate to have a surveying program at VU based on its early history as capital but also a challenge in that the immediate area surrounding the city is not part of the USPLSS. The area has many types of land survey systems including Upper, Lower, and Cathlinette Surveys, Common Lands, Donations, Locations, Surveys, and Military Donations surrounding the city of Vincennes. We travel 20 miles to perform labs in the Rectangular System.

The VU Surveying Program began in 1975. Under the guidance of Art Haase, a program grew from a Civil Engineering Technician degree to a Commission of Higher Education approved Surveying Technology degree in 1977. The current curriculum includes all surveying classes required by Indiana Administrative Code to qualify for licensing exams in Indiana. See sidebar for the composition of the two-year program.

In addition to the Surveying Associate of Science degree, VU offers an Associate of Science degree in Civil Drafting/CAD and a Bachelor of Science in Surveying Management degree.

The VU Surveying program will normally graduate 10-12 students. There has always been a demand for VU Surveying graduates by the profession. Placement is done within the program and has always been 100% for those who wish to enter the surveying workforce.

Assessment is always in discussion in higher learning, but accreditation agents are now expecting an assessment instrument that provides regional or national comparisons. Are your students learning the necessary skills to be a

How One College Surveying Program has Benefited from the

CST Exam

Displayed with permission • The American Surveyor • Vol. 10 No. 12 • Copyright 2013 Cheves Media • www.Amerisurv.com

The Vincennes University Surveying Department Exhibit of historic surveying instruments and tools.

The VU Surveying CORS (top of building) featuring a Trimble NetR9 receiver (not pictured) and Trimmark 3 radio, allowing students to do RTK GPS around campus.

B.S. Surveying Management student, Curtis Bouchie, prepares to perform a 3-D laser scan of the George Rogers Clark Memorial.


A.S. Surveying student, Corey Scheiber, wades to an NGS benchmark along the Wabash River after heavy rains.

The surveying equipment room is stocked with equipment ranging from theodolites to total stations to GPS and laser scanners.

productive member of the workforce? Many methods of determining how well your program has prepared your graduates have been used. We mostly base our assessment on job placement, salary advancement, and passing licensing exams. The VU accreditation body wanted to see a more immediate method.

In 1991, the VU Surveying Program Department Chair, Art Haase, decided we would utilize the CST Exam for our national assessment. First year students would test at CST level one and second year students would test at CST level two.

Since then VU Surveying has had over 400 students take the CST exam. First

“ In 1991, the VU Surveying Program Department Chair, Art Haase, decided we would utilize the CST Exam for our national assessment.”


A.S. Surveying student, Derek Schwenk, sets up a base receiver for an RTK GPS survey.

year students traditionally pass the exam at an 80% rate, while second year students pass at a 75% rate. The second year students must also complete 700 hours of work experience with a Professional Surveyor. The successful completion of the exam has shown prospective employ-ers that our students have achieved an understanding of the practical knowledge and application of the knowledge to a variety of surveying disciplines. The exam also is a test experience for the graduates who will pursue the professional licens-ing exams (over 50% of our graduates become Professional Surveyors).

Since 2004 Vincennes University has become the host site for taking the CST electronically. Through the efforts of Art Haase, current Dean of College of Technology and President of the CST Board, VU administers the CST exam through our Center for Teaching and Learning under the guidance of director Debbie Stanczak. There has been over 2500 participate to date.

The CST exam has become an integral part of our assessment efforts. We are in the third decade of evaluating the teaching efforts of the VU Surveying faculty and the learning results of our students. We will continue to use and benefit from the exam.

For more information and tuition costs, go to vinu.edu/technology.

SemeSter I eNGL 101 English Composition I 3 hrs mAtH 102 College Algebra 3 hrs (M) SUrV 100 Surveying Fundamentals 3 hrs SUrV 125 Land Survey Systems 3 hrs Laboratory Science (ertH) Elective 4 hrs total Hours: 16 SemeSter IIArCH 141 Introduction to Architectural CAD 3 hrsCOmm 143 Speech 3 hrsmAtH 104 Trigonometry 3 hrsSUrV 155 Topographic Surveying and Mapping 3 hrsSUrV 165 Instrumentation and Control Surveying 3 hrsSocial Science Elective 3 hrstotal Hours: 18

SemeSter IIImAtH 115 Survey of Calculus I 3 hrs -or- MATH 110 - Statistics 3 hrsSUrV 201 Boundary Surveying and Legal Aspects 3 hrs (R)SUrV 250 Surveying Computations and Route/Construction Surveys 3 hrs (W)SUrV 270 Surveying Applications Using Auto CAD and Related Software 3 hrsSUrV 272 Property Description Writing and Analysis 3 hrstotal Hours: 15

SemeSter IVPHYS 218 Essentials of General Physics 5 hrsSUrV 240 Subdivision Design and Layout 3 hrs (R/S)SUrV 273 Surveying Law 3 hrsSUrV 280 Survey Data Acquisition and Analysis 3 hrs (S)Humanities, mathematics, Science, Social Science, Writing, or Fitness/Wellness Elective 3 hrs total Hours: 17 cu

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http://www.vinu.edu/technology

how one college has benefited cst exam

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