FAU has approved a new major for the fall 2007 semester which currently offers no core classes and employs exactly zero professors. In fact, the university will not provide either of these essential components for at least another year, and there are no plans to hire adjunct faculty.
“A director will be hired one year from now, and upper-division classes will be offered in a couple years,” Interim Director of FAU’s Geomatics Engineering Department Dr. Donald J. Leone says. Leone, a visiting professor from the University of Hartford, is the sole member of this recently establish department.
The term “geomatics” refers to the study of the earth and individual land masses; an “engineer” uses technology and creativity to solve a set of problems. Thus, a geomatics engineer maps a given plot of land, and determines if and how a structure could be safely built upon it. These structures can range from a house on the side of a mountain, to an oil rig firmly planted on the ocean floor.
Students interested in pursuing a degree in geomatics will spend their first two years completing the required general education courses, such as English, mathematics and physics. Other required courses will be offered through the geosciences, architecture and urban planning, oceanography and civil engineering departments until the geomatics program gains the necessary faculty.
“It’s going to take us a couple of years to get enough talent on board to start offering upper level courses [in geomatics],” Leone says. In order for the program to maintain its accreditation, the department must employ a certain number of full-time faculty members.
The creation of the geomatics department began when local land developers voiced their concern over the diminishing number of certified land surveyors. A 2005 change in Florida legislature forbids anyone without a four-year degree from the certification process. FAU’s geomatics engineering program will equip students with the knowledge needed to become successful land surveyors and construction managers.
“The impact the geomatics engineering program will have will be profound,” President and CEO of Boca Raton’s Baseline Engineering and Land Surveying Inc. Roxanna Trinka says. “[Our company] is overjoyed that FAU responded to the desperate need we have in South Florida for new professional surveyors and mappers.”
According to the American Congress on Surveying & Mapping (ACSM), there are 22 universities in the nation that offer four-year, ACSM accredited programs in geomatics, and only 8 offer an engineering track. FAU will be the first university in the southeast to offer a bachelor’s degree in geomatics engineering.
“It’s a pretty good bet it’s going to be a good program,” Leone says. “We’re going to wait for the applications to come in.”
FAU’s geomatics engineering program will begin taking applications on July 1.
For more information about the geomatics engineering program, please contact Dr. Donald J. Leone at (772) 873-3439 or visit http://www.ge.fau.edu/ .
