Lone Star College partners with many area businesses to ensure students receive first-class educational opportunities that will set them up for success. The Professional Surveyors Education Foundation, Inc. (PSEFI) recently donated $150,000 to the LSC-Montgomery Land Surveying and Mapping Technology program.
“Lone Star College and Lone Star College Foundation are grateful for the support of our external partners, like Professional Surveyors Education Foundation, Inc., who understand that a college education opens the door to greater possibilities,” said Nicole Robinson Gauthier, CFRE, LSC Foundation executive director. “This generous donation will help operate the Lone Star College Land Surveying and Mapping Technology program and provide needed resources to help our students succeed.”
Professional Land Surveying and Mapping Technology is experiencing a tremendous decrease in qualified workers entering the field due to an aging workforce and the lack of young professionals joining the industry. LSC-Montgomery will use the funds to pay for Texas Registered Professional Land Surveyors (RPLS) licensees’ continuing education requirements, employees’ professional education and training expenses, professional association membership dues and equipment and software for the program.
“Additionally, we plan to recruit and retain registered surveyors as adjunct professors to increase the robustness of the program and enrollment,” said Adam Salazar, LSC-Montgomery professor, Land Surveying and Mapping Technology. “These experts have over 20 years of real-world experiences that can train our students in planning projects and using industry equipment, leading them beyond basic academics and into workforce readiness careers.”
PSEFI promotes and supports professional opportunities for students interested in earning industry-related degrees and credentials. The nonprofit organization also donated $10,000 to LSC-Montgomery in April to help students attend the National Student Professional Surveyors Competition in Washington, D.C., where they earned second place.
“I am excited that the Land Surveying and Mapping Technology program at Lone Star College-Montgomery is one we can support,” said Andrew Sikes, Andrew Lonnie Sikes, Inc. president and PSEFI board president. “I believe the education of surveyors is critical to the future of our community.”
The Land Surveying and Mapping Technology program at LSC-Montgomery prepares students with technical and career skills to conduct boundary surveying, mapping, engineering surveying and other geospatial techniques.
“Professional surveyors have always been at the forefront of many infrastructure projects like building homes, businesses and roads, constructing airports and terminals and county and city projects,” said Paul Kwan, Landtech Surveying, Inc. president and PSEFI board member. “There is a growing need for more young professional surveyors to join the workforce. Professional Surveyors Education Foundation Inc. supports college programs, like Lone Star College’s Land Surveying and Mapping Technology, where students learn valuable first-hand knowledge from faculty members who are professional surveyors instead of a textbook.”
The LSC Land Surveying and Mapping Technology program is fully available at LSC-Montgomery and LSC-Houston North. Learn more at LoneStar.edu/Land-Survey-AAS.
Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Mario K. Castillo, J.D., serves as Chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and has been named a 2023 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.