A geomatics engineering curriculum for enhancing the professional capacity of the graduate surveyor at the University of Lagos, Nigeria

Advances in land surveying technology and instrumentation now make it possible for less qualified surveyors to produce maps and determine positions with relative ease. The professional surveyor, whose career has been the production of maps at varying scales and accuracies, now faces real challenges in keeping abreast with the technological advances. Surveyors in Nigeria are burdened by: • new and changing user demand for products in varying formats, • inadequate knowledge to explore or venture into new and emerging areas of opportunities, • diminishing career opportunities. Although new and emerging technological innovations are creating new opportunities for surveyors many feel unprepared to explore or to venture into these new technologies. To reverse the trend, a committee from the Department of Surveying & Geoinformatics at the University of Lagos in Nigeria, was set up to analyze the problem and recommend remedial actions. The committee identified, among other things, that the structure of the surveying program be redesigned into a North American brand of surveying engineering, and to revise existing surveying curriculum so as to include courses in emerging technologies. It was the belief of the committee that these changes would enhance the capabilities of the Geomatics engineer, not only to carry out engineering and cadastral surveys, but to adapt and expand his activities into the newer areas of geospatial information systems engineering. This paper presents a discussion of current institutional and administrative challenges confronting the professional surveyor and the philosophy underlying the development of the revised curriculum. Whereas the university was in agreement with the recommendations, there were institutional challenges such as acceptance by the Licensing Board regarding curriculum content and licensure requirements. The paper concludes with the view that the Geomatics Engineering program will enhance the capabilities of the new graduate and reinstate the surveyor as a respectable and indispensable professional.