Sustainable Surveying Education in South Australia

Due to dwindling numbers, the Bachelor of Geoinformatics and Surveying at the University of South Australia (UniSA) was discontinued in 2006 and the final students from this degree graduated in 2009. However, the Surveyors Board of South Australia (SBSA) still foresaw a long term demand for a locally based tertiary educated cadastral surveying workforce and consequently initiated dialogue with UniSA to develop a different, more collaborative and sustainable model to encourage a new generation of cadastral surveyors into the South Australian workforce. The subsequent combined efforts between SBSA and UniSA resulted in the commencement in 2010 of a unique approach for Australia in surveying education, namely a coursework Master of Surveying. A key driver in this project was industry involvement in the development, delivery and direction of the degree, both financially andthrough in kind support. The overall aim for the project was to create a collaborative and sustainable tertiary level surveying education in South Australia that met the SBSA requirements for acceptance as a Registered Surveying Graduate. To date the collaboration has created a reinvigorated, up-to-date and visionary tertiary education model, built upon strong partnerships locally and nationwide that has produced quality graduates who have exceeded industry expectations.