"Professional" Only In Flori-DUH!

An article appeared in the January 2010 issue of Professional Surveyor wherein the author, David W. Gibson, applies a Florida Supreme Court ruling to ALL professions as a status qualifier.  In his article Gibson asserts that the Florida Supreme Court defined a profession as “…we hold that a ‘profession’ is any vocation requiring at a minimum a four-year college degree before licensing is possible in Florida.  There can be no equivalency exception.”  Gibson goes on to quote the Court saying because Florida surveyors were not at some point required to have a four-year degree that “…land surveyors thus are not professionals for purposes of the statute of limitations.”  There are a few key words I need to point out. 

The first is Florida and the second is purpose of statute of limitations.  So, Gibson is trying to have us believe that a four-year degree is the defining standard of a profession simply because a state supreme court created a definition that was consistent with Florida statutes for the singular purpose of determining the statute of limitations.  Here's a thought, change Florida law to allow for quallifying experience in lieu of a degree.  Or, better yet, why not a law that defines all licensed surveyors and mappers as "professional"? Gibson continues his article and attempts to apply his broken logic to exactly the same scenario in Kentucky.

The problem is that Gibson (left) and others think a four-year degree is required in order to be recognized as a professional. Maybe in Florida and Kentucky, for the specific purpose of determining and applying the appropriate statute of limitations, a degree will make a difference but for the rest of us a degree says nothing about your professional ability.

Let’s look at a few definitions of profession and professional.

First, Black’s Law Dictionary defines a profession as “A vocation or occupation requiring special, usually advanced, education and skill. e.g. law or medical professions. The labor and skill involved in a profession is dominantly mental or intellectual, rather than physical or manual. The term originally contemplated only theology, law, and medicine, but as applications of science and learning are extended to other departments of affairs, other vocations also receive the name, which implies professed attainments in special knowledge as distinguished from the mere skill.”

Webster’s II defines profession as “1. An occupation usually requiring advanced study and specialized training. 2. The entire group of persons practicing a profession.” Neither dictionary is defines “advanced education”. Since we have three tiers of education, primary, secondary, and post-secondary, I believe advanced education falls into post-secondary education which is any education beyond a high school diploma.

Consider the following list of four-year degrees offered through California State University, Fullerton, and apply Gibson’s strict definition, which he has already taken out of its intended context. Let’s see what sort of professionals we create.

• Accounting
• Afro-Ethnic Studies
• American Studies
• Arabic, Language and Literature
• Asian American Studies
• Art
• Biological Sciences
• Business Administration
• Chemistry and Biochemistry

• Chicana and Chicano Studies -"Hello, my name is Gregorio and I am a Professional Chicanaologist and Chicanologist."

• Communications
• Computer Engineering
• Counseling
• Economics
• Education -"My name is Phil and I am a Professional Educator, although I have never worked as an educator."
• Educational Leadership  -"Hi, I'm Linda and I'm a Professional Educational Leader!"
• Elementary and Bilingual Education
• Instructional Design and Technology

• Reading -"I'm Doug and I'm a Professional Reader!" 

• Science Education
• Engineering
• Civil
• Electrical
• Mechanical
• Software
• Geography
• Gerontology
• History
• Human Services
• Decision Sciences  -"My name is George W. and I'm a professional decision scientist."

Now let’s look at all of the categories of employment which Gibson is excluding with his assertion of the Court’s definition because the worker may not have a four-year degree.

• Attorney (California)
• Civil Engineer (California)
• Athletes
• Baseball (Sorry A-Rod, but the Florida Supreme Court said you aren't a pro!)

• Basketball (Kobe, time to go back to school)

• Football
• Golf
• Swimming
• Hockey
• Volleyball
• Soccer
• Tennis

• Police Officer -(Go ahead and tell the officer who just stopped you that he/she isn't a professional.)
• Fire Fighter
• Park Ranger
• Mechanic
• General Contractor/Builder
• Real Estate Broker Sales Agent
• Comedian/Entertainer
• Dog Trainer
• Baker/Cook
• Nanny

Yet to be mentioned are the entrepreneurs. These are the individuals who may or may not have a degree. They may or may not have any formal education. These are the folks who have a vision and take the initiative to follow their dreams. Successful entrepreneurs make up the backbone of the United States Economy. Take, for example, Abraham Lincoln. He was educated himself as a surveyor and lawyer. With the application of Gibson’s definition, Lincoln was not a professional. What about Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain)? He didn’t go to college, much less obtain a degree. Would we then contend that he was not a professional writer? I think not, but if you believe Gibson, he was merely a tradesman. The history books are full of great men and woman who didn’t have four-year degrees and yet were successful at their work. Libraries are full of wondrous writings by people who made their living typing out novels and stories without ever attending a university.

So if Gibson is wrong to take the Florida Supreme Courts extraordinary and narrow definition out of context, then what would be a modern and useful definition of a professional? We need only to look back to our aforementioned Black’s Law or Webster’s II dictionaries for the answer.

Let us not confuse the public perspective of surveyors with the nature of the craft we practice. In general, the technicians are visible in the field and the professionals are at their desk studying deeds, chains of title, or chasing down historical documents. If professional land surveyors (figure out who I mean) don’t like the image portrayed by our technicians, we should hire better technicians that fit our image. A four-year degree will not remove the tattoos or messy hair from the technician nor will it protect the public from unscrupulous individuals. A four-year degree gives students a broad background which might prove useful at times, but does not necessarily develop professional traits that are acquired with time and experience. A balance and blend of education and experience is perhaps the best recipe but not the only path to professionalism. It is not that a four-year degree serves no purpose, but rather it serves a different purpose – that of instilling a foundation of knowledge which may or may not lead one to becoming a professional.

Although state laws governing land surveying differ widely for a significant reason (jurisdictional history), we should not hold a sense of superiority over others simply because of those differences which are really quite immaterial. I suppose if your livelihood is education, you might be partial to four-year degrees. Further, it would seem that every PhD and ED has a strong pro-education opinion. And it’s not just a pro-education mindset, it’s a superiority complex.

If education were a pyramid, kindergarten (funny we have never adopted the English term – “child garden”) through the 8th grade would be the bottom. That base creates a good, wide, solid foundation from which a person can grow intellectually. High school is a bit further up – not the top, but getting there. Mixed in is experience. Experience refines the basis into a pointed, focused body of knowledge. Depending on a person’s personality, means, and life choices, he or she might choose no college, trade school, some college, a university, or any combination of advanced education which will surely be supplemented by quality experiences from various sources and activities. Does the lack of a conferred degree detract from their professionalism? I think not.

As a final thought, I find it interesting that Gibson uses "PSM" (Professional Surveyor & Mapper) for the article but doesn't mention his PhD.  Conversely, he uses the "PhD" on his university webpage without mentioning his "PSM" credential.  Why would he he choose to omit these titles for the article and also his webpage is a mystery.  In my opinion, it looks a bit like he's pandering to Professional Surveyor's readers by omitting his PhD.