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• ASPRS Education Committee
As described in the Society's By-Laws, the ASPRS Education Committee shall consist
of at least one member from each ASPRS Division and shall be responsible for the Ed
ucation Program of the Society. It shall also participate in the Joint Education Committee
in developing recommendations for and maintaining cognizance over the Joint
ASPRS/ACSM Education Program. In fact, the Education Committee attempts to have at
least two members from each of the five ASPRS Divisions. And, while the actual number
of committee members varies, representatives are enlisted from other Society, and even
non-Society, educationally-oriented groups, such as Student Affairs, Workshops, and
other ASPRS committees, various federal agencies, and the private sector.
The ASPRS Long Range Plan defines a number of action roles for the Education
Committee, including, for example:
■ develop background information needed to formulate a long-term policy and a plan
for delivery of continued educational services to members
■ develop technical information resources and public relations programs to influence,
advise, and guide membership activity levels and related outside factions
■ develop and evaluate a plan for publishing books and other works, by members and
others, that involve renumeration other than royalties
■ increase the scope and efficiency of services provided to student members
The ASPRS Education Committee Chairman and members strive to develop programs and
initiate activities that will enhance remote sensing, photogrammetry, and GIS education op
portunities within and outside the Society. While several members cooperate on many of the
committee's activities, an even greater number of projects are championed by individuals.
Such is the nature of volunteer committee work.
A sample of some of the past two years' work by this committee illustrates the scope of
educational activities in which it is involved:
■ with leadership from the ASPRS President, establishment of the international Edu
cation Literature Award, consisting of donations of publications and other educa
tional material to two institutions annually in developing nations
■ contribution of an Appendix, entitled Photographic Interpretation Education and
Training, to the 2nd edition of the ASPRS Manual of Photographic Interpretation
(Kiefer and Civco, 1990)
■ publication of the Annotated Bibliography of Textbooks for Remote Sensing Educa
tors (Civco, 1990), a review of more than thirty books in visual and quantitative re
mote sensing 4
■ publication of the Survey of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Programs and
Courses in the United States and Canada (Kiefer, 1988), a guide to such programs in
more than 230 departments in more than 100 institutions of higher education
■ inventory of remote sensing image processing and GIS software encountered in the
educational domain, an on-going survey of the functionality, capabilities, system re
quirements, and availability of such software and an assessment of the applicability
of each in education
A listing of the textbooks reviewed to-date is given in the appendix.