Cape Continuing Education

Posted on January 03, 2012 by Admin
Cape Continuing Education

Cape Continuing Education

Almost every November or December, about the time engineering licenses expire in many states, engineers begin scrambling to fulfill the requirement to earn professional development hours (PDH) for the year. The delay in obtaining PDHs results, at least in part, from a belief that the whole continuing education system is unnecessary.

Summary of Typical State Requirements for Continuing Education

Most States require that engineers who are licensed must obtain continuing education credits to maintain licensure. The most common requirement is 15 PDHs annually (30 for biannual renewals), with some variation of this if engineers are also licensed surveyors. These credits can be in:

  • university courses,
  • designated continuing education courses,
  • correspondent or televised courses,
  • in-house seminars (either as attendee or presenter),
  • professional, technical or managerial presentations made at meetings, conventions, or conferences,
  • authoring papers or articles, and
  • active participation in technical or professional societies.

For a sample of a State engineering regulation for continuing education requirements for engineers, see here.

Typical Engineer’s View of Continuing Education Requirements

An engineer who is working in the field of engineering typically finds continuing education requirements to be somewhat ridiculous. The training and continuous learning obtained from simply doing the work is of greater value than all the courses that could be taught. This on-the-job (OTJ) learning will generally serve an engineer well. There is simply no way for the State licensing board to verify that the engineer has been working on projects that truly maintain or enhance competence.

Plan of Attack to Fulfill Annual PDH Requirements

The following suggestions can turn continuing education from drudgery into an important part of the engineer’s life.

  1. Embrace Continuing Education as an important part of career development. Look at the need to obtain continuing education credit as a chance to truly enhance professional skills. This can make you more valuable to your company, as well as to other companies.
  2. Seek opportunities to “maintain and enhance” professional and technical competence. Take a proactive stance toward PDHs during the year, not waiting till the end of the year. This should result from embracing continuing education, rather than seeing it as a negative that must be done to maintain licensure. In the civil engineering field, some materials and equipment manufacturers offer classes or self-study courses that will result in PDHs being awarded.
  3. Don’t neglect professional and technical organizations. All branches of engineering have technical organizations, and several professional organizations span several engineering disciplines. Some of these have monthly meetings that will include PDH hours. Many states allow some PDH credit just for being busy in professional or technical organizations, whether or not the organization itself awards it. Also, magazines and newsletters of these organizations
  4. Turn self-study into PDHs. If on-the-job training is generally seen as the most effective form of continuing education (even though it does not qualify as such), the engineer can still use OJT and work in progress as a stepping stone to PDHs. Take the type of project currently worked on, then take one aspect of that project—an aspect of special interest—and study it in depth. Learn it well enough to teach a one hour class in it. In most states, an engineer gets double-credit for teaching a class for the first time. By identifying topics of interest, studying them, and teaching them, the engineer can enhance skills and obtain credit.
  5. Collaborate to stretch technical/professional improvement. It’s usually less fun to work alone than to work with a partner. The self-study described in the previous point may go easier if two people work on it together. Or, two together may be able to turn self-study into a research project, as described in the next point.
  6. Consider a research project. One step more intense than self-study is a self-directed research project. This would require more work, and could
  7. Keep accurate records. For any activity that qualifies for continuing education credit, make some kind of personal record and keep it on file as long as required by State law, or longer. This will include: personal notes, official certificates, and record of registration (if no certificate is given). Personal notes, including a date, are important, for they prove actual attendance or participation. Should a State licensing board audit records, these personal notes should go a long way toward proving that the activity helped to maintain or enhance competence.

Almost any course or activity with a clear purpose and objective which will maintain, improve, or expand the skills and knowledge relevant to the licensee’s field of practice—with the exception of OJT—can qualify for continuing education credit under the right circumstances. If the engineer will embrace continuing education and consider it part of a larger program of career growth, the continuing education experience can be more enjoyable.