BS + 30hrs (a new PE requirement) 8

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What does everyone think about the upcoming requirement to have a BS Eng degree + 30 credit hours in order to sit for the PE exam? As a new PE (passed last April), I don't have a strong opinion on the subject. It seems like a pretty big change.

 

[Lion06]

You're killing me here!

 

[zdas04]

doin' my best. I started down this road to show that it really isn't terribly cut and dried and no one is paid an "average" salary. You get what you negotiate and a smart engineer who chooses his industry and local carefully can do very well. Engineers who lock themselves into dying industries and/or blighted regions will not do so well.

David

 

[Lion06]

Well,
I am in the structural field (not a dying industry) and live/work in a suburb of one of the 7 largest cities and I started out at a little better than half of that 95k. I work for a very well-known and respected firm on the east coast so I am not with a lower-paying small firm.

 

[ianecivil]

Nebraska is trying right now to be the first State to implement the licensure changes. They currently have a bill (LB 742) being discussed in the legislature which would implement the NCEES Model Law and then be pushed to the other States. ASCE has been lobbying heavily for this legislation change. The State NSPE, ACEC and PEC boards have not fully backed it and are staying neutral.

The timing has stretched to 2020 because they know there are still issues to be worked out. I'm not sure it will be implemented this year. The engineering community is divided mainly because of the lack of clarity. What constitutes the additional 30 hours? (would an MBA be acceptable?) How would commity be handled?

 

[rbcoulter]

The comity issue is a big deal. They run the risk of severely hampering the mobility of a high percentage of licensed practicing engineers. Engineering is a highly mobile professions (one must go where the jobs are at times). One of the impediments to mobility is that every state engineering licensing board requires one to be licensed in their state (it's not like driver's licenses). If a significant number of states adopt this new NCEES model law then mobility will be restricted severely except for those few that happen to have the specified education requirements. It just doesn't seem fair to me.

 

[zdas04]

The driver's license analogy is interesting. Article IV Section 1 of the US Constitution says

Article IV
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

Doesn't that say that if you are licensed in any of the 50 states that the other states have to give "full faith and credit" to the license? If I live in New Mexico, then I need to have a New Mexico drivers licence and I have a New Mexico PE. If I establish residence in Texas, then it makes sense that I should apply for a Texas PE, but as long as I live in New Mexico shouldn't my license be good in all 50 states?

I wonder if this has ever been tested in the courts. Have I been wasting time and money on that pesky NCEES Council Record?

David

 

[DonPhillips]

You may be interested in this:

http://www.licensingreform.org/index.html

Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com

 

[zdas04]

Now there is an idea worthy of support. They're talking about something much bigger than our profession, but that is a good thing too.

For the medical professions I can see it working well (a human body in California is much like one in Florida). For engineers (especially Civil and Structural), I can see the states standing behind their "we have different needs" argument (snow loading in Montana, earthquakes in California, hurricanes on the gulf coast). I don't know how you get around that.

David

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The harder I work, the luckier I seem

 

[Gymmeh]

Excellent find Don.

Zdas, What you are saying about the different requirements between states, such as earthquakes and floods, is more of an ethics issue then Licensing issue. Regardless of the location if a person is not qualified to work on a project, they are not qualified.

Isn't the professional obligated to know his limitations and what projects they are qualified to work on?
For example, a Mechanical engineer in New Orleans LA. is (probably) not qualified for flood control/ prevention and environmental engineering within the same city.

So why not have a country wide, PE?

 

[KENAT]

I like the idea, now if they can then make it common with the UK it will make my path to PE much simpler/cheaper ;-).

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[zdas04]

Don't misunderstand me, I really like the idea of national registration for any profession that needs licensing. My point was that the pushback from the states will be "but we are special". I know there must be a way around that, but I don't know what it is.

David

 

[Gymmeh]

zdas, Ahh yes!.... we are special (and want all the money for registering/exams/courses/books...)

 

[RossABQ]

A national license would require a national test, and we still don't have that, as far as I know.

I don't see in the proposed NCEES rules where it says you can't take the FE test after earning a BS, be working, and take classes toward the 30-hr requirement? To me the worst of this would be the postponing of the FE exam. I believe the Pass rate for the FE drops dramatically with the number of yrs out of school.

 

[SylvestreW]

A related article was printed in the last Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine.

http://www.canadianconsultingengine..._id=&link_targ=DailyNews&link_source=aypr_CCE

-
Syl.

 

[Electic]

NCEES is out of touch. Very little of the general public has any interest in seeking the services of a PE to begin with, and now they are going to make it more difficult to obtain?

I also have a problem with CEU's. I have learned much more from real world circumstances than from any contrived CEU class, thankfully my State does not require them.

Put NCEES out to pasture.

 

[DonPhillips]

As a sole practitioner, I doubt I would attend 15 hours a year if it were not for my state requirement.


Don Phillips

http://worthingtonengineering.com

 

[zdas04]

I'm also a sole practictioner and since I get credit for preparing and teaching classes I don't have much problem reaching the 15 hours/year. If I didn't have that part of my business I'd have a really hard time coming up with enough hours (I tend to prepare and teach a short course at a conference, then stay for the papers).

David