For our US friends see James Ruggieri, P.E., a member of the NSPE Legislative and Government Affairs Committee who serves as an advisor on federal regulations and regulatory affairs.
'Nonlicensure' Criteria Tantamount To Playing Regulatory Roulette April 2001:
Quote "Only in the U.S. has the status of professional engineers been made subordinate to that normally accorded physicians and attorneys in other countries, including Europe and developing nations. Engineering, once a distinguished profession domestically, has now joined the ranks of lesser-skilled trades. Moreover, despite bipartisan rhetoric extolling the importance of math and science education in the U.S., engineers' salaries are roughly equivalent to many blue-collar jobs. Interestingly, the federal government itself, specifically the Office of Personnel Management, which is responsible for establishing and enforcing federal government hiring policies, appears to be a contributing factor. According to OPM guidelines, completing 60 semester credit hours in an engineering curriculum is sufficient to be titled "engineer" in the federal government. OPM goes further as to identify such engineers as "professional," although licensure is not required. This is contrary to the agency's examination and licensing requirements that are imposed upon physicians and attorneys before they can avail themselves of professional titles.).
While the OPM offers considerable special pay and incentives to its physicians and attorneys, engineers are actually paid less than information systems technologists. The discounting of a proper engineering education and professional licensing creates a domino effect that denigrates the quality of public services at the state and local levels. Unfortunately, OPM's policies toward engineers may also have the effect of placing the public at further risk. Far too often, engineering decisions are made by nonengineers, and licensed engineers have been subject to coercion and intimidation by nonengineer supervisors to adopt flawed technical positions. Some of these ethical issues, questions, and ramifications have reached crisis proportions and have prompted a recent flurry of proposed federal legislation, including S. 201 and H.R. 5516, both of which address more effective and enforceable whistleblower protection for federal employees. Given the criticality of services provided by federal engineers, it is clearly evident that more, not less, stringent requirements must be enforced by the OPM. Discussions have been conducted with several federal agencies regarding interpretations of OPM's policies toward engineers, but the results are not encouraging." (James Ruglieri's conclussions)
