September 21, 2000
Continuing Education Requirements for Minnesota’s Professional Engineers.
By Will Preska, P.E.
Secretary of Education
Honeywell Engineer’s Club
Most of us P.E.s licensed in Minnesota have probably heard some rumblings by now about the new continuing education requirements our governing Board of AELSLAGID has placed on us. If you’ve been wondering (as I was) what all the hubbub is about, this article is for you.
The bottom line is that The Board of AELSLAGID (Architecture, Engineering, … and so on, and whatnot…) (hereafter referred to as "The Board ") now requires that licensed professional engineers must obtain 24 "professional development hours" (PDH’s) during each two-year period of licensure. This is in effect right now, and we are expected to be documenting our training efforts as a condition of licensure renewal.
You may ask, "How, exactly, are we to document our training hours?"
Or, "Which activities, exactly, constitute qualifying training hours?"
These are the questions I was wondering about, so I did a little investigating to find the answers. Here’s what I found.
As far as what qualifies as legitimate "PDHs" in the eyes of The Board, it is up to each individual to evaluate the suitability of classes or seminars for their own professional development.
The Board gives this definition of "PDHs":
"Professional development hours" means contact hours consisting of not less than 50 minutes each of instruction or presentation meeting the requirements of Statute 326.107.
Continuing education must consist of learning experiences which enhance and expand the skills, knowledge, and abilities of practicing professionals to remain current and render competent professional services to the public. Practitioners may pursue technical, nontechnical, regulatory, ethical, and business practice needs for a well-rounded education provided the education directly benefits the health, safety, or welfare of the public. These courses must contain content relative to the health and safety of the public.
Continuing education courses and activities must meet these criteria:
(1). There must be a clear purpose and objective for each activity which will maintain, improve or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure or certification or develop new and relevant skills and knowledge.
(2). The content of each presentation must be well organized and presented in a sequential manner.
(3). There must be evidence of preplanning which must include the opportunity for input by the target group to be served.
(4). The presentation must be made by persons who are well qualified by education or experience.
(5). There must be a provision for documentation of the individual’s participation in the activity, including information required for record keeping and reporting.
As for documentation, the MSPE (MN Society of P.E.s) web site offers guidelines for keeping acceptable records. I found these seven suggestions to be straightforward and reasonable. The following excerpt is borrowed, with permission, from
www.mnspe.org :
(Based on Minnesota Statute 326.107 effective 8-1-99)
The purpose of this guideline is to provide guidance to MSPE members regarding documentation of the required continuing education to support their licensure renewal.
SEVEN SUGGESTIONS FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION DOCUMENTATION
1). Pre-register for class or seminar and retain record of payment by obtaining a receipt and canceled check.
2). Pick up and retain attendees list and materials provided for class or seminar.
3). Sign attendance sheet in seminar if provided.
4). Make a note of other attendees whom you know.
5). Attendee should keep a set of notes from the lectures and observations for reference and future use. "What did you learn at this event in order to improve your knowledge of the subject?"
6). Request a certificate of completion for the class or seminar.
7). Retain the above information as described by Minnesota Board of AELSLAGID.
Important note: The statute contains information that affect dual license holders, people needing temporary exemptions, and other individuals that will not be relevant to most P.E.s, but could be very important to some. I encourage all P.E.s to take a look at The Board’s web site at www.aelslagid.state.mn.us, and review the information on continuing education presented there.
Good luck, have fun, and happy record keeping!