Mandatory professional development programs. What is worthwhile?

Canadian Consulting Engineer is inviting input for an upcoming article on “Professional Development Programs for Professional Engineers: What Is Worthwhile and What Isn’t?”

We would like to hear engineers’ responses to any or all of the questions below. Your thoughts and ideas are requested, whether or not your provincial licensing organization has a mandatory professional development program.

Your input is solely for Canadian Consulting Engineer’s editorial research purposes. Before using any responses as attributed quotes in the article, we will request your permission. Your quotes may also be incorporated in the article anonymously.

Please respond before January 5:

Either answer the questions below, or just write and tell us your thoughts.
By E-mail to the editor: bparsons@ccemag.com
or
Online in the “Comments” section below.
or
Call 416-510-5119 to arrange a brief telephone interview.
Either answer the questions below, or just write and tell us your thoughts.

THE QUESTIONS

As a professional engineer or geoscientist, working in the consulting engineering sector:

1. Do you feel that you should be required to engage in professional development (PD) programs?

2. Which of the following categories do you think are most worthwhile in terms of developing a practising engineer’s key skills?

Scale on 1 to 5 (5 being highly useful).

(a) Professional Practice (doing your job as a consulting engineer or geoscientist)

(b) Formal activity (e.g. taking professional and technical courses and seminars of half-days or more, given by universities, technical institutes, employers, etc.)

(c) Informal activity (e.g. self-directed study, attendance at conferences and trade shows, attendance at technical society or professional society meetings)

(d) Participation (e.g. acting as a mentor, service on technical committees or on public and community bodies)

(e) Presentations at conferences, meetings, or a technical or professional event, etc.

(f) Contributions to Knowledge (developing codes and standards, publishing papers in technical or non-technical journals, reviewing and editing articles, etc.)

3. Which categories of the above professional development activities do you now engage in?

4. Does your employer give you enough support to fulfil your PD requirements?

5. Are there enough courses and opportunities available in your specialized field?

6. If you could change one thing about your province’s current Professional Development Hours requirement, what would it be?

As an employer / HR manager in a consulting engineering company:

8. Does your company provide financial support and allow paid time for employees to engage in PD programs?

9. Does supporting engineers in PD programs (e.g. financial and in time) create a major cost burden on the company?