I just sent an email to NCEES and I suggest everyone else do the same:
"Hi,
I recently learned that the October PE test for Electrical Power was cancelled and that it will be immediately transitioned to CBT. Can this please be reconsidered? Myself and many others have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars preparing to meet a standard that has now changed. We have copious amounts of reference material that we've meticulously been creating with the expectation that we would be able to use it on the PE test.
The transition to the CBT test will still put us in enclosed rooms at a desk with other people taking a test so there isn't any increased safety from not allowing a paper and pencil exam in an enclosed room at a desk with other people.
If large gatherings of people are not allowed could you instead allow the paper and pencil test in smaller testing environments?
This PE test is a huge point in many people's careers and with now the last two tests being cancelled and people wasting thousands of dollars on buying material that can now no longer be used it seems that there should be an extraordinary effort made to allow a pencil and paper exam.
If CBT is the only way forward then can we bring in a USB with our references that we've spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours compiling? The current setup of only allowing the provided codes and handbook does not mirror how engineering occurs in the real world. All of my colleagues and I have personal notes that we reference extensively with hyperlinks and highlights and diagrams that we've put together to further explain things. We never rely on memorizing formulas.
The current sub 100 page handbook is missing a huge chunk of information - Protection (the largest part of the exam) has no mention at all. There are also a huge amount of missing formulas and concepts from the other material being tested.
I know this is a difficult time for your organization trying to juggle different restrictions nationally and internationally and it is a complex and difficult task - thank you for working through it. The people who take the test are even further affected by the costs (financial, time, stress, professional) of having the exam be cancelled twice and switched to an entirely new format.
Please reach out if there is anything I can clarify or help explain - I absolutely want to help to make this easier on everyone.
Thank you,"
