As mandatory continuing education requirements begin for Michigan’s licensed engineers, the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers is engaging in a campaign to keep the state’s more than 21,000 PEs informed about the change.
MSPE Executive Director Nancy McClain, P.E., says the society will be sharing this duty with fellow members of the Architects, Engineers, Surveyors Legislative Committee, which includes the American Council of Engineering Companies, the American Institute of Architects, and the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors. New rules for continuing education also apply to licensed architects and land surveyors.
PEs who are renewing their licenses this year will be required to certify that they have obtained 30 continuing education hours when they renew again in 2015 (PEs renewing in 2014 will have to obtain the required hours by 2016). The following activities can qualify toward continuing education hours:
- Completing a college or university course in the area of engineering, related sciences, or engineering ethics or management;
- Completing engineering courses or programs in which continuing education requirements can be earned;
- Attending presentations at related technical or professional meetings;
- Teaching engineering-related college or university courses and programs in which continuing education hours can be earned and making presentations at technical or professional meetings;
- Authoring papers or articles that appear in nationally circulated journals or trade magazines; and
- Receiving a patent for a product or process related to engineering.
Many Michigan licensees are also licensed in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, which also have continuing education requirements. More than half of PEs registered in Michigan live outside the state. Since 2009, MSPE has provided a tool for members to track their continuing education credits in the legislative section of
www.michiganspe.org.
