Virginia Regulatory Town Hall View Comments

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation

Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers, and Landscape Architects

Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers, and Landscape Architects Regulations [18 VAC 10 ‑ 20]

Action	Develop regulations for a mandatory continuing education requirement for architect, professional engineer, and land surveyor licenses.
Stage	Proposed
Comment Period	Ended on 5/2/2008

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3/19/08 8:25 am

Commenter: Anonymous

A funny story with serious implications

My wife and I are licensed architects, she in DC and me in Virginia. Several months ago, she heard that DC enacted a continued education program, so she obtained the CE requirements, read a couple of my books, and attended overpriced AIA sponsored seminars, often signing her name and license number on a make-shift paper passed around to attendees (an unethical issue for another time). Recently, she called the DC board and asked where she needed to file her credits. She’s told by an administrator, who pronounces architecture as “arCH–ka-tek-chair”, that the DC board decided not to enact the CE program until 2010. Ha Ha. Well, it just time, energy and money.

Seriously;

Everyone agrees that continued education is part of the architect’s and engineer’s duties.

Everyone agrees that architects and engineers continue their education everyday on the job as part of their daily routine.

Everyone agrees that the last thing architects and engineers need is another meaningless, cumbersome and time consuming program.

Everyone agrees that those who benefit most are sponsors of the mandatory CE programs, the biggest being the AIA, who terms these cash-cow continued education programs as “non-dues revenue”, with tremendous prices expected from non-AIA members. (Another unethical issues).

Everyone agrees that Virginia’s Board Economic Analysis is faulty; underestimating professional fees lost for time spent on CE programs, not accounting for revenue lost by professionals dropping their licenses in Virginia, not accounting for the high number of military architects and engineers who undergo unusual travel burdens, and not accounting for the tremendous costs associate with maintaining mandatory continued education program, including the misguided concept of pre-approving programs.

Everyone agrees that Virginia’s Board mandatory continued education proposal, as currently written, is not fully formulated and has numerous faults.

True, valued architects and engineers will continue their education regardless. True continued education is a life time pursuit as part of our professions. We all knew that going in and we all know it if we want to stay employed. However, sponsors of the mandatory CE programs are fooling themselves if they think mandatory continued education, consisting of 16 hours every two years is enough to “stay-up with current technology”.

The mandatory continued education program, with all of it’s’ records and overpriced programs, is wrong. The time, energy and money spent are clearly not worth the gains.

CommentID: 1137