The membership of the Virginia Society of Professional Engineers (VSPE) is pleased to provide the following comments in response to the proposed changes to the APELSCIDLA Regulations incorporating mandatory continuing education as a condition of renewal and reinstatement for licensed architects, professional engineers, and land surveyors. The comments are based on the proposed text of the regulations as posted on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website.      

Comment #1

VSPE recommends substituting the term “board-approved” for “approved” in 18 VAC 10-20-683.C. This revision will provide consistency between the terms used in 18 VAC 10-20-683.B and 10-20-683.C. The proposed regulations use “board-approved” and “approved” in consecutive paragraphs and VSPE believes the terms have identical meaning. If that is the case, it would add clarity to use the same term in both paragraphs.  

Comment #2

Can continuing education credit hours be earned for audited courses or must college-level classes be taken for a grade in order to qualify for continuing education credit hours? If audited courses do not qualify and a passing grade is required, VSPE recommends modifying 18 VAC 10-20-683.C.5.c as follows. The requested revisions are underlined for clarity.

One semester credit hour of approved college credit shall equal 15 continuing education credit hours and one quarter credit hour of approved college credit shall equal 10 continuing education credit hours. A passing grade is required for approval of college course-based continuing education credit hours. Continuing education credit hours cannot be claimed for audited courses.

Comment #3

18 VAC 10-20-683.D.1 prohibits continuing education credits earned in one renewal period to be carried over to a subsequent renewal period. The issue of carryover continuing education credits was discussed during the April 3, 2007 meeting of the Continuing Education Committee. It was stated in that meeting that the underlying statute (§ 54.1-404.2) does not permit carryover credits. For reference purposes, the statute is reproduced below.

§ 54.1-404.2. Continuing education.

A. The Board shall promulgate regulations governing continuing education requirements for architects, professional engineers, and land surveyors licensed by the Board. Such regulations shall require the completion of the equivalent of 16 hours per biennium of Board-approved continuing education activities as a prerequisite to the renewal or reinstatement of a license issued to an architect, professional engineer, or land surveyor. The Board shall establish criteria for continuing education activities including, but not limited to (i) content and subject matter; (ii) curriculum; (iii) standards and procedures for the approval of activities, courses, sponsors, and instructors; (iv) methods of instruction for continuing education courses; and (v) the computation of course credit.

B. The Board may grant exemptions or waive or reduce the number of continuing education hours required in cases of certified illness or undue hardship.

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It is the opinion of VSPE the statute does not specifically exclude carryover credits and the statute does not specifically state that the completion of continuing education activities shall occur only during the current license renewal period. Furthermore, the phrase “completion of the equivalent of 16 hours per biennium” can be interpreted as permitting the computation of an average number of continuing education credits over a period other than a biennium. VSPE requests the board consider allowing carryover credits from one renewal period to the next with reasonable board-imposed limitations (maximum carryover credit, etc.).

Comment #4

VSPE recommends clarification regarding the type of records to be maintained by regulants as required by 18 VAC 10-20-683.D.2. The Board should stipulate the required content of continuing education records, such as: type of activity claimed, sponsoring organization, date of activity, location of activity, duration of activity, speaker’s name, and credit hours earned. Providing regulants with a Board-approved sample log would be helpful and appreciated.

VSPE appreciates the opportunity to provide these comments on the proposed changes of the APELSCIDLA Regulations and trust these comments will be considered by the board.