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3.2
Individual Scope of Practice
To build an effective professional development program,
begin by gathering information that you will need
- your current job description
- your recent performance evaluation
- your existing development plan
- APEGGA Value of Professional Services booklet
- APEGGA listing of courses and seminars available
to you (either in paper form or on the APEGGA web
site)
- educational institution calendars (available from
the institution or linked to the APEGGA web site)
- APEGGA list of technical and management societies
- list of skills or skill sets required
- suggested forms (Appendix IV, APEGGA web site or
on disc in Excel format)
Describe your current position, anticipated career,
and the skills that you will need to develop or build on.
Many members will have completed this exercise already
for their employer. If not, follow the order on the
suggested forms.
3.2.1
Job Title
3.2.2
Industry of Practice
Appendix II provides the industry categories from which
to choose to be consistent with the Canadian Council of
Professional Engineers (CCPE) and Statistics Canada.
3.2.3
Professional Specialization & Duties
Appendix III provides the specialization categories from
which to choose to be consistent with the Canadian
Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) and Statistics
Canada.
3.2.4
Duties
List as many of your current job duties as are necessary
to fully describe your job. Your own job description and
APEGGA's Value of Professional Services booklet will be
helpful.
3.2.5
Level of Responsibility and Impact
Identify the number of professional and technical people
who work under your direct supervision and describe your
work's impact on the public, the environment, your
employer, other clients, and stakeholders.
3.2.6
Knowledge, Skills and Judgment Requirements
Finally, review your specific knowledge, skill and judgement requirements.
You might use your job description, employer core competency analysis,
or the Value of Professional Services, published by APEGGA, to help determine
these requirements. Elements to consider include, but are not restricted
to
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3.4
Activity Categories and Levels of EffortA
credible continuing professional development program must
define minimum levels of effort. The unit of measure for
this effort is time: a Professional Development Hour
(PDH). APEGGA recognizes six general activity categories
as contributing to continuing professional development.
These are listed below with corresponding PDHs.
To encourage planning over a few
years, the program has a three-year rolling time period.
Here are some guidelines for ensuring that you have met
the program requirements
- You must accumulate at least 240 PDHs over three
years. You are strongly encouraged to accumulate
at least 80 PDHs per year .
- You must be active in at least three of the six
categories.
- Note the maximum allowed PDHs in each category
when developing your plan.
- Be careful not to count the same effort in more
than one activity.
- Once you are in the third or subsequent year of
the program, you must maintain a rolling average
of a minimum of 240 PDHs over three years.
3.4.1
Professional Practice
Active professional practice is known to be a significant
factor contributing to maintaining and improving skills.
As such, it earns PDHs as follows
One
PDH is earned for each 15 hours of professional work
within your scope of practice. A maximum of 50 PDHs per
year may be claimed.
3.4.2
Formal Activity
Formal activities are those provided as a structured
course or program, often for credit, occasionally with an
evaluation process. Although formal activity is not
specifically required, all members should strive to
include some formal activities within their continuing
professional development program. Delivery methods might
include traditional classroom settings, and remote
techniques such as written correspondence, video, or
interactive electronic exchange. Formal activities could
include
- courses provided through universities, technical
institutes and colleges
- industry sponsored courses, programs and seminars
- employer training programs and structured
on-the-job training
- short courses provided by technical societies,
industry or educational institutions
Every
hour spent in attendance at the course (contact hour)
earns one PDH. For courses offering Continuing Education
Units (CEUs), each CEU will equate to 10 PDHs. A maximum
of 30 PDHs per year may be claimed.
3.4.3
Informal Activity
These are activities not normally offered by an
educational institution or other non-structured course,
but which nevertheless expand your knowledge, skills or
judgment. They include
- self-directed study
- attendance at conferences, technical sessions,
talks, seminars, workshops and industry trade
shows
- attendance at meetings of technical, professional
or managerial associations or societies
- structured discussion of technical or
professional issues with one's peers
Each
hour of informal activity earns one PDH. A maximum of 30
PDHs per year may be claimed.
3.4.4
Participation
Activities that promote peer interaction and provide
exposure to new ideas and technologies both enhance the
profession and serve the public interest. These
activities include
- acting as a mentor to a Member-in-Training or
other less experienced professional member or
technologist
- service on public bodies that draw on your
professional expertise (i.e., planning board,
development appeal board, investigative
commissions, review panels or community building
committees)
- activities that contribute to the community which
require professional and ethical behaviour, but
not necessarily the application of technical
knowledge, including active service for
professional, service, charitable, community or
church organizations, coaching league sports
teams, or elected public service on municipal,
provincial or federal levels or school boards
1 PDH per hour of service, a maximum of 10 PDHs
per year may be claimed.
- service on standing or ad-hoc committees of
technical, professional or managerial
associations, or societies
A
maximum of 20 PDHs per year may be claimed for the
participation category.
3.4.5
Presentations
These are technical or professional presentations that
you make outside your normal job functions. Both
preparation and presentation of material would be
expected. Presentations might occur at
- a conference or meeting
- a course, workshop or seminar
- either within your company, or at an event
sponsored by a technical or professional
organization
Each
hour of preparation and delivery earns one PDH. A maximum
of 20 PDHs per year may be claimed.
3.4.6
Contributions to Knowledge
The Association acknowledges that activities which expand
or develop the technical knowledge base in the three
disciplines of engineering, geology and geophysics must
be recognized. It also realizes that not every member is
able to make such a contribution outside their normal job
functions. Contributions could include
- development of published Codes and Standards
one PDH per hour of committee work
- patents
15 PDHs per patent registered
- publication of papers in a peer-reviewed
technical journal
15 PDHs per paper published
- publication of articles in non-reviewed journals
10 PDHs per article, maximum of 10 PDHs per year
may be claimed
- reviewing articles for publication
1 PDH per hour of review, a maximum of 10 PDHs
per year may be claimed
- editing papers for publication
1 PDH per hour of editing
A
maximum of 30 PDHs per year may be claimed.
3.5
Carry Over
PDH credits accumulated in excess of the annual maximums
in any category may be carried forward for a maximum of
two years from the date of completing the activity (see
examples in Appendix V).
3.6
Special Considerations
Members who are unemployed, full-time students, or
members on medical or parental leave have the option of
declaring themselves to be practicing or non-practicing.
If declared to be practicing, members will generally be
expected to accumulate at least 30 PDHs per year. If
declared to be non-practicing, there will be no
expectations of earning PDHs during this period. However,
upon returning to practicing status, members will be
subject to the requirements outlined in Section 2.1.
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