DECember 2009 issue
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Council Briefs
Minor Dues Increase Highlights 2010 Budget
The PEGG gathered the following items from the last APEGGA Council meeting, held Dec. 3 in Edmonton. The next Council meeting is Feb. 18, 2010, in Calgary.
The smallest dues increase of the last five budgets will see APEGGA through another year of serving the public, the professions and members. An increase of only 1.78 per cent in the annual membership fee will allow APEGGA to strengthen its balance sheet in 2010, Council heard.
The $5 increase to $285 per member — which Council approved — means the Association can ride out volatile markets by increasing the size of its reserve. The unrestricted reserve will grow to more than $4.13 million, or 24.6 per cent of operating expenses, from a forecast of about $3 million or 18.9 per cent in 2009.
Along with the fee increase, Council approved a 2010 budget that will see operating revenue increase about 11 per cent to more than $17.6 million over last year’s budget figure of $15.8 million. Actual 2009 operating revenues, however, are forecast to approach $16.5 million, largely because of higher-than-projected numbers in three areas: registration, professional development participation and PEGG advertising revenue.
The budget anticipates an operating surplus of nearly $789,000 and an investment return of nearly $215,000, for a net surplus of over $1 million. That’s a significant recovery from a few years ago. In 2008, an investment loss of $747,000 sent the Association’s books into a net deficit of $533,000.
Nearly $2.5 million in 2010 expenses is tied to Council business priorities and other approved initiatives. These range from various advertising programs to technology upgrades.
Costs for The PEGG — or The PEG, as it will be known — will increase by $220,000 because of a switch to a magazine format in 2010. The figure, however, will be entirely offset by advertising revenue, the budget predicts.
Name Change
Not in Cards
For Newsletter
The name The PEGG or some variation of it has been attached to the APEGGA newsletter for at least four decades. That isn’t going to change when the publication switches to a magazine format, Council decided.
The most members can expect in the name department is a switch to The PEG when the next edition — the first as a magazine — arrives in the mail. Dropping one “G” will reflect the upcoming creation of a new Professional Geoscience designation for geologist and geophysicist members.
Council’s decision goes against the recommendation of consultants, who said changing the name takes advantage of a perfect opportunity to better connect with members. Said a report to Council, “APEGGA can physically demonstrate and symbolically commit to a new and better relationship with members, and to communicate to members what they see in themselves.”
However, Council put more stock in the existing equity of The PEGG brand, saying it’s strongly ingrained in members’ professional lives. Also, none of the shortlisted names struck a chord with Council.
The magazine will be an important step in driving time-sensitive content online, with the website and online news coverage becoming more interactive, Council heard. Content of the magazine will include breezy and short items in the front and back portions of the magazine, bracketing major features, think pieces and other longer articles.
Bridge Naming Wins Approval
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Engineers like their bridges. And so does the Alberta regulating body for engineers and geoscientists. APEGGA is also fond of inexpensive branding opportunities that tie the Association to the broader goals of science outreach.
Council agreed to a naming partnership with the TELUS World of Science — Calgary, committing the Association to pay $250,000 over three years for a decade of naming rights on a new bridge within a new science centre. That works out to about $2 per professional member for three years.
It’s estimated that the APEGGA Bridge will receive about 500,000 viewings a year — making the cost per view five cents.
TWOS-C broke ground earlier this year on a new, $160-million centre. The two-storey, 153,000-sq.-ft. facility will be the first purpose-built one in Canada in the past 25 years.
Council also heard that the Edmonton counterpart will soon come calling for cash. A 10-year naming deal on the APEGGA Bridge at the TELUS World of Science — Edmonton expires next year.
The Edmonton deal was early on in the naming rights craze that now helps fund many of the publicly used buildings across North America. The cost of the Edmonton deal a
decade ago was just $50,000.
Council Cautious
About Enhancements
To Secondary Insurance
Are APEGGA members getting their money’s worth for their automatic insurance for secondary professional liability? It’s enough of a concern that participating associations recently asked the insurer whether it could sweeten the pot with enhancements.
For an extra $3 per member (or nothing extra, if Ontario joins the full program), the insurer will add coverage to help pay for advice to whistleblowers and legal expenses of members facing APEGGA discipline hearings.
Council, however, decided to table a motion to accept the enhancements. It wants to learn more about the need for the two areas of insurance.
Currently, members pay $7.11 each for secondary liability coverage of individual professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists. Consulting firms are not covered by the secondary insurance, but members who work for operating or non-consulting firms are. Coverage remains after retirement for members in good standing, and it extends to work done outside of regular employment, such as moonlighting or volunteer work.
The program has a controversial past. It took a tie-breaking vote from the President in November 2000 for APEGGA to join the program in the first place. It survived a motion in April 2001 to withdraw, followed by a task force review a few years ago.
At issue is whether the cost of the program is worth the benefits. Supporters say it provides a comfort level for members, making it a valuable member service. Detractors say it costs too much and goes beyond APEGGA’s mandate, particularly in light of no successful Alberta claims.
APEGGA Members Will Help Fuel Energy Innovation
The technological expertise and innovation of APEGGA members will help Alberta develop its energy resources cleanly and wisely, says a position paper approved by Council. “Capable and effective leadership is needed to fully realize the vast potential of our energy resources,” the APEGGA paper also says.
Created by the Public Interest Issues Committee, the paper supports the vision and strategy established in Alberta’s Provincial Energy Strategy — 2008. The committee decided in March to make the energy strategy a priority, because professionals have an important role in advising government on the issue.
APEGGA President Jim Beckett, P.Eng., who chairs the committee, admitted that the committee had trouble finding its feet. “To be honest, the committee struggled over our mandate and reasons for being.”
Still, responding to the strategy was an important exercise. Even though completing the three-page position took much of the year, the strategy is still unfolding, and APEGGA can still influence government, Mr. Beckett said.
“We recognized that, although it isn’t timely, developing this paper helps us gain some experience on how to come up with this kind of response. And it gives us a sense of our own internal capabilities.”
The committee has, indeed, learned something for next time. “We have to respond more quickly, and we have to rely more on staff to help us draft the final paper,” said Mr. Beckett.
Early in 2010, APEGGA will forward the energy strategy response to the province.
APEGGA Polls States
On Mobility Advancements
Back in 1998, APEGGA Council and Executive Committee concluded that the mobility of professionals wasn’t happening under the North American Free Trade Agreement. If real progress on licensing across borders was going to be made, the Association would need to take some other form of action.
Why not start a dialogue between national organizations — Engineers Canada and, in the U.S., the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying? Although the two groups do communicate, the only problem there is that neither actually licenses members.
Clearly, APEGGA would need to deal unilaterally, state licensing board by state licensing board. Now, 10 years later, that Alberta strategy is picking up momentum.
At least five state boards waive at least some exams for applicants with Canadian licences and certain levels of experience, Council heard. These states are Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Texas. A number of other state boards are showing interest in mobility or are on the verge of waiving exams.
Letters have been sent to all 54 state and territory boards to find out more about the current state of mobility with Canada and the U.S. “There is much remaining to be done and the climate would appear to be favourable for further advancements to be achieved in the near future and renewed effort will be made in 2010,” said a report to Council from Executive Director & Registrar Neil Windsor, P.Eng.
Implementation Details
Mark Next Steps
In New Designations
The rubber is hitting the road — and the stamp is hitting the page — when it comes to the new era of technologist licensure for APEGGA and ASET. Council looked at a number of implementation details, including the approval of a new stamp for those licensed to use one of the new designations, Professional Licensee.
Professional Licensee is the replacement designation for those members who used to be known as Registered Professional Technologists. Professional Licensees, like the former R.P.T.s, practice independently within a defined scope of practice approved by the Board of Examiners.
Unlike R.P.T.s, however, Professional Licensees no longer require membership in both APEGGA and ASET. They do become members of APEGGA, however, once they are licensed.
Council approved a stamp design recommended by staff. It has the designation and the Alberta shield encircling the APEGGA beaver and the member’s name.
With that issue out of the way, it was time to figure out what the abbreviation for a Professional Licensee should be. The Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act is silent on the matter, Council heard.
In the absence of an officially recognized abbreviation, members will come up with their own, resulting in a confusing free-for-all, staff warned Council. Council agreed, making the APEGGA-endorsed abbreviations P.L.(Eng.), P.L.(Geol.) and P.L.(Geoph.).
Council’s Professional Licensee work was not done yet. It also looked at the need for a new committee to check applications before they are passed along to the Board of Examiners.
Under the R.P.T. system, ASET’s R.P.T. Nominating Committee reviewed qualifications to determine whether it appeared applicants met minimum requirements under the EGGP Act. The committee also reviewed other matters, such as whether proposed, defined scopes of practice match experience, training and what references had to say.
An ASET committee, however, is no longer needed, given that Professional Licensees will only need to be members of APEGGA. Council approved terms of reference for new APEGGA committees to do the preliminary work, before the files are passed along to the Board of Examiners for final consideration.
These committees will be called the Professional Licensee (Engineering) Committee and the Professional Licensee (Geological and Geophysical) Committee.
With Professional Licensee details out of the way, Council turned its attention to the brand new designation of Professional Technologist. P.Tech.s will not be members of APEGGA, but their regulation will fall under the EGGP Act and APEGGA will play a role equal to ASET’s in their licensure and continued regulation.
P.Tech.s will practice independently in individually tailored scopes of practice, relating only to the routine application of specific, industry-recognized codes, standards, procedures and practices, using established engineering or applied science principles and methods of problem solving.
Evaluating the qualifications and specifying the scopes of P.Tech.s will fall to a new APEGGA/ASET Joint Board of Examiners. The board will comprise equal numbers of APEGGA and ASET members and one public member.
Council approved in principle the appointment of six APEGGA members to the board, who will be named later.
Extensions of
Provisional Licensees
Handed to Staff
APEGGA’s model of governance has Council making the high-level, policy decisions, leaving to staff the day-to-day details of making its wishes happen. With that in mind, Council decided to delegate time extensions for provisional licensees to staff.
The designation is available to internationally educated engineering or geoscience practitioners who meet all the requirements for licensure but one — a year of Canadian experience. Although they can’t practice independently and can’t take responsibility for their work, provisional licensees demonstrate through their designation that they’re very close to becoming professionals.
Sometimes, however, they can’t gather that critical year of experience in two years. In those cases, they sometimes seek extensions. A provisional licensee may face a period of unemployment, for example, or serious illness.
The delegation of authority is not without precedent. In the early 1980s, Council gave APEGGA staff the authority to extend the designations of members in training to eight years from the starting maximum of six years.