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Assessing Higher Education Response to the 2006 NCEES Model Law for Professional Engineering Licensure

Introduction To obtain a professional civil engineering license, engineers must complete requirements in three areas: academic training, professional experience, and national examinations. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) have proposed additional requirements beyond those currently in force, particularly in the area of academic training. Both ASCE and NCEES anticipate that these changes will more adequately prepare engineers for the tasks that they will face in the future, allowing NCEES to ensure maximized public health, safety, and welfare consequential to civil projects. Additionally, ASCE believes that implementation will enhance the stature of the profession in general. As the graduate committee in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU), the authors of this paper were charged with planning for potential impacts that a change in the academic requirements for licensure would have on our department. The authors used this opportunity to ascertain if civil engineering departments at other universities were making changes in their programs and if they were taking planning actions based on these proposed licensing requirements. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of a survey conducted to aid in this effort. Before presenting the survey the paper outlines current requirements for professional engineering licensure, identifies proposed changes to licensure requirements, and outlines the study objectives. Following this introductory information, the research methods are presented and survey results summarized, including issues and discussion. Finally, conclusions to the research are provided.

Current Licensure Requirements

The academic training required for professional licensure is a four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from an ABET/EAC (ABET, Inc., Engineering Accreditation Commission) accredited program. ABET/EAC is a non-governmental association that specifies curriculum requirements and minimum learning outcomes that an accredited civil engineering program must provide to each engineering student. ABET/EAC oversight ensures nationwide uniformity and quality in engineering education. The professional experience requirement for licensure is satisfied through post-baccalaureate work experience under the supervision of a licensed engineer. Individual state licensing boards approve work experience on a case by case basis and there are few general guidelines available which establish appropriate work. Licensing boards typically require four years of experience, but some allow credit for time spent in completion of a graduate degree to substitute for a portion of the professional experience. Licensing boards review the quality of the professional experience to determine whether the experience was appropriate. Many jurisdictions also require that the engineering experience be progressive in nature, which means increasing in breadth, depth, and responsibility, rather than one year’s experience repeated a number of times.1

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Nelson, E. J., & Williams, G., & Richards, P., & Schultz, G., & Wight, T., & Armstrong, J. (2009, June), Assessing State Engineering Examining Boards And Higher Education’s Response To The 2006 Ncees Model Law For Professional Engineering Licensure Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5389