Why Do We Need a Professional Organization to Represent Our
Profession?
By Craig Moore, P.E., LSIT, CFM, CPC, President
JULY 2010
Hello
Professionals! I want to thank you for your membership to VSPE
and your commitment to better our profession. Your membership
helps VSPE increase public awareness of the PE's role in protecting
public health, safety and welfare.
Why do we need a
professional organization to represent our profession?
We all know
numerous special interest groups, lobbyists, and other entities
exist with a primary mission to influence legislative actions and
regulatory development. Motives for these groups may include
protecting the environment; limiting liability; increasing potential
profits; etc… Some motives have high value for the public,
while others may only exist to serve an individual or specific
group.
NSPE/VSPE promotes engineering licensure and ethics, advocates and protects PEs' legal rights at the national and state levels, and provides continuing education opportunities. VSPE recognizes the most critical responsibility of the professional engineer’s duty is to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. VSPE has been and is actively involved in helping shape legislative outcomes and regulatory actions that impact our profession. Without you there would be no VSPE, and without VSPE there would be less protection for the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
For
example, did you realize prior to 1992 that Virginia state employees
were exempt from meeting minimum competency requirements to practice
engineering? VSPE played a pivotal role in persuading the
Virginia General Assembly to hold state employees to the same
minimum competency levels established to practice engineering, which
protect public health, safety, and welfare. As part of the
process to eliminate a major exemption from the minimum competency
levels, the General Assembly granted employees working for state
agencies prior to March 8, 1992 a grace period through June
30, 2010 during which the employee could achieve licensure,
retire, or be reassigned to other duties.
Again,
this change is due in part to the actions of VSPE because of members
like you.
Thank you for your continued membership and support of VSPE. I look forward to serving you and our profession over the next 12 months.
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