Why Do We Need a Professional Organization to Represent Our Profession?

By Craig Moore, P.E., LSIT, CFM, CPC, President

cmoore@vt.edu

 

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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