The first general session this morning discussed the on-going debate of requiring 30 hours of education, and the upper- or graduate-level in order to be licensed as a professional engineer. The two presenters gave a good overview of the history and pointed out the pros and cons of the proposal. I admit that the tone of this discussion was much better than what I have heard in the past, especially when presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). ASCE presentations in the past have tended toward painting this a fait accompli and implied that the entire engineering profession was behind this. Of course that is not true. This presentation pointed out that there is on-going debate.

My concern, and comment made during the Q & A session, is that we have not included the state legislatures. It is the state legislatures who, for reasons of saving money, have reduced the number of hours we can have in an engineering baccalaureate degree. Without including them in the discussion we will not be able to get the proposed model law for registration enacted.