|
Leila Notash, PhD, PEng, FEC For President-Elect A Proud PEO Volunteer for over 20 years (since 2003) |
 |
|
Sample Contributions and Observations: Ø PEO Academic Requirements Committee
|
I am committed to the principal object of PEO: “to regulate the practice of professional engineering and to govern its members, holders of certificates of authorization, holders of temporary licences, holders of provisional licences and holders of limited licences … in order that the public interest may be served and protected” I care about the present and future of self-regulated professional engineering and the necessity for
My PEO and Engineers Canada volunteer activities include:
I am well aware with the issues from both a Chapter viewpoint and the PEO operations perspective, thus my perspectives relate to the most fundamental activity of PEO, issuing licenses to practice as Professional Engineers.
|
|
As the Councillor-at-Large, I have participated in the Council discussions. I have been advocating · Trust, transparency and accountability · Higher member involvement in self-regulation, with respect for PEO members and volunteers · Value-based practice (decisions based on both evidence and values) and enhanced stakeholder engagement for self-regulation · Enhancing the value of the CPD to the highly competent PEO licence holders and public, and will support reforming the CPD reporting · Reinstating EIT (Engineering Intern) program with higher value · Respect for PEO members and volunteers (Council, Committees and Volunteers) · Valuing the mandates of the statutory committees that are guided by member volunteers · Appreciation of volunteers’ impact
Council needs to address fundamental issues of PEO: · present and future of self-regulated professional engineering · modern and fair principles for qualifications and practice in a global society · recognition and licensing of emerging disciplines resulting from rapid advances in engineering, as well as entrepreneurs, so PEng continues to remain relevant · ...
The followings are sample pertinent issues: Public Interest. Council needs to ensure that for all policies and decisions, public interest is paramount (versus PEO interest). This will require looking outwards, e.g., recognition and licensing of emerging disciplines and entrepreneurs, enhanced continuing professional competency for many already highly competent licence holders (maintaining competency vs. developing), and so on. I am pleased that at the November 29, 2024, meeting, Council unanimously passed the motion that “PEO request to Engineers Canada that the Future of Engineering Accreditation next steps includes an explicit commitment to the licensure academic standard of a minimum academic depth and breadth requirement for individuals.”
Trust, Transparency, Respect. Council needs all the pertinent information and documents before discussing/approving any motion (instead of receiving piecemeal info and/or “selected” summary). Council motions have been proposed with no meaningful consultations with the pertinent statutory and standing committees (volunteer members). There has been backlash to the request for info. On more than one occasion, Council has been urged to make hasty important decision (once with less than 24-hour notice) based on the recommendation of a couple of Councillors (and staff/management); a few Councillors have the opinion that councillors cannot be trusted to receive the whole info! When Council rushed to approve the changes to the licensing application process because of FARPACTA (Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades), with no/little consultation with the appropriate statutory and standing committees, there was no discussion on if/how those changes would affect the EIT (Engineering Intern) program. Months later the Council was informed that the EIT program had to be suspended as the Act would not allow it, with no evaluation of the values of the EIT program (and the additional values that such a program can provide). Following many enquiries by a couple of Councillors at the RPLC and Council meetings since 2023, at the November 2024 meeting, the Council committed to the reinstatement of the EIT Program following a targeted engagement with relevant stakeholders so that RPLC provide a policy proposal to Council no later than April 2025.
Back in 2019, the Council approved the Action Plan, which included the mandatory CPD (continuing professional development). To date, it is not clear why the Council was not informed then that there was a prior Council motion requiring the membership referendum on a mandatory CPD. Council became aware of the motion months later when an agenda item on rescinding the prior motion, which required a referendum, was proposed!
Trust, Transparency, Respect. Council must respect the members (licence holders) and ensure transparency in their decisions. Recently the Council voted no to the Four Vision Statements generated by the stakeholder-up inclusive process. The process for developing a Vision for 2050 involved over 2500 PEngs, students, and other PEO stakeholders (with hundreds of formal meetings hours along with many more sub-group meetings), leading to four statements that strived to be inspiring, goal oriented, and accepted by many stakeholders. The statements were claimed to be too member centric, and the invested high level of work and consensus building to reach the future looking vision statements were ignored. Council did not give any clear guidance when voted NO. The CPD reporting requirement can be switched to a three-year rolling-cycle, as many regulators require, instead of current annual reporting. This will facilitate an enhanced and more flexible structured approach for identifying & planning, learning, and documenting. While I personally prefer digital copy of documents, I am pleased that following many requests by a couple of Councillors and members, as per recommendation of the Regulatory Communications consultant, now the members have the option of having the print copy of the Engineering Dimensions. This will ensure inclusion of all licence holders, to be connected, for effective PEO communications.
As well, members (licence holders) need all the info on what is discussed at the Council and how each decision is reached, which may not be unanimous. For the past couple of years, only the motions (and comments of the Chairs of the governance committees) are recorded in the minutes. The Disposition of Motions lists the outcome of motions. However, the members (licence holders) are not informed how and why the Council reach the decision. I am pleased that the audio of the Council meetings has now been posted on the PEO page, i.e., the recorded questions/concerns expressed by councillors, following repeated requests by a couple of Councillors over a few years.
Accountability and Respect. Councillors (and staff/management) should be held accountable for the info and data that they share with the Council. There has been incidences of misinformation and miscommunication with the Council and with the governance and statutory committees. When ARC, as a statutory committee, proposed an alternate licencing model in response to FARPACTA (Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades), the Chair of RPLC (Regulatory Policy and Legislation Committee) refused to allow the committee discuss the proposed ARC model when another model, proposed by staff, was considered (first the Chair lied, and when challenged, tried justifying the decision by saying that the RPLC did not ask ARC to develop a model, …). This is another example on how Council treats volunteer experts, as well as the problems in the governing committees regarding the impartiality of the Chairs, and so on.
The current licensing policy under FARPACTA was approved with no/little consultation with the statutory committees and despite the concerns of the councillors familiar with the licensing process. Since May 2023, all non-CEAB engineering graduates are required to write technical exams, including those with Master’s and PhD degrees in Engineering who have taken graduate level advanced/applied courses on similar subjects from the CEAB accredited undergraduate programs. Many of these applicants are now advised to apply to other provinces (which exempt them from technical exams based on the courses taken). This is an example on how Ontario respects international engineering graduates with one/two graduate degrees in engineering from the Canadian universities. As well, this can be seen as a fundamental violation of the equity principles (fair treatment and access to opportunities, NOT same treatment of all).
Stakeholder Consultation. Council needs enhanced stakeholder engagement for policy developments and decisions, while staff (or consultants) draft policies. There has been an opinion in the Council that cherishes the input from the paid experts more than the volunteer (PEng) experts serving on the statutory committees, e.g., expert volunteers have been referred to be biased!
Diversity. I cherish the importance of cognitive diversity and demographic diversity on Council. I appreciate the value in Councillors demonstrating their beliefs thru the debate in an agile Council and well-informed pertinent policy decisions. I believe councillors have an obligation to be knowledgeable on the agenda items, and dissent from decisions they do not support. I am aware of the dangers of "groupthink", which can discourage debate, creativity and individual responsibility, and “can lead to collective rationalization, lack of personal accountability and pressure to acquiesce”.
It is the fiduciary duty of each Councillor to prepare for the Council meetings, by reviewing the pertinent documents and asking informed questions when a new policy is considered, or an existing policy is revised. There have been attempts at the Council meetings to silence critical debate by accusing some Councillors as “not trusting the staff”, “being disrespectful to the staff” and so on.
Term Limits. I fully support having term limits for the leadership and the appointed members of Council, as well as the leadership of legislated committees. However, Council needs reliance on member expertise and experience, as well organizational memory, which extend beyond the PEO archives. Unlike what was claimed, term limits not only did not attract “fresh blood”, but also excluded experienced Councillors familiar with the culture and history of PEO and Council. As well, many elected Council positions have been acclaimed since then.
|
|
|
As a President-Elect, then President and Past-President for 2025-2028, I will be honored to guide the Council to participate in the day-to-day business of the Council, and the discussions that will affect the strengths and weaknesses of PEO, while promptly responding to the opportunities and threats in a global society, with rapid advances in engineering so PEng continues to be relevant. I am a good listener, and an active and informed councillor. I have always fought to maintain PEO's relevance in a changing world through
Trust, Transparency and Accountability.
|
|
