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Leila Notash, PhD, PEng, FEC For Councillor-at-Large A Proud PEO Volunteer for 20 years (since 2003)
Other Issues |
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Other issues that I have spoken out and would like to continue pursuing, include the followings.
v While having information on members and the present-day standards for practice and professional ethics are necessary for the regulatory bodies, if PEAK (Practice Evaluation and Knowledge) has no value for the members, public and PEO then it will become a very costly process to collect voluntary (and mandatory as of January 2023) disclosure of self-declared data. I am open to your views on developing an effective continuing competency approach that has value and relevancy for members and public.
v I fully support having term limits for the leadership and the appointed members of Council, as well as the leadership of legislated committees. I welcome your views on the term limits taking into account the reliance on member expertise and experience, as well as the need for organizational memory, which extend beyond the PEO archives. For the past several years, several positions have been acclaimed (some of those candidates did not share any info regarding their platforms with the licence holders). Interestingly, while the platforms of some candidates refer to “meaningful consultation”, "stakeholder communication/engagement", and so on, their actions on Council and governance committees clearly contradict their written words.
v Teaching upper-year technical courses is no longer recognized as practice of engineering towards the engineering experience requirement. More and more junior engineering faculty teaching in Ontario universities are applying to other associations for PEng licence even if their teaching duties include some/all of “planning, designing, composing, evaluating, advising, reporting, directing or supervising that requires the application of engineering principles and concerns the safeguarding of … public welfare…, or the managing of any such act”. Interestingly, to fulfil the PEAK assessments, practicing professional engineers could take/report technical courses taught by these faculty mambers. This needs carefully drafted directions from the Council.
v I have spoken out on issues related to the members and chapters, and will continue communicating my concerns (shared by many members/chapters). I am responsible for the decision to allow the applicants a last change to write the Professional Practice Exam PPE (including those who failed one of law and ethics) after the Council approved switching to NPPE and overlooked the consequences of such decision with no peer-review.
v I am encouraged by the Engineers Canada’s 30 by 30 initiative (also adopted by the PEO Council) to increase the representation of women within the engineering field (with the goal of raising the percentage of newly licensed women engineers to 30% by the year 2030; which is around 20%). As a regulator, PEO needs to ensure that there is no bias (unconscious or implicit) considering its operation and regulatory activities (licensing, complaint, enforcement …). Attracting and retaining women engineers requires genuinely inclusive academic programs, workplaces, committees, boards, and so on.
v I have supported issuing a certificate once the applicants complete the Professional Practice (Law and Ethics) examination (after meeting the academics) whilst fulfilling the experience requirement. The certificate would be an indication of the applicants’ familiarity with the engineering ethics and law, and commitment to the profession, i.e., “Canadian professional engineering culture”. Thus, valuable to the employers. This would also empower the applicants and facilitate a sense of moving ahead as the applicants fulfil each requirement. If the value of this certificate and what it signifies is well publicized, it could also alleviate some of the concerns regarding the required one-year Canadian experience under the supervision of a PEng. The certificate could also bring the entrepreneurs under the PEO umbrella while practicing engineering related work with no PEng supervision. The digital certificate would be provided via the Member Portal on the PEO's website. Similar to the PEAK profile, on the Directories of Practitioners, a pertinent note could be posted for each applicant/EIT once they are awarded this certificate....
v I believe every Chapter member has the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for the Chapter Officer positions. We need election at the Chapter levels. We need to ensure Chapter By-Laws are followed (otherwise revise them).
v Other ongoing issues such as Industrial Exception and secure online voting credentials using the member portal with MFA (multi-factor authentication), whistle-blower protections (for members and staff), emerging disciplines, will have to be revisited in the near future ..…
Ø Back to my PEO Council Election Page
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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.
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