BY-LAWS, RULES OF PROCEDURE 245:15-11
Effective July 25, 2013
CHAPTER 15. LICENSURE AND PRACTICE OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS
SUBCHAPTER 11. CONTINUING EDUCATION
245:15-11-1. Definitions
The following words or terms, when used in this Subchapter shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
- "Dual licensee" means a person licensed as a Professional Engineer and Professional Land Surveyor.
- "PDH" means a professional development hour of at least 50 minutes of instruction, as defined in this Section.
- "Professional development hour" means a contact hour (nominal) of instruction or presentation; the common denominator for other units of credit.
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245:15-11-2. Continuing education committees
(a) The Board may establish continuing education committees consisting of at least three (3) members each, who are residents of this state. Each member of the committee shall have been engaged in the lawful practice of engineering or land surveying for at least ten (10) years, in responsible charge of engineering or land surveying projects for at least five (5) years, and be a licensed Professional Engineer or Land Surveyor in this state.
(b) The continuing education committees shall have the following duties or others as assigned by the Board.
(1) Exercise general administration of the Rules in Subchapter 11 of Chapter 15 under the direction of the Board.
(2) Recommend to the Board revisions of the Rules in Subchapter 11 of Chapter 15.
(3) Review and recommend to the Board for approval acceptable continuing education programs/courses and credit to be given for programs/courses.
(4) Perform audits of licensees as necessary to ensure continuing education requirements are met. An audit of a licensee's records if necessary, must be conducted within one (1) year of the biennial renewal of a license.
(5) Report annually on the activities and operation of committees to the Board.
(c) A member of a committee who misses three (3) consecutive meetings of the committee, for whatever reason, shall automatically vacate the office.
(d) Members of these committees shall serve at the discretion of the Board.
(e) The travel expenses of members of the continuing education committees shall be paid by the Board as provided in the State Travel Reimbursement Act, Section 500.1 et seq. of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. All travel by members of the committees shall be approved by the Chair of the Board prior to the travel occurring.
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245:15-11-3. Scope and exemptions
(a) Licensees shall be required to meet the continuing educational requirements of the rules for professional development in this subchapter as a condition for licensure renewal. Continuing education obtained by a licensee should maintain, improve or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure or to develop new and relevant skills and knowledge.
(b) A licensee may be exempt from the professional development educational requirements for one of the following reasons:
(1) New licensees by way of examination or comity shall be exempt for their first renewal period.
(2) A licensee who is deployed on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be exempt from obtaining the professional development hours required during that year when circumstances associated with military duty prevent obtaining training and a waiver request has been submitted to the Board; when the active-duty military member performs engineering and/or land surveying services respectively as part of his or her military duties as annotated in Defense Department Form 214 (DD 214), or when performing any other act typically required for renewal of the license.
(3) A licensee experiencing physical disability, illness, or other extenuating circumstances as reviewed and approved by the Board may be exempt. Supporting documentation must be furnished to the Board.
(4) A licensee who elects to choose Retired status at the time of renewal shall be exempt.In the event such person elects to return to active practice of professional engineering or surveying, 30 PDH’s must be earned before returning to active practice.
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245:15-11-5. Requirements for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
(a) To demonstrate that a Professional Engineer and/or Land Surveyor maintains an acceptable level of competency, a licensee must obtain thirty (30) professional development hours(PDH’s) for a twenty-four month (biennial) renewal period. If a licensee exceeds the requirement in any biennial renewal period, a maximum of fifteen (15) PDH’s may be carried forward into the subsequent biennial renewal period. PDH’s may be earned by a licensee as follows:
(1) Successful completion or auditing of college courses.
(2) Successful completion or auditing of continuing education courses.
(3) Successful completion of short courses/tutorials and distance-education courses offered through correspondence, television, videotapes, or the Internet.
(4) Presenting or attending qualifying seminars meeting the criteria of Section 15-11-6, in-house courses, workshops, or professional or technical presentations made at meetings, conventions, or conferences.
(5) Active participation in professional or technical societies serving the engineering or land surveying profession, or code development technical committees, or code commissions. Credit for active participation in a professional and technical society serving the engineering or land surveying profession (limited to 4 PDH’s per renewal period), requires that a licensee serve as an officer and/or actively participates in a committee of the organization. PDH’s are not earned until the end of each year of service is completed.
(6) Active participation in standards or code development technical committees, standards or code commissions, or licensing examination development committees.
(7) Teaching or instructing in (1) through (4) of this subsection.
(8) Authoring published papers, articles, books, accepted licensing examination items, or building codes.
(9) Authoring published articles.
(10) Award of patents to the licensee or to licensee’s employer when developed by the licensee.
(11) Documented self-study (1PDH unit – 3 hours) maximum of 3 PDH’s per renewal period.
(b) All such PDH’s earned in activities as described in (a)(1) through (a)(11) of this section must be relevant to the practice of engineering and/or land surveying as applicable and may include technical, ethical or business content. Qualifying ethical or business courses or activities must contain content areas related to (1) the awareness of ethical concerns and conflicts; (2) an enhanced familiarity with the codes of conduct; (3) an understanding of standards of practice or care; (4) project management and risk-assessment management; or (5) other similar topics aimed at maintaining, improving, or expanding the skills set and knowledge relevant to the licensee’s field and methods of practice.
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245:15-11-6. Criteria for continuing educational activities
(a) Continuing educational activities used to earn PDH's must meet the following criteria:
(1) There is a clear purpose and objective for each activity, which will maintain, improve or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure or to develop new and relevant skills and knowledge.
(2) The content of each presentation is well organized and presented in a sequential manner.
(3) There is evidence of preplanning which should include the opportunity for input by the target group to be served.
(4) The presentation will be made by persons who are well qualified by education or experience.
(5) There is a provision for individual participant registration which will include information required for record keeping and reporting.
(b) The Board has final authority with respect to acceptability of courses, credit, PDH value for courses, and other methods of earning credit.
(1) Credit for college or community college approved courses will be based upon course credit established by the college.
(2) Credit for qualifying seminars and workshops meeting the criteria in 245:15-11-6(a) will be based on one PDH for each hour of attendance. Attendance at qualifying programs presented at professional and/or technical society meetings or building code meetings will earn PDH's for the actual time of each program.
(3) Credit determination for activities referenced in 245:15-11-5 (a)(6) and (a)(7) is the responsibilities of the licensee (subject to review as required by the Board).
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245:15-11-7. Conversion of units
The conversion of other units of credit of continuing education to PDH's is as follows:
(1) One (1) college or unit semester hour – 15 PDH's
(2) Auditing of (1) college or unit semester hour -15 PDH's
(3) One (1) hour of technical or professional development in course work, seminars, technical and professional meetings, conventions, workshops, - 1 PDH
(4) One (1) hour for developing professional licensure examinations – 1 PDH
(5) For teaching or making presentations - apply multiple of 2 (Teaching credit is valid for teaching a course or seminar for the first time only. Teaching credit does not apply to full-time or part-time faculty members unless the activity is outside the scope of the licensee's customary teaching responsibilities.)
(6) Each peer-reviewed published Professional/Technical paper or book in the licensee's area of professional practice -10 PDH's
(7) Each published paper or article in the licensee's area of professional practice – 5 PDH's
(8) Active participation in a professional and technical society or association. (maximum of 4 PDH's per biennial renewal period) – 2 PDH's
(9) Each patent. – 10 PDH's
(10) Active participation serving on standards or code commissions (maximum of 8 PDH's per biennial renewal period)
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245:15-11-8. Comity/Out-of-Jurisdiction Resident
The continuing education requirements for Oklahoma will be satisfied when a non-resident fulfills the requirements for resident licensees outlined in 245:15-11-5.
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245:15-11-9. Records
(a) Each licensee is charged with the responsibility of his own professional development activities. The responsibility of maintaining records to be used to support credits claimed is the responsibility of the licensee. Records required include, but are not limited to:
(1) A log showing the type of activity claimed, sponsoring organization, location, duration, instructor's or speaker's name, and PDH credits earned.
(2) Attendance verification records in the form of completion certificates, or other approved documentation supporting evidence of attendance. Documentation which does not support evidence of actual attendance will not be accepted for audit purposes.
(b) Records must be maintained for a period of five (5) years and copies may be requested by the Board for audit verification purposes.
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245:15-11-10. Forms
Renewal applications will require the completion of a continuing education form specified by the Board outlining PDH's claimed. The licensee must supply sufficient detail on the form to permit audit verification, must certify and sign the continuing education form, and keep in their files for audit verification purposes.
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245:15-11-11. Disallowed credit; failure to comply
If a licensee fails to certify completion of 30 PDH's per biennial renewal period by their expiration date the license will not be renewed. If the Board disallows claimed PDH's during an audit, the licensee shall have 120 days after notification to substantiate the original claim or to earn other credit to meet the minimum requirement. Failure to comply with an audit is a violation of Board Rules and may lead to disciplinary action.
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245:15-11-12. Re-registration
A licensee may bring an inactive license to active status by obtaining all delinquent PDH's. However, if the total number required to become current exceeds 30, then 30 shall be the maximum number required.
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245:15-11-13. Dual Registrants
For an individual licensed both as an engineer and surveyor, the number of PDH’s required shall remain 30 per biennial renewal period, at least 1/3 of which shall be obtained in each profession.
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