Current through Register Vol. 18, September 20, 2024
(1) Every licensee
shall meet the continuing professional competency (continuing education)
requirements of these regulations for professional development and affirm an
understanding of their recurring duty to comply with continuing education
requirements as a part of renewal.
(2) Terms used in this rule are defined as
follows:
(a) "Professional development hour
(PDH)" means a contact hour (nominal) of instruction or presentation;
(b) "Continuing education unit
(CEU)" means a unit of credit customarily used for continuing education
courses. One continuing education unit equals ten hours of class in an approved
continuing education course;
(c)
"College/unit semester/quarter hour" means credit for courses in ABET approved
programs or other related college courses approved in accordance with (5),
below;
(d) "Course/activity" means
any qualifying course or activity with a clear purpose and objective which will
maintain, improve or expand the skills and knowledge relevant to the licensee's
field of practice;
(e)
"Engineer-surveyor" means a person who is licensed as both an engineer and a
land surveyor.
(3)
Every licensee is required to obtain 30 PDH units during the two-year renewal
period. If a licensee exceeds the annual requirement in any renewal period, a
maximum of 15 PDH units may be carried forward into the subsequent renewal
period. PDH units may be earned as follows:
(a) successful completion of college courses;
(b) successful completion of
continuing education courses;
(c)
successful completion of correspondence, televised, videotaped and other short
courses/tutorials;
(d) presenting
or attending qualifying seminars, in-house courses, workshops or professional
or technical presentations made at meetings, conventions or
conferences;
(e) teaching or
instruction in (a) through (d), above;
(f) authoring published papers, articles or
books;
(g) active participation in
professional or technical societies;
(h) patents.
(4) The conversion of other units of credit
to PDH units is as follows:
(a) one college
or unit semester hour 45 PDH
(b)
one college or unit quarter hour 30 PDH
(c) one continuing education unit 10 PDH
(d) one hour of professional
development in course work, seminars or professional or technical presentations
made at meetings, conventions or conferences .................................
1 PDH
(e) each published paper,
article or book
........................................................................10 PDH
(f) active participation in professional and technical society (each
organization) .........2 PDH
(g)
each patent
....................................................................................................................10
PDH
(h) for teaching apply
multiple of two. (Teaching credit is valid for teaching a course or seminar for
the first time only. Teaching credit does not apply to full-time faculty.)
(i) self-study
.........................................................................................................................10
PDH (A maximum of 10 PDH will be allowed per renewal cycle for self-study.
Self-study is considered a formatted review of new subject matter or technical
information such as video tapes series, Internet courses that do not include a
final examination, etc.)
(5) The board has final authority with
respect to approval of courses, credit, PDH value for courses and other methods
of earning credit.
(a) Credit for college or
community college approved courses will be based upon course credit established
by the college.
(b) Credit for
qualifying seminars and workshops will be based on one PDH unit for each hour
of attendance. Attendance at qualifying programs presented at professional
and/or technical society meetings will earn PDH units for the actual time of
each program.
(c) Credit
determination for each published paper, article or book and each patent is the
responsibility of the licensee (subject to review as required by the board) .
(d) Credit for active
participation in professional and technical societies (limited to two PDH per
organization) requires that a licensee serve as an officer and/or actively
participate in a committee of the organization. PDH credits are not earned
until the end of each year of service is completed.
(6) Licensees shall maintain records and
documentation of completed continuing education and make the records available
upon board request. Records required include, but are not limited to:
(a) a log showing the type of activity
claimed, sponsoring organization, location, duration, instructor's or speaker's
name and PDH credits earned;
(b)
attendance verification records in the form of completion certificates or other
documents supporting evidence of attendance; or
(c) records as maintained by the professional
development registry for engineers and surveyors (PDRES) or other similar
repositories. These records must be maintained for a period of three years and
copies may be requested by the board for audit verification purposes.
(7) A licensee may be
exempt from the professional development educational requirements for one of
the following reasons:
(a) New licensees by
way of examination or comity shall be exempt from accruing PDHs for 12 months
following licensure, after which 7.5 PDHs are required for each six-month
period of licensure until the first renewal period that occurs on or after June
30, 2008;
(b) A licensee serving on
temporary active duty in the armed forces of the United States for a period of
time exceeding 120 consecutive days in a year shall be exempt from obtaining
the professional development hours required during that year;
(c) Licensees 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;
(d) Licensees currently on
inactive status shall be exempt.
(8) The number of PDH units required of
engineer-surveyors shall be 30, at least one-third of which shall be obtained
in each profession.
(9) The
department may randomly audit up to 50 percent of renewed licensees.
(10) Licensees found to be in noncompliance
with continuing education requirements may be subject to administrative
suspension.
AUTH:
37-1-319, MCA
IMP:
37-1-306,
37-1-319,
MCA
