October 2007 Issue
COUNCIL BRIEFS
Combined Geoscience Designation
Could be in Association’s Future
Council and APEGGA staff look at a communication and consultation strategy as the Executive Committee considers a single, more effective umbrella
The PEGG compiled the following items from the Sept. 20 APEGGA Council meeting in Calgary. The next meeting is Dec. 6 in Edmonton.
At some point, the acronym APEGA might not be a typo when you read items like this one — in your PEG.
The idea of combining Professional Geologist and Professional Geophysicist
into one, more easily administered designation has now moved to the Executive
Committee for further consideration.
In June, Council approved in principle the creation of Professional Geoscientist,
which would align APEGGA with all the other geoscience self-regulators in Canada.
“I would say that for the most part, the geoscience community is very supportive of this initiative,” said John Hogg, P.Geol., chair of the APEGGA Geoscience Committee. The idea, he said, is to “make the umbrella bigger,” so distinctions stop hindering some legitimate geoscience practitioners when they apply for their licences.
Creating a P.Geo. designation would require a member vote and legislative changes. The committee and Council envision a thorough communication and consultation process before that might happen, however.
One of the key audiences will be engineers, because they’re in the majority. “We have to explain to engineers why this is important for the Association in general,” said Mr. Hogg.
Although new P.Geol. and P.Geoph. designations wouldn’t be granted, those with the old designations would keep them if they want to. A common designation across Canada can make use of a common body of geoscience knowledge, making registration simpler and more effective. It would help streamline registration and improve professional mobility for geoscientists who work in multiple Canadian jurisdictions.
Geophysics Stream Will Return To Board of Examiners
The APEGGA Board of Examiners and APEGGA Council are holding off approval of
a new geophysics stream of knowledge, pending further input and discussion. The
problem is, Council heard, that the stream within the proposed new national registration
syllabus doesn’t strongly enough represent oil and gas geophysics.
“Our academic examiners said that what’s being proposed would disqualify some APEGGA applicants from meeting requirements,” said Mark Tokarik, P.Eng., Director, Registration. The stream “has a more Ontario-based, hard-rock geophysics element, which is different from the petroleum geophysics here. So there’s a conflict with the basic body of knowledge you generally need here.”
No significant conflicts, however, were found in the geology and environmental geoscience portions of the proposed National Minimum Geoscience Knowledge for Registration, created by the Canadian Geoscience Standards Board. Both those streams were approved.
The Board of Examiners will look again at the syllabus in December.
President-Elect Gordon Williams, P.Geol., said the standardization work is important to the geosciences. “This issue is at the root of the difficulties we have in inter-provincial mobility,” Dr. Williams said. “There are consistent standards from one engineering school to another so there’s good mobility for engineers.
“The same is not true for geoscience departments at universities across
Canada. They differ.”
The new syllabus will mean that universities can tailor their programs to the
same body of knowledge. “In due course, this will improve mobility for
geoscientists across Canada,” said Dr. Williams.
Staff Develop Ongoing Record Of Council Decisions
You have to know where you’ve been to get where you’re going. That
may sound simple enough, but for APEGGA staff and Council it hasn’t always
been easy keeping track of the decisions of past Councils.
The record existed within minutes, but there was no listing with explanation of decisions attached to actual subject areas.
Now, that’s changed. Council had its first look at a record of decisions going back to 1989.
APEGGA staff will update the record after each meeting. Also, staff will bring a number of unresolved matters before future meetings — matters found during the comp-ilation of the record.
Volunteers to Follow Code of Conduct When Helping APEGGA
A 10-page Code of Conduct for Volunteers is now official APEGGA policy,
Council decided. All current and new volunteers will receive a one-page summary
of the code, and the full code will be published on the APEGGA website.
The code, first brought before Council in June, covers respect in the workplace, conflict of interest, confidentiality and complaint procedures.
APEGGA to Seek Member Viewpoints On M.I.T. Voting
Council continues to grapple with whether members-in-training should have full
voting privileges. Past Councils have said no, because full participation in
self-regulation requires the professional maturity that comes, in part, out of
four years as a member-in-training.
One argument for the other side is that getting young members fully involved might prevent them from becoming apathetic about self-regulation. APEGGA strives to engage members, and perhaps this is a way to start doing that early.
Past-President David Chalcroft, P.Eng., said a ballot on One Act, Two Associations brought the issue back to the fore. “Here’s an issue that’s clearly of interest to incoming members and they didn’t have the right to vote,” said Mr. Chalcroft.
Changes to the EGGP Act would be necessary to give members-in-training the vote. Council plans to consult with members thoroughly before the idea ever comes to a member vote.
It’s a split decision across Canada. About half of the self-regulating engineering and geoscience associations allow their members-in-training full voting rights.
Member Management Improvements Making Progress
A new member database that will improve efficiency and service is on schedule
and on budget, Council heard. APEGGA’s new member management system is
targeted to go live in the second quarter and be substantially complete by the
end
of 2008.
Staff, the provider and consultants are developing a “comprehensive solution” to the challenges in revamping the member management system, Council heard. The company chosen is Aptify, along with ProServeIT, a Canadian implementation consultant.
The system will mesh with a new national database, which is nearing completion.
National Insurance Worth the Fee, Task Force Says
Their work here is done, the second incarnation of the Insurance Review Task
Force told Council. In June, Council concurred with the task force that APEGGA
members should not be required to declare to clients whether they have professional
liability insurance.
What remained was to look at the potential for improving the National Secondary Professional Liability Insurance Program, which for about five years has been paid for through APEGGA member dues. After discussions with the insurer and the broker, the task force decided there’s good value for the annual fee of about $7 each member pays.
The task force recommended that executive directors across the country, through their Staff Liaison Group, should take a “more pro- active role” in managing the coverage. As well, APEGGA needs to improve awareness of the coverage, especially with new and retiring members.
Council agreed with the task force’s recommendations — including one that stands down the task force.
New Business Plan Hits the Target Created by Council
The APEGGA Business Plan 2008 details the nuts and bolts of staff’s approach
to Council’s strategies, and it was part of the September agenda package.
Called Hitting the Target, the plan lists as 2008 priorities
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implementing the One Act, Two Associations regulatory model
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personalizing professionalism
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improving professional mobility
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reducing application time
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improving the geoscience licensure rate
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monitoring the labour supply and demand situation
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providing “informed, balanced discussion” on issues
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reducing the number of unlicensed practitioners
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improving member management
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completing Edmonton office renovations.
Broader strategies in the plan are regulating the engineering and geoscience
practices, leading the professions, upholding members — and providing the
resources to make it all happen.
The new business plan will appear online at www.apega.ca.
Revisions Approved For Contract Employment Guideline
It’s “increasingly common” for organizations to hire APEGGA
professionals under contract, says a report from the Practice Standards Committee.
Therefore, it’s also important that the Guideline for Contract Employment
of Professional Members be up to date.
And so it is, following a review process and now Council’s approval subject to minor editorial changes.
The document, first issued in 1997, has been revised to match the current style for guidelines and practice standards, to reflect current case law, and to update references.
“The policy of this guideline is to promote an environment in which professional members employed as independent contractors can thrive,” says the committee report.
All practice standards and guidelines can be found online at www.apega.ca. Go to Fast Find, Publications, then click on Guidelines.
Transition Smooth To Meeting With Much Less Paper
Welcome to the largely paperless Council meeting. The laptops clicked into overdrive,
after APEGGA staff failed — on purpose — to send out full, hardcopy
agenda packages in advance of the September meeting.
With the assembled group in Calgary using computer documents downloaded beforehand, the transition went off with few hitches.
Agendas and all their documentation often come in at more than 300 pages. Observers, staff and Council who receive the package number more than 40 at each meeting, and APEGGA holds five Council meetings a year. Agenda packages, held together in three-ring binders, used to be sent out by courier to those attendees who don’t work at head office.
The irony is that many of you are reading about all this paperlessness on paper. But you don’t have to. All stories that appear in The PEGG appear in The PEGG Online. And recent legislative changes mean there’s no official requirement that you receive a hardcopy in order to stay informed.
If you want to cancel your hardcopy, e-mail Francine Maxwell, Editorial Assistant, at fmaxwell@apega.ca, with your member number and address.