Continuing education

30 hours per 2-year renewal period for either a land surveyor license or an engineer license.?ÿ 40 hours total if you are both.?ÿ So, in my case, it's usually about 20 and 20.?ÿ Have one place I get credits but they are 6.5 per full day.?ÿ Three trips gets 19.5, but, I get one hour credit for serving on one of the national committees of an engineering organization.?ÿ Every little bit helps.

@holy-cow?ÿ

Of that 30 pdh's (or 40 for dual) in Kansas, 2 hours must be on Kansas Minimum Standards at a course pre-approved by the Kansas State Board of Technical Professions.?ÿ This is particularly important now as there have been a significant revisions of the Standards that took place at the end of last year. There is a pre-approved online class sponsored by the Kansas Society of Land Surveyors Charitable Foundation that offers 2 hours for credit for successful completion of a quality online experience.

@steve-brosemer?ÿ

That is quite correct.?ÿ It is a very good test, by the way.?ÿ

For those not licensed in Kansas I should note that Steve is the primary author of said test and has dedicated much to the improvement in survey standards here over recent decades.

Washington requires 15 hours per year, qualifying activities are listed in the administrative code:

https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=196-16-120?ÿ

The Montana State Conference use to get around 40 attendees at the Annual Meeting. When Continuing Ed came into being all of a sudden there was over 400 attendees. Continuing Ed has become a cash cow for the State Organization. The State of Montana requires it, but the Surveyor's Organization has to supply it. Something doesn't seem right.????

@holy-cow?ÿ

Thank you for the kind words.?ÿ 100% of the income from the KSLS Minimum Standards course goes to scholarships, TrigStar and other education based project such at the restoration of the Surveyors of the 6th P.M. Memorials/signs and the building of a "sandbox" with volunteer labor that volunteers take to youth gatherings, such as the Home School Convention, in an effort to get young students introduced to the profession.?ÿ All through the Charitable Foundation, a 501 3(c).

I always have to chuckle when I hear professional continuing education referred to as a "cash cow" for charitable organizations with members that volunteer their time to promote a profession.?ÿ That's the same trope I heard 35 years ago.?ÿ Being KSLS President, coupled with $3.96 of your own money, will get you a Tall at Starbuck's. (Been there, done that)

@skeeter1996?ÿ

So all the online classes offered by several private providers for Montana will not count??

@skeeter1996?ÿ

sounds like They have a lot of nonresident licensed people that need to stay relevant for potential work.

CEU do what the board can't actively do albeit for the cause and effect.

@steve-brosemer No, they count, but $300 for all the CEUs you need at the Conference vrs $300 for a couple of CEU's wins.

@jitterboogie The problem is the program at the Conference isn't all that great, because the good speakers are so expensive. Lately it's been a lot of government employees presenting their new website because they're free.

The State Association has taken on continuing Education because the State does nothing. They don't even really enforce the CEU requirement. I know Surveyor's that are currently licensed that have never taken one continuing education course. Of course thier knowledge shows it.

@skeeter1996?ÿ

understood.

competency only comes into question when problems arise, and usually it's too late to get the response necessary at that time.

ethics.?ÿ you either have them, or you don't.

?ÿ

NJ requires a total of 24 PDHs for biannual renewal and does not require that you get them through a** in seat exposure.?ÿ I get my PDHs online.?ÿ I used to use a one man company out of Texas that offered NJ State approved courses where you printed out the material and took a paper test, mailed it in with a check and got a certificate if you passed for how ever many hours of credit. Unfortunately, that person passed away.

I found another online source with NJ State approved courses that will let you take the test as a trial and if you pass, you give them a CC for payment and they email you a certificate for the appropriate number of hours.?ÿ I try to mix things up as much as I can but I can say that I learn more from Surveyor's forums from here than I do in conferences or lectures.

Idaho adopted the NCEES standard of 30 each renewal period.

I prefer the in person conference myself. After four years presenting I may take a break and relax next time...

@steve-brosemer

Posted by: @steve-brosemer

I always have to chuckle when I hear professional continuing education referred to as a "cash cow" for charitable organizations with members that volunteer their time to promote a profession.?ÿ That's the same trope I heard 35 years ago.?ÿ Being KSLS President, coupled with $3.96 of your own money, will get you a Tall at Starbuck's. (Been there, done that)

I can't quite chuckle about it.?ÿ I have gotten the comment about how much money I must be making from presenting courses.?ÿ At no compensation, I have been presenting a few times a year for the past almost 10 years as a contribution back to the profession that I have enjoyed.?ÿ The "easy money" or "getting rich" comments have always come from people who I have never even seen at a surveying function other than one required seminar per year and are frequently the people who complain that they don't learn anything from seminars after sitting in the back of the room gossiping the whole time instead of paying attention or participating in any discussion on topic.

Yes, there are those who make presenting a side gig (and good for them as it is a fair amount of effort to develop a course), but many presenters are volunteers for their state societies as a means of supporting the profession they have enjoyed and benefited from.?ÿ Most often, those folks are asked to prepare something by their colleagues and are not really interested in doing so.?ÿ But they do because they want to help out.

@skeeter1996

Posted by: @skeeter1996

The problem is the program at the Conference isn't all that great, because the good speakers are so expensive. Lately it's been a lot of government employees presenting their new website because they're free.

In Kentucky, we try to have one 'known' speaker in the conference budget and then fill in additional tracks with volunteers.?ÿ We have had really good presentations from some government employees.?ÿ A lady from our Sec. of State's office does some great presentations on annexations and another program on patents.?ÿ We've had some folks from a mid to large city planning unit present planning regs from their perspective.?ÿ We've had folks from FEMA, C.O.E., N.G.S. etc... present and have had some really good material come out of those presentations.

To original question

?ÿ

Yes, Kentucky requires 8 hrs per year (or 16 hrs per two year reporting period) for surveyors.

I usually get my hours by taking a fall seminar hosted by the local chapter of the state society.?ÿ I then gain additional hours at the annual state conference.

@jon-payne don't be offended if I unlike this. That's the only way to like it again..

Colorado has no CE mostly because the DORA aggressively opposes it, and always has.(no complaints have been filed by landowners, so therefore all surveyors are completely abreast of all legal and technical aspects of the profession and doing excellent work in the field) In my opinion, it is a requirement as a vast profession, and that the learning of our profession BEGINS the day we get licensed. (and never ends). This is a humbling profession. If the public understood that many of us never continue what we learned to pass a test, they would be outraged.

My Oklahoma license keeps me studying for CE.

PLSC is well staffed with volunteers spending many hours to offer education. It is my observation that the same 100 to 200 attendees show up every year, out of 1500 licensees.

As a county surveyor, I can testify that no landowner calls the State Board with their complaints about surveyors - they call their county surveyor, and they call too many times for a profession that prides itself as we do.

I presented one such case to my legislature in our last losing effort to legislate CE: I showed two surveys of the same complex, legally intertwined series of surveys that began with a major blunder in 1964. I did a retracement and resolved several dormant legal issues and "fixed" the whole thing. Not because I am the smartest surveyor and need to know nothing since the day I passed my test (or, even smart), but I applied valuable lessons in my own continuing education that I could barely fathom the day I took my test. A misguided landowner hired surveyor B, one who has scoffed at the idea of CE (why would someone smart as I bother with CE?) and ladies and gentlemen, this surveyor did everything wrong, got paid a lot of money, and proceeded to record a plat that shorted the mad landowner by 20 feet. I have many examples like this - Surveyor A using CE principles and Surveyor B using their superior intelligence to completely botch the whole thing much to the detriment of the public. (ps - several legislators changed their mind when they heard my testimony, and voted FOR CE - but we still lost.

My hat goes off to my colleagues who knew everything they needed to know since day 1, and have the remarkable ability to "know what they don't know", and teach themselves only what they need to know when they need to know it. You are a credit to our profession. I'm not one of them. Like I say at my presentations, very early on in my career I decided I wanted to be SEEN with the guys who are still learning!

?ÿ

@jon-payne

Posted by: @jon-payne

I can't quite chuckle about it.?ÿ

Perhaps I need to turn up my Sarcas-o-meter a bit.