Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia
APEGBC’s Accredited Employer Member-in-Training pilot program is growing, with eight organizations and 73 EITs participating, and more expected to join by spring.
Launched in November 2015, the program streamlines the processing and evaluation of applicants seeking professional membership and helps employers attract and retain high-calibre talent.
Under the program, companies that employ Engineers-in-Training (EITs) work with APEGBC to offer work environments that ensure EITs are able to satisfy the APEGBC experience requirements when applying for their professional (P.Eng.) designation. Employers develop their own EIT training programs and apply to APEGBC to become accredited. They are responsible for identifying which of their EITs will participate in the program.
Engineers-in-Training who wish to be considered for the program must work for an accredited company and enroll through their employer.
“The process was well organized, and its content covered the competencies expected for registration,” says the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Manager of Bridge and Structural Engineering and EIT supervisor Willem Jellema, P.Eng. “It was efficient, yet very effective.” The ministry was one of the first employers to receive accreditation.
At this time, the program is available only to EITs. Geoscientists-in-Training (GITs) will be included when a competency-based assessment system has been implemented specifically for them.
Results to date indicate the program is expediting EIT registration while ensuring those individuals are qualified for the licence to practice. The Accredited Employer Member-in-Training program can almost quarter the amount of time it takes to complete the application and registration process for a participating MIT.
“The ministry’s training guide, developed to reflect the requirements of the competency-based system and accredited program, allowed me to focus on what experience was required over my four years as an EIT,” says Zachary Staples, P.Eng., who was an EIT with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and who completed the registration process in 13 days. “It also acted as a guide for what I had to demonstrate to my validators and assessors to ensure a smooth and successful review period for my P.Eng. application.”
CURRENT PROGRAM EMPLOYER–PARTICIPANTS
- Aplin Martin
- AES Engineering
- COWI North America
- Dynamic Structures
- Fast + Epp
- Integral Group
- Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
- Omicron
