August | September 2008

NSPE TODAY
The Glue That Binds Us

BY PRESIDENT BRADLEY ALDRICH, P.E., F.NSPE

In a recent conversation with an NSPE member, we were discussing what differentiates professional engineers from those who are not licensed. At one point he asked me, "What's the glue that binds us?" This question struck me, as the answer goes to the crux of who we are and why we unite under a common banner: to protect our unique rights, responsibilities, and obligations as professional engineers.

I hope you all read with interest NSPE Executive Director Larry Jacobson's article "Survival of a Learned Profession" in the July PE magazine, for in this article lies the answer. I'll take a moment to highlight the important points but encourage you to read or reread the article.

Professional engineers, like practicing doctors and lawyers, fall under the category of a learned profession by virtue of our advanced education, apprenticeship in our field of specialty, examination, and licensure. As soon as you become licensed, your cohort changes to those who have risen to the status of a learned professional. This is a common bond.

I won't be so bold as to suggest that only professional engineers qualify for status as learned professionals among all engineers. Certainly engineering professors would qualify for this status as well. There are also many extraordinary engineers with advanced education who are dedicated to applying their engineering knowledge to a wide range of products and services intended for the public good. They too qualify as learned professionals. How do you recognize them? They are dedicated to our standards for ethics and competence even though they are not licensed, and therefore obligated, to do so. However, a bachelor's degree in engineering, without the additional commitment to advanced learning, ethics, and experience required to gain licensure falls quite short of meeting the standard for a learned professional.

Our common bond as learned professionals starts when we are granted a license, but at that point, our obligation to our profession and each other is just beginning. We have an obligation to advance our knowledge through life-long learning, to practice only within our area of competence, to act with the highest ethical standards, and to always place the public health, safety, and welfare above all other considerations. But this still isn't the fundamental principle that binds all professional engineers together as an exclusive group.

The "glue that binds us" and sets us apart from the rest is that our technical knowledge has earned us the unique right to exercise professional judgment. This special knowledge also means that, under state laws, our occasional negligence or shortcomings can be judged only by our peers. The average person simply lacks the knowledge and experience to determine whether we have met the high standard of care set for professional engineers. We are responsible for policing each other and holding each other accountable to this very high standard of care. I am responsible not only for my own acts and omissions, but in a real sense, I am also responsible for a degree of oversight for you and vice versa. If we ever fail each other, we also fail to uphold our responsibility to the public. This is what sets us apart from the rest of the engineering and technical community.

The National Society of Professional Engineers was founded on this principle and the belief that one organization needs to represent the interests of every professional engineer, regardless of discipline. NSPE is the voice and advocate of the professional engineer. This is our vision statement, and it continues to be our purpose as an organization. No other organization is dedicated specifically to your unique interests as a professional engineer. We advocate for your interests in our nation's capital and in each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. NSPE represents your interests to state and federal agencies and the international engineering community. We also represent your interests to engineering organizations, such as the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, which administers the licensure exams, and ABET, which accredits the engineering curricula in our universities. This is one of many reasons why I am an NSPE member, and I expect it is one of yours.

But NSPE does so much more than just advocate for your professional interests. Through professional development, leadership opportunities, mentoring, networking, and public outreach, the Society enhances your image as a learned professional and your ability to ethically and professionally practice engineering.

Over the next several issues of PE magazine, Larry Jacobson and I will elaborate on what NSPE is doing and how it enhances your image and ability to practice engineering. You will hear more about professional engineering as a learned profession and what we need to do to maintain that status. You will also hear more about the common bond that we share, "the glue that binds us," and our obligation to each other as well as the public to conduct ourselves with the highest standard of professional care.

In the interim, I encourage you to share this article and Larry's article in the July issue with your colleagues who are not yet NSPE members and ask them to join. I would have joined NSPE strictly for the professional obligation outlined in these two articles. However, once I joined, I found so many more benefits of membership. I trust you agree and can share this with those you know who should be members too.