November/December 2019

PE Report
NCEES, EWB Partner to Promote Licensure

Engineers Without Borders USA and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying launched an outreach campaign in September to promote licensure in engineering and surveying to college students and the next generation of young professionals in the two fields.

Following an announced $3 million contribution over three years by NCEES at its 2018 annual meeting, the two organizations conducted stakeholder interviews with EWB-USA members to learn more about their current perceptions of licensure and implement an outreach and marketing campaign to promote licensure on college campuses, according to NCEES’s Director of Public Affairs Nina Norris.

“This partnership will provide powerful stories that illustrate the difference licensure can make in someone’s career and the impact engineers and surveyors have on our daily lives,” Norris says. “These stories and profiles will be an important part of how we convey our message throughout the campaign.”

The two organizations are already seeing more engineering students get behind the ideals promoted by professional licensure, according to EWB-USA Executive Director Cathy Leslie, P.E.

“Our EWB-USA member base and volunteers have already been hard at work promoting the benefits of surveying and engineering licensure at student-led organization meetings and career fairs,” Leslie says. “We have set up booths on campus to distribute informative materials and speak with students directly at multiple events, and we are only just getting started.”

The two organizations say that because of the personal stories from other licensed engineers and volunteers within their organizations, they are better able to connect with students who may share similar experiences.

“Research shows that today’s students and young professionals react positively to stories about people within their profession who are making a difference,” Norris says. “We hope to capture their attention through the stories of the campaign and build on their existing engagement with EWB-USA to include NCEES and the value of licensure.”

The next stage of the campaign will begin in 2020, when the partnered organizations plan to expand their current efforts to include communicating with post-graduate and professional members about the benefits of staying on the licensure path.

“Collaborative partnerships with other organizations are an important aspect of supporting the NCEES mission to advance licensure,” says NCEES CEO David Cox. “Our growing partnership increases the opportunities to engage with current students, working engineers and surveyors, and engineering faculty to demonstrate how licensure can benefit their careers and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.”