NCEES Headquarters Update
(From the NCEES publication LICENSURE EXCHANGE, December 2009, ISSN NO. 1093-541X, VOLUME 13, ISSUE 6 – PAGE 4)
JERRY T. CARTER, NCEES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The next big project always seems bigger than the last
When I became the Member Board administrator for the North Carolina Board and got that first big project, in the beginning I wondered if it could ever be achieved and then if there could ever be another project as huge and as important. Of course, I quickly learned that each project is bigger, costlier, and more important than the last. But I also learned that the effort was worthwhile. Each project improved our processes and enhanced the level of service we could provide as a board.
At NCEES, we are completing a two-year process to provide a new look to the organization and a clearer message about our mission. It seemed a daunting task when we began searching for a creative agency. We had to make sure the agency understood what licensure is really about and that it could decypher our often-times cryptic acronyms. The most obvious results from this effort are our new logo and tag line. We have also tied each of our services back to the NCEES brand so that we no longer have multiple identities with competing logos.
Another large part of this effort has been to revamp our Web site, which launched in November. The site is a more useful tool for our visitors, boards, committee members, and volunteers. We appreciate the feedback provided by Council members in helping update the NCEES image and message.
Attention shifts to examinee registration
And now, the next great project: an examinee management system. The Council mandated us to develop a system that will require Member Board-approved examinees to register with NCEES in order to sit for an exam. We will begin using this online registration system for the October 2010 exam administration.
With the new examinee management system, candidates will continue to apply to Member Boards for approval, but they will then visit the NCEES Web site to complete the registration process. Candidates will create a username and password and supply NCEES with basic data currently collected on the answer sheet. We will no longer have to collect this information on exam day, and we will have a system that offers improved security and a more efficient means of tracking candidates.
Exam modules to be printed separately
Another upcoming change results from the Council’s decision to print the FE, Civil PE, and Mechanical PE exam modules in separate books. Currently, the various modules are included in the same exam book. Beginning with the October 2010 exam administration, candidates will be required to declare their exam modules during the online registration process. The new exam management system will be designed to allow candidates to do this. Since NCEES will collect this information directly from candidates, boards will not need to modify their application process. Also, since exam book orders will be based on this information from the candidates, the process of boards submitting exam orders before each administration will be virtually eliminated.
In the coming months, NCEES staff will work with boards and testing vendors to resolve issues related to the new examinee management system. We strongly encourage boards to start communicating with applicants about the upcoming change to the registration process and to emphasize that candidates will have to apply to their board and register with NCEES to sit for an exam.
The improvements to NCEES services won’t end with these projects. With changes to the engineering education requirements and the ongoing study of computer-based testing, I know the next “can’t get any bigger than this” project is just around the corner.
