Interim CEO’s Message
APEGA
How Your Council and Staff Continue Improving APEGA’s Game
BY HEIDI YANG, P.ENG., FEC, FGC (HON.) Interim CEO
where we need to be. However, several new processes are in place and working well, as we standardize our requirements. We’ve put more registration staff in place, including staff dedicated entirely to fielding applicants’ phone calls. We have a system for assessing and reporting academic qualifications that saves time and duplication of effort from applicants. Also dramatically improved is the work experience record and its process of gathering references. This system has moved to a mobile-friendly, online platform. Many of the other processes important to our role as a regulator are also being reviewed and improved. Our 2017-2019 Strategic Plan calls on us to focus on oversight of the practice of the professions, along with organizational excellence, continuing professional development, and the centennial of APEGA, which occurs in 2020. Two of those priorities are strongly tied to individual ethics, which is worth noting. Another project that ties directly to our strategic plan is the legislative review. As you may know, the review is preparing us for the first complete revamp of the Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act (EGP Act) in more than three decades. Working with Members, Permit Holders, the Government of Alberta, and other stakeholders, we are delving into all the legislative changes required to improve our regulatory role and make our Act more modern. Proposed recommendations are being forwarded to the government, after Council approval. The review has been successful in enhancing APEGA’s engagement with Members and Permit Holders on regulatory matters. More than 4,000 stakeholders have taken part in the review so far, and further opportunities lie ahead. Right now, we’re taking a close look at many of the standards and requirements Members and Permit Holders are held to in the practice of their professions.
As I write my column for the Success issue of The PEG , the 2016 Summer Olympics are officially behind us. Sports do come to mind when many of us try to define success, and it’s always tempting to make them a metaphor for the other things that happen in life. Success in sports is difficult to achieve, taking lots of commit- ment and effort. But measuring it is, in most cases, fairly straight- forward. You beat the time, you win the medal, you stand on the podium. Personal bests, world records, and other measurable achievements lie before you, and you reach for them. When it comes to the regulation of engineering and geoscience, however, measuring success is a little more difficult. APEGA’s goals are not complicated — the most basic, important, and over- arching one we have is to serve the public interest by regulating the practices of engineering and geoscience in Alberta. Simple, right? But achieving that goal relies on our earning and keeping the confidence of the public and instilling pride in Members — pride in their professionalism and practices, pride in their societal role. I don’t mean a self-centred type of pride. I mean the kind of pride that comes from doing the right thing in all situations. The question is this: how do we, as the regulator of engineer- ing and geoscience, earn this public confidence and develop this Member pride? The privilege of self-regulation is something we must continu- ally work at deserving. These days, our challenges are even greater than usual, in light of: • growing public expectations of regulators • recent news events, along with the consequences some self- regulators are facing • a difficult economic climate • a need your Council has identified for us to have more robust processes So, how are we doing? I will do my best to capture the successes we’ve had in recent months, and there have been many. I’ll also provide some context about where we are going, which I’ll build upon in my next column.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
Our new website went live in January — the first rebuild of the site in about eight years. Because we rewrote and updated all the material on the site, content is leaner, simpler to read, and less repetitive than it was. A clean, simple look makes finding content much simpler, too. Our data and survey results confirm that Members are more quickly finding what they need on apega.ca.
BETTER PROCESSES
Among our most complex challenges continues to be the timely and effective registration of new Members. Frankly, we are not yet
6 | PEG FALL 2016
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