Continuing Professional Development Rules
- Associate Members, Members, Senior Members, Fellows and Life Members maintaining Diplomate Forensic Engineer certification shall maintain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits with the National Academy of Forensic Engineers (NAFE) as evidence of currency and competence for professional practice. CPD credits may be accrued from Academic Credits (AC), Contact Credits (CC), Practice Credits (PC), Self-Study Credits (SC), Community Volunteer Credits (CV), or any combination thereof. Those members who are retired or are exempt for reasons of hardship are excepted from these requirements. (Retirement status is defined as being limited by the receipt of fees or wages as a forensic engineer in any calendar year to a maximum of one hundred times the annual dues of NAFE payable by the member in accord with his grade of membership.)
- CPD Credit Accounts shall be tallied as of December 31st of each calendar year. Earned credits shall be added for that year. An initial submission showing credits earned in the previous five years shall be made to the Academy at the onset of this program and for the previous five years by new members at the time of entry. Members should maintain detailed records of their submitted CPD credits including: Date, Sponsoring Organization and Activity for each entry during the current five-year period. These records are not submitted to NAFE.
- A Member, Senior Member, Fellow or Life Member maintaining Diplomate Forensic Engineer certification having a balance of 100 credits tallied from the previous five years shall be deemed as a member in good standing of the NAFE (subject to timely payment of dues or assessments) and thereby certified as a Diplomate Forensic Engineer.
- An Associate Member having a credit balance of 50 credits tallied from the previous five years shall be deemed as in good standing of the NAFE (subject to timely payment of dues or assessments); however, shall not be certified as Diplomate Forensic Engineer.
- Associate Members, Members, Senior Members and Fellows who do not meet the CPD requirements for more than 6 months and who are not excepted as stated in the Articles of Incorporation (AoI) or Bylaws shall be automatically severed from membership status and certification previously attained. However, they shall not be precluded from transfer to a non-member, non-certified status as an affiliate of NAFE. Readmission to full membership and certification may be attained upon submission of satisfactory CPD credits to a positive status, subject to payment of any past dues in arrears.
- On or before January 7 of each year, each Associate Member, Member, Senior Member or Fellow shall submit a tally listing, in the form prescribed by NAFE, the CPD credits earned during the previous year. The President shall appoint a Continuing Professional Development Committee which shall review the submissions and advise the members on or before April 7 of any credits disallowed and of the acceptance of credits found satisfactory. Members that do not meet the CPD requirements and are not excepted as stated in the Articles of Incorporation (AoI) or Bylaws shall not be considered Board Certified Members. Appeal may be made to the President-Elect within 60 days of any credits disallowed. The determination of the President-Elect shall be final.
The annual CPD submissions are intended to provide a simple basis for summarizing your status as a continuing and current practitioner. Up to 80 CPD credits may be earned annual from among five categories:
Academic Credits (AC)
In accord with guidelines of the National Council of Engineering Examiners, the criteria for college engineering science and/or engineering design courses are:
Courses in engineering science must be taught within the college/faculty of engineering and must have their roots in mathematics and basic sciences but carry knowledge further toward creative application of engineering principles. Examples of approved engineering science courses are mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, electrical and electronic circuits, materials science, transport phenomena, engineering economics, and computer science (other than computer programming skills). Courses in engineering design must stress the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing, and evaluation. Engineering technology courses cannot be considered to meet engineering topic requirements.
Academic Credits are also earned for completion of a seminar or symposia on engineering subject matter.
Double credits are earned for teaching any of the above courses/seminars provided such teaching is not in the regular course of employment.
Finally, Academic Credits are earned for authoring published papers or articles on engineering subject matter, including in the NAFE Journal.
Contact Credits (CC)
Organizational contact with other practicing engineers is deemed by NAFE to be informative and beneficial to currency of competence. Contact Credits are earned for current membership in national engineering organizations, for committee membership, and for being an Officer, Director or Committee Chair positions (including NAFE).
Practice Credits (PC)
Practice Credits are earned for the practice of Forensic Engineering. One credit is earned for each 10 percent of the total engineering practice dedicated to Forensic Engineering, up to 50 percent maximum (5 credits).
Practice Credits are earned for cases prepared in the practice of Forensic Engineering.
Practice Credits are earned for deposition and trial testimony as an engineering expert, conducted under oath and subject to adversary cross examination.
Finally, Practice Credits are earned patents.
Self Study Credits (SC)
Limited to engineering publications, including periodicals and scientific publications. 0.1 credit is earned for each study hour. Credits are also earned for completing a peer review of a NAFE Journal manuscript, and for Associate Editor completing Journal review process of manuscript.
Community Volunteer Credits (CV)
Community Volunteer Credits are earned for volunteer activities in the community where engineering expertise is utilized and not utilized.