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this page President's Perspective: Day-To-Day Functions At The APGO On Your Behalf By Steve Usher, P.Geo.APGO President  Often, all we can do as APGO members is just keep up with the big issues of the day. What many of our members don't see are the regular day-to-day workings of our self-regulating organization. The APGO relies on a small salaried staff of 3.5 people (one part-time employee) and a large group of members who volunteer their time. I thought it would be timely to provide an insider's peek at a few of the routine things we do on behalf of our members.I am now well into my term as President of APGO and I believe we are making progress on many fronts. I admire the diligence of our staff and volunteers on a continual basis, particularly when we see how very busy the geoscience profession is today. One of the strengths of the APGO is our committee structure. I have had the opportunity to sit in on several committees over the summer including the Environment Committee, the Continuing Professional Development Committee, and the Registration Committee, in addition to, my normal duties on the Executive Committee and on Council. It is rewarding to witness these groups moving ahead not only with the issues of the day, but what needs to be addressed in the future. One of the pleasures of being President is the signing of the Professional License certificates. Each Licence represents the end of the efforts of the applicant as well as the culmination of work by our staff and the Registration Committee through the data collection process and the examination of each candidate's application. The Registration Committee reviews the academic credentials, work experience, and referees' reports as part of the decision making process in each case. The referees' reports are often the most enlightening as they speak candidly about the candidate's work experience and professionalism. It is most rewarding to register them as part of the APGO after reading the many glowing referee reports of our young candidates. The signing of the License certificates is also a beginning for new geoscientists. Obviously, it is the start of promising careers, but it is also the beginning of the development of a professional attitude towards the public, their colleagues, their clients and to themselves. I recall the marked improvement in the report writing of one of my own staff following receipt of their seal several years ago. The improvement came about with the new realization of being responsible for their work. It was gratifying and an obvious example of "raising of the bar"; a result APGO Council strives for everyday. APGO is required to ensure our members participate in Continuing Professional Development (CPD). CPD is an important function not only to us but also to the public. The CPD sub-committee has been busy this summer, particularly since the June 30 deadline for filing. A majority of our members (82%) have responded so far and I understand they are still coming in; this was very good for our first full year of filing CPD forms. I participated in the committee's audit of the required 5% of the forms filed to date. The majority of files have been straightforward and it is clear that most of the audit group were not having trouble meeting their CPD hours. During the process of contacting everyone in the audit group, as part of the feedback process, we found that they had other hours too that they did not claim, most often in the "participation" category. On an amusing note, over half of the files I reviewed neglected to claim the hour credit for membership in APGO itself! We have learned a lot from auditing these files and we hope to provide feedback to the greater membership soon so that it will make their CPD filing easier next year. Hopefully, the feedback will be in the form of useful examples gleaned from this test group. Most gratifying were the positive comments from members, who generally expressed (usually with some surprise) that it was not as difficult as originally perceived and it did not take as much time as they thought it would take. Finally, Council has expressed a desire that committees keep up and enhance their efforts to meet regularly. We hope to begin reporting committee activities in Field Notes in the near future to more effectively communicate with members. For example, a working group of the Environment Committee assisted Council last spring in preparing the detailed submission to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) on the proposed Regulation 903. As the accompanying article in this issue of Field Notes on Regulation 903 will show, the dialogue was successful in ensuring that Professional Geoscientists are exempt from having to obtain a Class 5 Water Technician's License under the revised Regulation that was issued this past summer. The Environment Committee will now tackle some of the other issues that have arisen as a result of the Regulation. It is clear to me, from the President's perspective, that the integrity and willingness of our own members to serve on the many APGO committees will be the key ingredient in our success as a self-regulating organization. To those volunteers, I thank you. To the rest of our membership, I encourage you to participate in what ever manner you can. We are a diverse group with diverse working environments, who contribute where and when we can. The APGO's success will be a sum of all the parts we each play and therefore belong to the whole membership. |
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