Page 76 - Annual Report 2014-2015
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these, following re-accreditation. All bachelor with honours and masters programs are eligible for award of the EUR-ACE label and we will continue to promote take-up in 2016.
Engineering Technicians
In addition to professional engineers, the Engineering Council registers professional Engineering Technicians (EngTech) and Information and Communications Technology Technicians (ICTTech). A key strand in our current Strategic Plan focuses on promoting good practice and encouraging more techni- cians to become professionally registered. During 2015 we published the Approval of Quali cations and Apprenticeships Handbook, which sets out the learning outcomes required to underpin technician competences. This can be downloaded from our website at http://www.engc.org.uk/aqah. With the introduction of Trailblazer Apprenticeships by the UK government, we have also been working to ensure that standards set for technician Apprenticeships align with the required standards for registration as an EngTech.
In June 2015 the Engineering Council became a founder member of the Agreement for International Engineering Technicians (AIET). The Agreement will ultimately lead to the creation of an international register of engineering techni- cians to facilitate their international mobility by recognising their professional competence against an international standard. For the Agreement to come into effect at least four of the six signatories must successfully complete an initial peer review stage. We expect this to happen in June 2016.
(Left to right – Glen Crawley, Engineers Australia; Dave Little, Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists; Katy Turff, Engineering Council; Dr Keith Jacobs, Engineering Council of South Africa [AIET Chair]; Damien Owens, Engineers Ireland; Brett Williams, Engineers New Zealand.)
Continuing Professional Development
A key area of work has been providing support to institu- tions in developing their processes for sampling registrants’ continuing professional development (CPD) records, which will become a requirement for institutions from January 2017. To assist this, we have developed monitoring tools on our online professional development recording system, mycareerpath®, and hosted a forum to share good practice. mycareerpath® is designed to help registrants and potential registrants plan and record activities that contribute to their professional competence. These could include mentoring colleagues, learning new techniques, attending training courses, involvement with a professional body, and other activities that contribute to the maintenance or development of knowledge and competence. The user’s complete records can be easily sent to their institution or employer.
Whistleblowing
The Engineering Council published Guidance on whistleblowing, explaining the procedures engineers and technicians should follow when confronted by a potential whistleblowing situation. The rst draft of a new document, Guidance on security, was completed and is due to be launched at a high pro le event at the House of Commons in 2016. Both were produced with the involvement of professional engineering institutions.
