New Technology for a New Century
International Conference 
FIG Working Week 2001, Seoul, Korea 6–11 May 2001

Session 26 - Reforms - Organisational/Professional

MODEL-STRUCTURE CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - THE DVW-PROJECT

Jörg GEBAUER, Germany

Key words


1. INITIATIVE

The work group 1 of the DVW has worked detailed with the complex of themes of further training of the surveyors on the basis of the requirement from practise. In correspondence with the DVW-working group 2, an extensive suggestion for a DVW-project has been created. The advisory committee has occupied itself with this suggestion and has welcomed the discussion of the theme which was discussed within the specialist publicness, too. Even the neighbouring foreign countries have already noticed. The DVW-board of directors has draft a task force into working out the mission to establish an "Continuing Professional Development (CPD)". This task force had the job to establish an Advanced Education Platform and to create and present a decision-making model of structure for the project.

In the style of commensurable Anglo-Saxon activities, which have been established in 15 states as the project „Continuing Professional Development" (CPD), the task force has presented the main-features to the DVW-board of directors, after being occupied with this job about a year. It has taken note of it approvingly. Intermediately, the Advanced Education Platform has been created and within the scope of pilot projects for the CPD-model, first experiences could be collected. The results of CPD-task force will be presented as follows.

2. BACKGROUND

The education of surveying engineers at the universities and universities for applied science in Germany are officially recognized and find themselves at a high level. The standard of qualification is known as uniform and transparent. Essential for this kind of development is the fact that different sectors of the German Surveying have managed to develop a uniform structure of profession. By self-contained professional outgoing effect and grouping of available forces, the array of profession was able to attach great importance to.

Concerning the area of "Continuing Professional Development CPD", the preservation of the standard of quality used to leave to the individual, personal initiative of each surveying engineer. You can already see that this procedure will not suffice in European comparison with it as well as in competition to other kind of structures of profession for the future. Not only the education of engineers but also the further training has to be structured, standardized and determined uniformly. It is the only way for the German surveying engineer

  • to fuse the special qualification level,
  • to maintain the ability of management and
  • to enlarge the self-contained area of profession in a steady way.

Without a structured, standardized Continuing Professional Development (CPD), we run the risk of losing the functions of management and control. This would implicate a professional meaninglessness.

CPD should not compete to the education of the universities. It has to be prepared in another way. The education of the universities should not loose their worthiness and image. Both parts should be seen as two complemental components of the professional quality fallback system surveying engineer.

3. BASIC CONCEPT

The CPD contains about

  • components of further training, created by the developed, professional practise and
  • components of education, created by the current teachings of the universities

The CPD and its basic-elements:

  1. Structured publication of the given, permanent offer of postgraduate professional training (DVW-Advanced Education Platform)
  2. Backup of the needed pallet of offers for courses (CPD-offer-initiative)
  3. Backup of the quality and level for the courses (CPD-check)
  4. Backup of the unified confirmations of participation (CPD-certification)
  5. Standardization of the verification of postgraduate professional training (CPD-proof-book) for each surveying engineer.

It is absolutely necessary for these basic-elements to become contractual for getting a minimum on professional closeness. Nevertheless it has to be exposed that the CPD is based upon the principle of voluntariness. What may be seen as a contradiction, but the readiness for further training of each results in the self-developing CPD-standard. Therefore, the CPD has a formal meaning of offer, for the organizer and for the participants. The necessary and developing CPD-management is seen as a binding mediator between "supplier" and "demander". It is not profit-oriented and it is engaged by the area of profession „surveying engineer". The implementation of CPD has to be quick and gradual. Therewith, formalities are not able to hamper the necessary initiative.

4 CONTENT PREDEFINITION

4.1 Structuring and Publication of the offers

The Advanced Education Platform is already realized, the offers do exist and the course is structured into five groups:

  1. Basics,
  2. Uses,
  3. Interdisciplinary Methods of Processing,
  4. Administration and Law,
  5. Management, Controlling and Efficiency.

A secretary leader has already been appointed for the Advanced Education Platform. He has got a self-contained category in the professional journal of the DVW, which is issued two-monthly and also presented by the internet homepage of the DVW, all about the responsibility of the secretary leader. The Advanced Education Platform has to be understood as the first CPD-basic-element. Listing short- and medium-dated data of priority and weighing factor for each course is not intended.

The Advanced Education Platform is three-step-expandable:

  1. self-contained as the Advanced Education Platform (today)
  2. as a CPD-basic element among other elements (short- and long-termed)
  3. as a derivative CPD-basic-element with other derivative elements (long-termed)

There is understanding about the increments a) and b).

4.2 Offer-Initiation

After the first experiences with the Advanced Education Platform, we have to realize, that there is not a homogeneous offer of courses for all 5 groups. The free "training-market" has created a preponderance of partial very expensive "symposiums of experts". The "basic-group" is in contrast to it engaged scanty.

The CPD-management has to realize a CPD-Offer-Initiative in a permanent way. For this purpose, the needed topics have to be given and to be published in cyclically circulars at least yearly, initiated and arranged by the potential suppliers. Courses initiated this way will be executed without further, special participation of the CPD-Management. If some themes are still unengaged, although there has been an intensive offer-initiative, the CPD-Management, in the charge of the DVW, will organize own courses for further training. Additionally, the CPD-Management will have specific conversations with agents of the scientific universities, with the willing of working out the need of further training and to co-ordinate the existent and possible capacities.

4.3 Criterions of Quality

Without backup of a minimum quality of the courses, the realization of CPD is not useful. Checking each course by the CPD-Management in an active way, does not seem to be useful at all. This would be a not feasible outlay. Instead, the CPD-Check is indirectly made within an interactive process by the Advanced Education Platform.

For this reason, the following instruments are offered to the CPD-Management, which is made use of by the supplier and in agreement with the special discretion:

  1. CPD-Questionnaire for the organizer (Self-Assessment) in terms of a contact-form for the DVW-Advanced Education Platform,
  2. general questioning of participants (Response),
  3. control of participants success,
  4. assignment of particular participants for an expert report.

The contact form has to be sent by the organizers to the secretary leader of the DVW -Advanced Education Platform. They are made recurrently available for the CPD-management.

In the course of time, the quality-controlling will be unnecessary for a lot of institutions of suppliers, because of the quality standard of previous courses.

There is an form for the general questioning of participants (Response) to make use of.

The CPD-Check should begin this way. Other procedures of checking can be implemented long-termed, meeting the demands of practise.

4.4 Confirmation of Participation

The proof of a credible standard of quality is a central basic-element of CPD. Therefore, each organizer has to confirm the participation to the participants (certifications). The issuance of a certificate has to be personal by the organizer.

Therefore, a CPD-Standard-Form has been developed by the CPD-management, which obligates the organizer to voluntary self-obligation.

By transaction of success-controlling, a special "Qualification-Certificate" can be handed out by the organiser.

Long-termed, the certification would be expandable to a scoring system in which "assembly points" could be given to each CPD-checked course. Decisions about such kind of further step can only be made after getting long-termed experiences.

4.5 Proof of Postgraduate Professional Education

The design of a CPD-proof-book results inevitably from the implementation of certificates. All acquired certificates of each surveying engineer have to be collected in this proof-book. The model-proof-book can be got at the CPD-management.

4.6 CPD Standard

In the first step of implementation, al participants of the DVW should be requested to participate voluntarily in CPD. At first, the following Quality-Standards should be suggested by the CPD-management:

  • forty CPD-hours in year
  • one course among each of the five further training-groups should have been visited in the space of five years.

These approach-criterions are expandable by practise and should not be aggravated or differentiated. Above all, it depends on the further development to present courses which would be given and which depend on the special target group.

5. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND POSITION OF THE GMC

5.1 DVW - Task Force - CPD

The DVW- task force CPD had the assignment to create the Advanced Education Platform and to present the model-structure for this CPD project to the DVW-board of directors.

The Advanced Education Platform is established and there is a commonly accepted model for a CPD-structure. The task force has concluded its commission. Therefore, it has been broken up.

In the long run the conversion and implementation of all CPD-basic-elements is a job which can not be done by the DVW participants as an honorary job "by the way".

5.2 CPD-Commission

Under the obligatory demand of the model-structure, worked out and decided by the DVW task force CPD, a superior institutionalisation of the CPD-management is needed, but under the "scope function" of the DVW, for protecting a self-contained professional, feasible and durable execution of the project. Therefore it is necessary to create CPD-Commission consisting of mandated agents from the associations and professional institutions under the protectorate of the DVW. The main job of the CPD-Commission is the implementation of the five CPD-basic-elements into the practise, with regard to the permanent transaction of it.

5.3 External CPD-Control-Appointment

After implementation and successful, fluent realization it has to be decided if the job of the CPD-Commission should merge into an external self-financing CPD-Controlling-Appointment, fused by contract, or if the CPD-Commission should stay established in the long run. The CPD-Controlling-Appointment would be directed to present, besides the permanent Project-Realization, suggestions about continuous Project-Development or -Modification for decision.

5.4 Co-operation DVW and Associations

For the phase encouragement of the CPD-commission it had been thought over if the advacation of other associations should be set on contractual basis for protecting the project in a long run. This has been realized intermediate by the DVW associated with associations and organisations, with the help of a common statement.

6. CONVERSION AND VIEW

6.1 Strategy of Implementation and time frame

The strategy of implementation arises directly of the content predefinition and organizational structures as follows:

Phase 1

  • Realization of the Advanced Education Platform and presentation of the model-structure
  • Extensive information for the special publicness
  • Resummons of the DVW-board of directors

This has been executed and realized.

Phase 2

  • Implementation of the five CPD-basic-elements after establishing the CPD-Commission

Endurance of this phase: about five years

The model-structure for this phase of implementation has already been determined.

Phase 3

Project-continuation and -development by an external CPD-Control-Appointment or by the CPD-Commission, beginning in 2003/2004.

6.2 Factoring

Medium- and long-termed, the project has to be executed absolutely without causing costs by the CPD-Management. Accruing costs should be paid with a CPD part within the fee of the courses. They have to be forwarded by the organizers to the CPD-Management.

During the phase 2, it is not possible to shim such costs. The needed factoring has to be afforded as follows:

  • costs of the Advanced Education Platform is paid by the DVW,
  • compensation for expenses is averaged between the DVW and the involved associations,
  • production and distribution of the proof-book are paid by a cost-tilling assignment of the price.

The needed factoring has to be estimated with the background of the designation of associations and unions. After all, the professional training is an explicit profile for the involved institutions.

6.3 View

A CPD-Department has been established at the DVW to accompany all phases of the project. The project should not offend the liberty of decision of each and should preserve its offer-character. It has to be implemented as straightforward, flexible and fast as possible. Therefore it is necessary to take further differentiation of the five CPD-basic- elements carefully. Then, it is possible to honour the social development, the European development and the development of the faculty permanently without a hitch.

REFERENCES

Mehlhorn, R. Heinrich, F., Keller, D., Kummer, K., u.a.: Model-Structure Professional Development, ZfV 1998, 193

FIG: Continuing Professional Development (CPD), publication of the FIG-Working group 2, 1997

Kölbel, B., Kummer, K., Nell, M., Sperling, D.,: Management in the surveying, ZfV 1996,0476

Kaufmann, J.: CPD-Continuing Professional Development, Vermessung, Photogrammetrie, Kulturtechnik 1997

Menke, K.: Comment to Kölbel, B. u.a. Management in the surveying, ZfV 1997


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Gebauer, (53) has studied in Hanover 1968-1974. He has worked in the administration development in Hanover 1974-76 and as a surveyor in the civil service in Celle 1976-79, as a surveyor in the municipal corporation of Bremerhaven 1979-83 and as a public surveyor with an own office since 1983. He is the leader of the DVW-working group 1 and
member of the engineer society in Lower Saxony. He lives in Langen, Germany


CONTACT

Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Gebauer
Öffentlich bestellter Vermessungsingenieur
Debstedter Str. 12a
D-27607 Langen
GERMANY
Email: info@gebauer-partner.de 

21 April 2001


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