CEU Credits – What Professional Engineers in Wisconsin Need to Know

Beginning in 2016, the Wisconsin Board requires professional engineers to complete continuing ed courses as part of their focus on ensuring engineering competency and ethical conduct. This program brings Wisconsin in compliance with the NCEES model program guidelines. Currently, forty-two states require PEs to earn continuing education credits.

Wisconsin has very specific continuing education requirements for professional engineers. Engineers must earn a total of 30 PDHs during every two year renewal period (§ A-E 13.03(1)(a)). Two hours must be related to ethics and professional conduct. At least 13 CEUs must be earned in live classes, such as webinars, that allow the student to interact with the instructor.The renewal date for Wisconsin professional engineers is July 31st in even numbered years.

If you are looking for a turnkey solution for meeting the Wisconsin continuing education requirements, we offer complete packages for Wisconsin Engineers.

Wisconsin Continuing Education Requirements

If you are a Wisconsin PE, you have to meet the following CEU requirements:

1. Earn 30 PDHs during every biennial renewal period
2. A minimum of 2 PDHs in the area of professional conduct and ethics (13.03 (1)(b))
3. A minimum of 13 PDHs must be obtained via courses where the registrant interacts in real time in an interactive video conference where participants are logged in at the same time and can communicate directly with each other and ask questions of the instructor (A-E 13.03(1)(c))

These last two requirements of Wisconsin’s continuing education program create a lot of confusion among engineers. Many are asking what courses are available that satisfy the ethics requirement? Does an ethics course need to address both professional conduct and ethics? What do “real time” and “interactive” mean? Are webinars acceptable to the Wisconsin Board?

We answer all of these questions in the next sections. For a complete list of all license renewal requirements check out our Wisconsin PE renewal page.

Professional Conduct and Ethics for Wisconsin Engineers

The Wisconsin board requires professional engineers to earn 2 PDHs in the area of professional conduct and ethics (13.03 (1)(b)). The details of what professional conduct and engineering ethics means is left to the individual engineer. Engineers can attend seminars or take continuing education courses that focus on ethics and professional conduct to meet this requirement. The Board has indicated that topics such as Wisconsin state laws and rules, stamping and sealing requirements, disciplinary investigations, and engineering accidents and disasters fall within the definition of ethics and professional conduct. Fortunately, there are a lot of options for engineers looking for CEU courses related to ethics and professional conduct.

Ethics Courses Accepted by Wisconsin

The following courses were developed to meet the Wisconsin Engineering Boards engineering ethics requirements. You can take any of these courses to satisfy the Wisconsin ethics CEU requirement.

ET-88-WI Ethics & Standards of Professional Conduct for Wisconsin Engineers – 2 PDH
This course satisfies the 2-hour professional conduct and ethics requirement. It includes the Wisconsin Chapter A-E 8: Ethics Professional Conduct and Wisconsin Chapter A-E 13 Continuing Education for Professional Engineers.

ET-02-800 Workplace Ethics & Standards of Professional Conduct for Wisconsin Engineers – 2 PDH
This course presents some of the ethical responsibilities required by engineers on a day-to-day basis including recognizing the ethical repercussions of engineering decisions and the importance of fulfilling the public’s expectations of ethical performance in their work.

ET-02-204 Wisconsin Ethics and Professional Conduct: A Summary of Disciplinary Decisions – 3 PDH
This course presents a rationale and basis for ethics and professional conduct for professional engineers. It is based on a review of seven disciplinary decisions from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.

ET-88-WIW Live Webinar: Ethics & Standards of Professional Conduct for Wisconsin Engineers – 2 PDH
This live webinar course is based on ET-88-WI to satisfy the 2-hour professional conduct and ethics requirement. It is a live webinar, so it also counts toward the 13 PDHs of live instruction required by the Department.

Live Webinar Courses for Wisconsin PEs

Wisconsin professional engineers must earn a minimum of 13 PDHs every renewal cycle from courses where the registrant can interact in real time. The code specifies that webinars must provide an interactive video conference where participants are logged in at the same time and can communicate directly with each other and ask questions of the instructor (A-E 13.03(1)(c)).

A key requirement is the ability to interact with the instructor and other participants. In addition, webinars must cover topics that meet the Board’s requirements. Our webinars meet the requirement for interactive participation with the instructor and are guaranteed to be accepted by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. We review the Wisconsin Board’s requirements every year to ensure our webinars meet the required standards. This is backed by our 100% guarantee.

Webinars are a convenient, low-cost, and efficient option to obtain the 13 hours of live instruction. They meet the requirement for interactive participation with the instructor and are guaranteed to be accepted by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. Engineering webinars are very popular with professional engineers, and many CEU providers offer them. PDH Pro adds new webinars to our curriculum every week (check our webinar schedule).

What CEU Courses Does the Wisconsin Board Allow

The Wisconsin Board established five criteria that engineering continuing education programs and courses must meet.
(a) Courses must provide an organized learning method that contributes to the professional competency of the engineer and must be in a subject that integrally relate to the practice of the profession.
(b) The courses must be prepared and/or delivered by professionals who have specialized education, training, or experience and are considered subject matter experts.
(c) The course must have clearly established goals and objectives.
(d) The course must provides a certificate of completion that documents the participant’s attendance or mastery of the subject.

Online Courses: Wisconsin allows engineers to take online courses as part of the continuing ed requirement. These courses are also known as self-directed courses because the student learns the training material at their own pace without the direction of an instructor. Engineers are limited to 17 hours of online courses every renewal period.

Live Webinars: The Wisconsin Board encourages PE’s to participate in training that is led by a subject matter expert. In discussions with the Board, they expressed their belief that professionals learn more through discussions with the instructor and by hearing what other participants have to say on the topic. This is why they require engineers to earn at least 13 hours of live and interactive credits. Our live webinars meet the Wisconsin requirements for live and interactive courses.

Continuing Education Courses That Meet Wisconsin CEU Requirements

PDH-Pro has developed a number of online courses and live webinars specifically for Wisconsin Professional Engineers looking to renew their license. We are proud of our successful history providing continuing education services to Wisconsin engineers, and we hope to help you with your training needs.

Complete Package Solutions

We created two PE Renewal Packages especially for Wisconsin engineers. Choose the option that best meets your needs.

• 17-hour Packages (everything except the live courses)
• 30-hour Complete Packages that include all required elements

Wisconsin Does Not Pre-Approve Course Providers

The Wisconsin Board does not require continuing education course providers to be approved. In addition, the Board does not pre-approve courses. This provides the professional engineer with a lot of latitude to determine which courses best fit his or her training requirements. When selecting a continuing education provider, you should confirm that their courses have clearly stated learning objectives, are prepared by subject matter experts, and are prepared in a manner that makes learning the material easy and effective.