Readers’ Viewpoint

San Juan Star

782-0310

Please note: In the interest of easier typesetting, I would be happy to send a copy of this letter by e-mail in whatever format you choose. My email address is noack@urayoan.uprm.edu.

My postal address is Thomas L. Noack, P. O. Box 5416, Mayaguez, PR 00681-5416, and home phone (787) 832-XXXX.

In an article titled (in translation) “Deficiencies in engineering education in Puerto Rico denounced”, appearing in El San Juan Star and El Nuevo Día on Sunday May 12, Iván Nicolau Nin, President of the Puerto Rico College of Engineers and Surveyors (CIAPR) was quoted as making a number of statements criticizing engineering programs at the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayagüez campus (UPRM). Some of the statements made by Ing. Nicolau are just plain inaccurate, others are quite misleading, and if believed and acted upon, would damage engineering education at UPRM and the career prospects of its graduates.

Since these statements received wide publicity, and since major elements of Ing. Nicolau’s platform when he ran for CIAPR president were based on extending CIAPR control over University faculty hiring and curricula, I believe the article is an accurate picture of his policies as CIAPR president and should be refuted.

Because the article did not appear in the Star’s English edition, I will summarize its main points as they relate to engineering education in Puerto Rico, along with my comments.

By way of background, to obtain an engineering license in Puerto Rico, as in most states, one must have an engineering degree from an accredited engineering school and pass two one-day examinations, one, called the Fundamentals examination, which can be taken during the last semester, and the other, called the Principles and Practice examination, is taken sometime immediately (in PR) or after four years (most states). This exam is designed so it can be passed by a properly briefed student of average ability.

By contrast, a Ph. D., usually regarded as the basic qualification for college teaching, requires an excellent academic record, several years of graduate-level course work, a comprehensive oral and written exam based on knowledge of the field, and then preparation of a dissertation that is an original and significant contribution to knowledge in the field. In all of these requirements the candidate must demonstrate knowledge and achievement far above that of the average student or practitioner in his/her specialty.

To be a licensed engineer in Puerto Rico, a candidate must have an engineering degree accredited either by ABET or by Puerto Rico, pass both examinations, and be a resident of Puerto Rico at the time of application. To be a CIAPR member requires a Puerto Rican license and the payment of $150 per year. The CIAPR membership requirement is peculiar to Puerto Rico; I know of no state that requires it, or in which licensing is so pricey.

“In many universities in the United States, candidates for graduation are required to pass NCEE’s Fundamentals of Engineering examination before graduation.”

Some, but certainly not a majority, and not commonly in the most prestigious of schools. Its emphasis has traditionally been on the common core of civil, mechanical, and industrial engineering, with little relevance to electrical, chemical, and other branches.

“UPRM is not contracting faculty with Puerto Rican licenses and CIAPR membership for financial reasons.”

Financial considerations are not the issue, obtaining the best-qualified faculty is the most important consideration. The CIAPR requirement is equivalent to a Puerto Rican residence requirement, for all practical purposes to a national origin requirement. It narrows the field of available candidates from graduates of the best Ph. D. programs in the US to local people who have had the time to spend in PR satisfying the residence requirement.

“The UPRM curriculum contains gaps, including that the industrial engineering department does not teach robotics, and that the surveying curriculum in the civil engineering department does not teach the law of property and that its curricula are not adapted to the realities of work in engineering.”

Robotics is taught in the mechanical and electrical engineering departments, the natural place for this specialty. In the electrical engineering department, it is taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels by three professors, all CIAPR members, two with Ph. D’s and one with an Engineer’s degree (a sort of super Master’s degree) from MIT. The surveying curriculum is directed toward licensing requirements, and was designed by two faculty members who are former members of the Puerto Rico Examining Board.

“Several state agencies, including UPRM, the Water Authority, the Electric Authority, and the Authority of Public Buildings are violating the law by hiring nonmembers of CIAPR.”

Some years ago, CIAPR lost a lawsuit regarding its attempts to enforce CIAPR membership as a hiring requirement for faculty at UPR. UPRM is not violating the law, it is hiring the best qualified. CIAPR continues to interfere with University autonomy in order to exercise control over the University.

“UPR is opposing requiring CIAPR membership and Puerto Rican licenses as a requirement for teaching engineering.”

He is correct, the University is doing so, in the interests of its students, and the quality of the education it gives them, in order to obtain the best-qualified faculty, and in order to safeguard its position as an equal-opportunity employer.

“The Highway Authority and Polytechnic University are requiring licenses and CIAPR membership.”

Polytechnic University, at the time it applied for ABET accreditation, had not a single Ph. D. on its electrical engineering faculty. UPRM has not hired a single non-Ph. D. in the last 20 years, excepting those who were hired with the expectation of obtaining the Ph. D. as a condition of continued employment. Based on my observation of ABET inspections over the last 45 years, and in particular the scrutiny given to UPRM, I don’t see how it was accredited. It has a four-year curriculum, directed toward passing the Fundamentals exam, in contrast to UPRM’s very selective and nationally recognized five-year program.

Ing Nicolau-Nin was elected as Vice president of CIAPR several years ago, a position that carries near-automatic advancement to president. When he ran for president last year, his platform included planks requiring CIAPR review of curriculum changes, continued attempts to require CIAPR membership for engineering faculty, and modifications of curricula to relate it directly to the content of the NCEE Fundamentals exam. He is one of several CIAPR presidents in recent years to denigrate and attempt to interfere with the University. It should be noted that CIAPR is quite a closed, inbred organization. To vote for CIAPR officers one must attend its annual convention, always held at one of the resort hotels on the eastern end of the island, at a cost of $800 in recent years. Mail or other voting that would allow most members to vote has never been permitted. Nominations are even more closed; done by a nominating committee composed of the best old boys.

The licensing law was modified in 1997, but even though the draft statute included the CIAPR membership requirement for faculty, the University was not invited to comment orally by the legislative committee considering the bill. It was allowed to make a written presentation after asking to do so. For several reasons this was really a one-sided statute that received little public review.

For these and other reasons I believe the time has come for the Legislature to review the present licensing statute. This review should include reconsidering government sponsorship of CIAPR and requiring membership as a condition of licensing and practicing engineering. It should consider whether licensing should be required for employment in private industry as opposed to practice before the public. It should also review the present excessive bureaucratic requirements for renewing a license. Except for its review of building codes, I know of no public purpose served by the Colegio’s existence in recent years, rather than providing support for engineering education, it seeks to control and downgrade it, and it appears to have degenerated into a self-perpetuating lobby with little discernible benefit to the public or the profession.

Thomas L. Noack, Ph. D., P. E.

Mayaguez