Professional Land Surveyor—Professional Development Units

PURPOSE: This rule outlines the professional development standards for professional land surveyors applying for renewal of licensure under the provisions of section 327.041, RSMo. (1) Each licensed professional land surveyor, as a condition for renewal of his/her license, shall complete a minimum of twenty (20) professional development units (PDUs) each two- (2-) year period immediately preceding renewal, except as provided in section (2) of this rule. (A) Of the twenty (20) professional development units, licensed professional land surveyors shall complete a minimum of two (2) professional development units in Surveying Standards (20 CSR 2030, Chapters 16 and 17, and/or Chapters 60 and 327, RSMo) during the two- (2-) year period immediately preceding renewal. (2) The following are exceptions to the requirement that licensees successfully complete twenty (20) PDUs prior to renewal: (A) The licensee can show good cause why he/she was unable to complete the PDU requirements. In the event good cause is shown, the licensee will be allowed to make up all outstanding required PDUs within a reasonable amount of time as established by the board; (B) A professional land surveyor who holds licensure in Missouri for less than twelve (12) months from the date of his/her initial licensure, need not report PDUs at the first license renewal; or (C) If the licensee served on full-time active duty in the military, the licensee may renew his/her license without completing the PDU requirement for the renewal period during which the licensee served. (3) A licensee who completes more than twenty (20) PDUs during the two (2) years immediately preceding renewal may carry forward into the next two- (2-) year period up to ten (10) PDUs. (4) In evaluating PDUs for licensure renewal, the board will be guided by the following standards and guidelines: (A) Criteria: In order to qualify as acceptable PDU credit, each activity must— 1. Have a clear purpose and objective to maintain, improve and/or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to licensure, or to develop new and relevant skills and knowledge; 2. Have a well organized content presented in a sequential manner; 3. Show evidence of pre-planning, including an opportunity for input by the target group to be served; 4. Be presented by persons qualified by education and experience; and 5. Provide information to the licensee necessary for PDU record keeping and reporting purposes. (B) Except as otherwise stated in this rule, licensees will earn one (1) PDU for every fifty (50) to sixty (60) minutes of activity that qualifies as acceptable PDU credit pursuant to this rule. (C) Activities. 1. PDU activities must be relevant to the practice of land surveying and may include technical, ethical, or business related content. 2. PDUs may be earned at locations outside Missouri, so long as the activity qualifies as acceptable PDU credit pursuant to this rule. 3. Assuming they otherwise qualify as acceptable PDU credit pursuant to this rule, the following activities are acceptable sources of PDU credits: A. Successful completion of college or university course earns thirty (30) PDUs per semester hour and twenty (20) PDUs per quarter hour. Auditing or “hearing” a course qualifies for one-third (1/3) PDU credit of that stated herein; B. Active participation and successful completion of seminars, tutorials, workshops, short courses, correspondence courses, or televised or videotaped courses. Attending program presentations at related technical or professional meetings. A correspondence course must require the participant to show evidence of achievement with a final graded test; C. Authoring a paper or article earns five (5) PDUs upon actual publication in a regionally or nationally circulated technical journal or trade magazine. Credit cannot be claimed until that article or paper is actually published. PDUs earned for authoring a paper or article are limited to ten (10) PDUs per two- (2-) year renewal period; D. Teaching or instructing a course or seminar that satisfies the PDU criteria described in this rule, or making a presentation at a technical meeting or convention. For the original instruction or presentation, a licensee earns two (2) PDUs for each PDU a participant could earn pursuant to this rule. E. Notwithstanding the provisions above, PDUs will only be awarded for the first occurrence of attending or teaching a qualifying course or seminar per every two- (2-) year renewal period. (5) All licensees shall maintain and retain records of PDU activities completed for a period of four (4) years after the reporting period in which the PDU was completed and copies must be furnished to the board for audit verification purposes if requested. If these records get lost or destroyed the licensee must inform the board, in writing, within thirty (30) days. The board may randomly audit a portion of licensees each renewal period, or a specific licensee if a complaint has been filed against the licensee, to verify compliance with the PDU requirements. Licensees shall assist the board in any audit by providing timely and complete responses to the board’s inquiries. At a minimum, licensees must keep the following records: (A) A log identifying the type of activity claimed, the sponsoring organization, location of the program, duration of the program, the name of the instructor(s) or speaker(s), and the PDU credits earned; and (B) Attendance verification records such as certificates of attendance which identify the participant by name, signed attendance receipts, a copy of a listing of all attendees signed by a person in responsible charge of the activity, or other documentation verifying Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, AND INSURANCE and Professional Landscape Architects attendance. (6) Any person or entity may seek preapproval of a PDU activity by providing the board the following information. The professional land surveying division will approve or deny credit for the activity within forty-five (45) calendar days of receipt of the information: (A) Date(s) of the program or activity; (B) An outline or syllabus of the program; (C) Presentation abstract(s); (D) Preliminary program with time frames; (E) Course or program description; and (F) Names of the instructor(s) or speaker(s) with biographical information showing their education and professional experience. (7) The board will review all PDUs claimed in support of a renewal application. If audited and it is determined that a portion of the claimed PDUs fail to meet PDU requirements, the licensee will be notified in writing of the denied PDUs. The licensee will have three (3) months from the license renewal date in which to substantiate the original claim or to earn other credits to meet the minimum requirements. If PDUs are denied to the extent that the licensee has failed to obtain the required number of PDUs for renewal, then the board will deny issuance of the renewal. AUTHORITY: section 327.041, RSMo 2016.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 30-8.020. Original rule filed Dec. 8, 1981, effective March 11, 1982. Amended: Filed Nov. 8, 1984, effective Feb. 11, 1985. Amended: Filed July 6, 1992, effective April 8, 1993. Rescinded: Filed May 3, 1994, effective Dec. 30, 1994. Readopted: Filed July 11, 1994, effective Dec. 30, 1994. Rescinded and readopted: Filed June 15, 2001, effective Jan. 30, 2002. Amended: Filed May 13, 2005, effective Jan. 1, 2006. Moved to 20 CSR 20308.020, effective Aug. 28, 2006. Amended: Filed June 14, 2007, effective Dec. 30, 2007. Amended: Filed Feb. 22, 2008, effective Aug. 30, 2008. Non-substantive change filed Oct. 21, 2015, published Dec. 31, 2015. Amended: Filed Sept. 29, 2015, effective March 30, 2016. Amended: Filed May 30, 2018, effective Dec. 30, 2018. Amended: Filed Jan. 13, 2021, effective July 30, 2021. *Original authority: 327.041, RSMo 1969, amended 1981, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2010, 2014.