Continuing Education Update:

After passing both the Indiana Senate and House, Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 278 was signed into law by Governor Holcomb on March 14, 2022. SEA 278 requires Indiana LPGs to obtain continuing education in the geological sciences before renewing their licenses. See the detailed language here.

What Are the Benefits of Continuing Education for LPGs in Indiana?

Optimize skills for individual improvement
• Leverage passion for learning to gain more technical skills in the field of geology.
• Be a benefit to employers/clients by ensuring that a highly skilled and informed scientist is at their service.

Retraining and competency
• Keep existing competencies sharp and fresh.
• Verify that your current work is consistent with industry standards.
• Demonstrate to others that you are currently qualified to provide geoscience related services.

Access, support, and networking
• By participating in continuing education, one has access to multiple sources of information relevant to the geological profession.
• People who provide continuing education and receive continuing education serve as a support network for providing the best service as a geologist.
• This network can also offer further opportunities for collaboration, employment, and service.
• A lively, functioning network of geologists will strengthen the identity of the profession as a whole within the State of Indiana.

Validate Professional Qualifications
• Continuing education requirements for licensure demonstrate a consistent standard of excellence that must be met by a licensed professional.
• Build trust and respect from other professionals, regulators, and other stakeholders.

What Are other Professional Organizations in Indiana doing?

Engineers
• Number of hours: 30 hours per biennium.
• What’s eligible: College courses; teaching; presenting; educational outreach for K-12; professional organization participation; authoring published papers; peer review in professional journals.
• How verified: Some CE is pre-approved; others must petition the Board for approval.

Surveyors
• Number of hours: 24 hours per biennium.
• What’s eligible: 12 mandatory topics & 14 elective topics; teaching credits; student credits.
• How verified: Licensees document CE in a tracking log and provide during license renewal.