Last week I registered for the Student Membership Program (SMP) established by the Professional Engineers Ontario Association (PEO). According to the website, “the main goal of this site is to provide you, the student, with a fast and easy access point to information you need about the engineering profession and Professional Engineers Ontario.” To my disappointment though there was nothing on the website to be explored, much less regarding it as useful or not. Information about obtaining the License to work as a Professional Engineer in Ontario, Pre-graduation experience guidelines and more are available publicly on the PEO website, and do not require an SMP membership.
A casual chat with some of my peers who have had a membership for a number of years revealed that they don’t know what the program offers and have never been contacted in any form whatsoever by SMP.
A survey conducted by Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario (ESSCO) also revealed that students were unaware of the program’s structure and function didn’t deem this program as something beneficial. The most shocking part is that there is no communication from the SMP about anything. However, students are really interested in knowing how exactly SMP can benefit them, they want SMP to be more active in sending out emails and announcements regarding PEO newsletters and chapters, help with job searching/career fairs, accreditation requirements, upcoming exams, changes in licensing rules, spotlights on engineers who have recently won awards, and more importantly updating their website. One interesting comment read that ESSCO should take the initiative to inform PEO what they want to see coming out of this program as PEO cannot be expected to have this as their priority.
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