Board hears Southern Zone update; pushes outreach, exam-fee grants and AI guidance

The Board of Architectural Engineering Examiners met in June and received a report from members who attended the Southern Zone meeting of the national testing and standards organization. Committee members said the delegation prioritized reversing a decline in licensure among college professors, improving grant guidance so schools can use funds to pay exam fees, and aligning on a national position about artificial intelligence.

Why it matters: Board members said fewer licensed faculty could reduce students’ exposure to professional licensure pathways and make it harder to sustain licensed practice over time. The committee framed outreach to universities and clearer grant terms as ways to remove financial and informational barriers to taking the Fundamentals (FE) and Professional (PE) exams.

Board discussion and next steps - Licensure outreach and grants: Board members described recurring conversations with university civil engineering departments and student groups, where many senior students are not taking the FE. Staff told the committee that grant awards typically arrive in January–February and must be spent by the fiscal year end, which often gives colleges only one semester to apply funds for exam fees. Committee members asked staff to update grant guidance to allow schools to include exam fees for the fall semester in the following year’s grant requests and to broaden outreach explaining how grants can be used to remove exam-fee barriers. The grants committee agreed to meet before the full-board October meeting and to consider incentive language (for example, an additional modest award for programs that actively promote licensure) and a pro rata requirement tying some portion of awards to licensure-preparation activities. Staff noted contracts and notice schedules mean any changes should be finalized in time for the reconciliation notice sent in June and the mailing in September.

- NCEES business and exams: The delegation reported results from the zone election (a zone vice president was elected unopposed; the assistant vice presidency yielded an unexpected result) and summarized national committee work. The board learned a task force is drafting an experience record to make applicants’ pre-PE experience more explicit, and members described ongoing work on exam question design to emphasize practice-based formats rather than purely academic multiple-choice items. The nuclear PE exam was identified as at risk: low candidate volume compromises item validation, prompting recommendations to suspend and redevelop the exam so its scope is broader and more testable.

- AI and practice: The Southern Zone produced a draft position statement on use of artificial intelligence in engineering work; the language mirrors steps the board has discussed locally: treat AI as a tool, require understanding of limits, and preserve the requirement for responsible charge by a licensed registrant.

- Enforcement and standards: Committee reports flagged concerns about unregulated “work-for-hire” platforms and the need to monitor outsourced services that may bypass responsible-charge requirements. A structures working group is developing model definitions for “significant structures” and recommending that higher-risk structures be designed only by licensed structural engineers; the group said changing the model law may be required to enforce that standard in some jurisdictions.

What’s next: The board asked the grants committee to draft concrete language on incentives and pro rata expectations and to circulate a work product to members before any formal rule or contract changes. The board also said it would monitor national exam developments and the AI statement during the upcoming rulemaking process and national meetings.

Ending note: The board emphasized outreach and clearer grant guidance as immediate, feasible steps; any formal changes to grant contracts or state law would be returned to the board for review before implementation.