In Vermont, professions with many members and complex requirements have their own board, like nurses, land surveyors, and engineers. The boards are mostly members of the profession. They work under the umbrella of the Office of Professional Regulation (OPA) but make their own rules and discipline their own members. Professions with few members or simpler requirements, including notaries, are administered by the OPA with a few members of the profession as advisors.
Some professions, like land surveyors, require continuing education activities to be approved in advance. Activities from any state may be submitted for approval. Engineers read the rules about what counts and doesn't count; each engineer decides for him/herself if an activity qualifies. If an auditor thought an activity was borderline, I imagine the engineer would just be told to pick something more mainstream next time.
Since the rules for notaries haven't been issued yet, no one knows if activities will have to be pre-approved. |