RE&T PSG Meeting
2006 Draft Agenda

2006 RESNA Annual Conference
Hyatt Regency, Atlanta GA
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Greenbriar Room
4:45 to 5:45pm

1. Nomination and Election of Vice-Chair

   Mission Critical:
   I will seal the room until a Vice-Chair has been elected. (Reminiscent of a Conclave of Cardinals to elect the next Pope! )

2. Old Stuff

   • Grandfathering Clause Discussion:
     The criteria for eligibility for taking the RET credentialing examination included a grandfathering clause to allow those without engineering degrees who had been practicing rehabilitation engineers to sit for the exam. The original clause period was designed to be 5 years, and expired last fall. Due to delays in implementing the RET credential, the group petitioned the board to extend the clause period until 2008. This date represented 5 years from the actual date of certification implementation, as originally intended. The board approved this item.

     Conversation surrounding this topic indicates that some members of the PSG feel that there is no reason for the grandfather clause to expire, and the eligibility criteria should be changed to allow those without engineering degrees to sit for the exam following a certain period of practice.

     Action Item: A discussion group needs to be established to further discuss this and make a recommendation to the board before the extension expiration date. An individual is needed to organized and conduct this discussion group.

   • "ATP in Waiting" Discussion
     Members of the PSG who had recently finished degrees and were waiting to be eligible to take the ATP/RET have expressed concern about their employability prior to eligibility.

     Action Item: A discussion group will be established to determine what issue exist surrounding this item, and what action steps may alleviate these issues. New graduates are strongly encouraged to participate in this discussion.

3. New Stuff

   • RET Practice Exam Development
     One of RESNA's self-identified goals, as evidenced by the 2006-2008 Long Range Plan, is to be identified as the primary credentialing program for the Assistive Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering fields. Several objectives of this goal center on maintenance and development of the credentialing tests, expansion of the target populations for the tests, and continued education of the membership.

     With the RET credential in place, the RE&T PSG hopes to focus on these objectives in their activities during the coming years. As a launch-point for member education, the PSG would like to establish a practice exam for the RET Credential. Several PSG members have come forward to work on this goal, and some questions for the exam have been developed.

     Action Item: Members of a working group must be established to continue working on developing a practice exam.

   • Re-issuing Salary Survey
     Interest has been expressed re-issuing the salary survey. A member of the PSG is needed to handle issuing the survey and managing salary data.