The coalition has four positions. SELC endorses NCEES' Model Law Structural Engineer, a recognized national consensus standard that sets minimum qualifications for a licensed SE. The coalition advocates that jurisdictions require SE licensure for anyone who provides structural services for designated structures and recommends each licensing board adopt rules to define appropriate thresholds for the structures.

SELC supports a transition process for licensed PEs practicing structural engineering. SELC also supports the modification of existing PE statutes to implement SE licensure as a post-PE credential.

Musselman maintains there are ways to accomplish the structural engineers' objectives and fully protect the public's safety and welfare without issuing separate licenses. "What's on the table won't fly," he says.

Instead, Musselman proposes an "SE endorsement," which would require successful completion of the 16-hour NCEES structural-engineering examination for engineers designing structures above a defined threshold. State rules could authorize the use of "structural endorsement" on the PE stamp. Musselman says one state, which he declined to name, is considering this type of credential. Action is likely in July.

For Denver-based Susie Jorgensen, chairwoman of NCSEA's licensing committee and a member of the coalition's leadership group, SELC has a future beyond licensing. "I believe the coalition will become the voice of structural engineers for a number of issues, including continuing education," she said.