After nearly three years, the Louisiana Board of Professional Geoscientists is setting a deadline for the completion of applications begun under the grandfathering period. When the board was first established by the Louisiana Legislature, applications for grandfather status were accepted during a period between January 1, 2013, and January 1, 2015. Nearly 2,000 applications for grandfathering were received during this period.
Grandfathering allowed those who submitted preliminary applications along with their $200 application fees to be considered for licensing based solely on education, work experience, and professional references and exempted them from the present certification testing requirement. Most of those who filed during the grandfathering period have completed their applications and have either been granted or denied licensure. However, many did not take the additional step of beginning an online application, and still others began that process but did not complete it.
Because those who filed paid the $200 fee, the board has been reluctant up until recently to put an end date on completing the application process. However, after three years, the board has decided that those remaining grandfathered files should be either completed or abandoned. At the regular meeting of LBOPG on October 10, 2017, the board voted to set a deadline of December 31, 2017 for applicants to complete the process.
This process includes setting up an application through the online system at LBOPG.org and following the instructions to complete that application – requesting transcripts to be sent to the LBOPG office, filling out the work experience section of the application, and requesting three references who are either already licensed as professional geoscientists or who would be eligible for a license.
Those who have questions about any step in this process or about their grandfather status with LBOPG should contact Brenda Macon at apply@LBOPG.org or 225-505-3766.
