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Continuing Education Questions and Answers QUESTION: Who must comply with the continuing education requirements? ANSWER: All licensed speech-language pathologists and audiologists must meet Continuing education requirements for each licensure biennium.
QUESTION: What is a continuing education unit (CEU) and how many actual hours of activity does it represent? ANSWER: One (1.0) CEU represents ten (10) clock hours of continuing education activity. College semester or quarter hours may also be converted to CEUs as described below.
QUESTION: How many CEUs are required in order to renew my license? ANSWER: During the license biennium (the two-year license period, from April 1 of the first odd numbered year to March 31 of the second odd numbered year), each licensee must complete a minimum of 2.0 CEUs (or twenty [20] clock hours) of directly related continuing education activity.
If you are newly licensed during the biennium, you may need to complete only a portion of this CEU requirement during your first biennium, depending on when your license was issued. The Board will pro-rate your requirement for the remainder of your first licensure biennium as follows: If your initial license is approved and issued during the first six months of the biennium (from April 1 through September 30 of the first odd numbered year of the biennium), there is no pro-rating of the requirement. You must complete a minimum of 2.0 CEUs during the licensure biennium. If your initial license is approved and issued during the second six months of the biennium (from October 1 through March 31), you will be required to complete a minimum of only 1.5 CEUs during that biennium. If your initial license is approved and issued during the third six months of the biennium (from April 1 through September 30 of the even numbered year of the biennium), you will be required to complete a minimum of only one (1.0) CEU during that biennium. If your initial license is approved and issued during the final six months of the biennium (from October 1 through March 31 of the second odd numbered year of the biennium), you will not be required to complete any CEUs until the next licensure biennium. Please note that this pro-rating of the CEU requirement only applies to the newly licensed individual. It will not apply to any renewing, reinstating, or reciprocity licensee. Renewing your license late in the licensure biennium will not reduce the number of CEUs you will be required to complete during the biennium.
QUESTION: How many CEUs are needed for a dual license holder? ANSWER: Individuals holding both a license in speech-language pathology and a license in audiology must complete the minimum of 2.0 CEUs for each license. This means they must complete a minimum of twenty clock hours of CEU activity in the area of speech-language pathology and a minimum of twenty clock hours of CEU activity in the area of audiology.
QUESTION: What are examples of educational activities that may provide CEU hours? ANSWER: As long as the content is directly related to the Scope of Practice of the license, most common educational or training formats are acceptable: 1. Scientific and educational lectures, workshops, or seminars, including small group training sessions. In-service training sessions, on accepted topics, may also be used, as long as sufficient documentation is completed (see below). 2. Presentations by the licensee (one per biennium) may be counted for a maximum of one- half (0.5) CEU, or five clock hours. 3. Completion of the PRAXIS exam in the area of the license, with a score of 650 or greater, will count for completion of 2.0 CEUs, satisfying the whole minimum requirement for that biennium. However, the exam results used to qualify for a license may not be re-used as CEUs to renew the license. Also, you have to have taken and passed the Praxis exam during the license biennium in order to count it toward CEUs for that biennium. (Yes, you may retake the exam for your CEU credit each biennium, if you want to!). 4. Audio and video conferences and teleconferences, defined as sponsored self-study, with appropriate documentation (see below). 5. College courses taken for credit or though official audit may be used, with the following equivalency: One semester hour = 1.5 CEUs One quarter hour = 1.0 CEUs One trimester hour = 0.5 CEUs
QUESTION: If I have completed activities for which I have been given PLU/SDU credit through my school, or which were ASHA or GSHA or AAA approved, can I assume they will be accepted for CEU credit? ANSWER: No. Though many activities for which you receive PLU/SDU credits can also be used for CEU credit, school programs do give PLU/SDU credit for some activities which are important to the SLP or AUD’s function in the school system, but are not directly related to scope of practice for your license. Look carefully at the activity to determine if you will be able to use it for both PLUs/SDUs and CEUs. ASHA, AAA, and GSHA also sponsor educational opportunities in topics such as reimbursement and marketing which may be important to your practice, but would not be accepted as CEUS for your license.
QUESTION: Does documentation of completion of CEUs have to be submitted with every license renewal? ANSWER: You are required to have documentation of the CEUs, and to keep the documentation for three years. You do not have to submit the documentation to the Board unless you are selected in the random audit for the biennium, or unless the Board requests that you submit it for another reason. If you have been selected for audit or renewal, you will be notified at the time your renewal is due, and will have to submit your documentation with your renewal application. The renewal will not be approved unless you have completed sufficient appropriate CEUs during the audited biennium.
QUESTION: What type of documentation of CEU activities is required and acceptable? ANSWER: The documentation of participation in a seminar or workshop-type CEU activity must include a certificate or other verification of attendance which includes: 1. The name of the licensee participating in the activity; 2. The title of the activity; 3. The sponsoring agency, instructor, or trainer for the activity; 4. The date(s) of the activity; 5. The duration or length, in hours, of the activity; and 6. The signatures of a representative of the sponsoring agency, the instructor, or the trainer. If the title of the activity listed on the verification of attendance is not indicative of the content of the activity, or may not be sufficient for the Board to determine whether the activity will satisfy the requirement, you should keep a copy of the syllabus or course content to submit with your documentation – especially if you are requesting credit for a part of a broader presentation. Receipts for payment of registration fees, or copies of other registration forms, are not accepted as verification of attendance. To use the PRAXIS exam for CEU credit, your documentation would be an original score report from PRAXIS. To use college course attendance for CEU credit, your documentation would be an official transcript.
QUESTION: Would independent or home study on a topic ever be accepted as a CEU activity? ANSWER: You would have to have the hours spent verified by a sponsoring agency or individual, and you would need to obtain from them the necessary documentation; for instance, if there is an online seminar, teleconference, etc., in which you participated and were sent a certificate. You could use a directed study (such as viewing training videotapes), from your supervisor or employer, if they were to verify the hours spent and provide you with signed documentation.
QUESTION: If I have more than enough CEUs to satisfy the requirement for this biennium, can I use some of them for the next biennium? ANSWER: No. You must complete the CEU activities during the licensure biennium to which they are credited. “Extra” hours cannot be carried-over. Also, if you have to complete additional CEU activities after the end of the biennium in order to satisfy your requirement (for instance, if you were audited and showed insufficient acceptable hours), you may not count those hours again when the next renewal comes around, even though they may have actually been obtained in that biennium. |