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HF 3345

1st Engrossment - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 05/16/2022 09:13am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - 1st Engrossment

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A bill for an act
relating to commerce; modifying provisions governing continuing education
requirements for licensees; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, sections 45.25,
subdivisions 12, 13, by adding subdivisions; 45.31, subdivisions 2, 3; proposing
coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 45; repealing Minnesota Statutes
2020, section 45.25, subdivisions 2a, 14.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.25, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:


new text begin Subd. 9a. new text end

new text begin Live course. new text end

new text begin "Live course" means any learning experience that is actively led
by an instructor, either online or in a classroom setting, that offers person-to-person, real-time
feedback. A live course offered online must:
new text end

new text begin (1) specify the minimum system requirements;
new text end

new text begin (2) provide encryption that ensures that all personal information, including the student's
name, address, and credit card number, cannot be read as it passes across the Internet;
new text end

new text begin (3) include technology to guarantee seat time;
new text end

new text begin (4) include the ability for the student to get technical support within a reasonable amount
of time;
new text end

new text begin (5) include a statement that the student's information will not be sold or distributed to
any third party without the prior written consent of the student. Taking the course does not
constitute consent; and
new text end

new text begin (6) include a process to authenticate the student's identity.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.25, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:


new text begin Subd. 9b. new text end

new text begin On-demand course. new text end

new text begin "On-demand course" means an online learning experience
that enables a student to review learning material at a time and location that is convenient
for the student. On-demand course includes but is not limited to asynchronous online courses,
text-based courses, and other courses not offered live that include prerecorded videos, class
recordings, documents, or other learning activities.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.25, subdivision 12, is amended to read:


Subd. 12.

Proctor.

new text begin (a) new text end "Proctor" means a deleted text begin disinterested third party with no conflict of
interest
deleted text end new text begin personnew text end who new text begin (1) new text end verifies a student's identitynew text begin ,new text end and new text begin (2) new text end processes an affidavit testifying
that the student received no outside assistance with the course or examination.

new text begin (b) A proctor must be 18 years of age or older. A proctor must not have a financial or
other conflict of interest with respect to a student's successful completion of the course or
the examination. A proctor must not be:
new text end

new text begin (1) a relative of the student;
new text end

new text begin (2) the student's supervisor at work;
new text end

new text begin (3) a person the student supervises at work; or
new text end

new text begin (4) a student who is completing the same course.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.25, subdivision 13, is amended to read:


Subd. 13.

Professional designation.

"Professional designation" means deleted text begin a written,
proctored, and graded examination, the passage of which leads to a bona fide
deleted text end new text begin an
industry-recognized
new text end professional designation used by deleted text begin licenseesdeleted text end new text begin a licensee after completing
a series of courses and passing a graded, proctored examination
new text end .

Sec. 5.

new text begin [45.301] ON-DEMAND CONTINUING EDUCATION; REQUIREMENTS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin On-demand course requirements. new text end

new text begin An on-demand continuing education
course offered online must:
new text end

new text begin (1) specify the minimum system requirements;
new text end

new text begin (2) provide encryption that ensures that all personal information, including the student's
name, address, and credit card number, cannot be read as it passes across the Internet;
new text end

new text begin (3) include technology to guarantee seat time;
new text end

new text begin (4) include a high level of interactivity;
new text end

new text begin (5) include graphics that reinforce the content;
new text end

new text begin (6) include the ability for the student to contact an instructor within a reasonable amount
of time;
new text end

new text begin (7) include the ability for the student to get technical support within a reasonable amount
of time;
new text end

new text begin (8) include a statement that the student's information will not be sold or distributed to
any third party without prior written consent of the student. Taking the course does not
constitute consent;
new text end

new text begin (9) be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, excluding minimal down time for
updating and administration;
new text end

new text begin (10) provide viewing access to the online course at all times to the commissioner,
excluding minimal down time for updating and administration;
new text end

new text begin (11) include a process to authenticate the student's identity;
new text end

new text begin (12) inform the student and the commissioner how long after its purchase a course will
be accessible;
new text end

new text begin (13) inform the student that license education credit will not be awarded for taking the
course after it loses its status as an approved course;
new text end

new text begin (14) provide clear instructions on how to navigate through the course;
new text end

new text begin (15) provide automatic bookmarking at any point in the course;
new text end

new text begin (16) provide questions after each unit or chapter that must be answered before the student
can proceed to the next unit or chapter;
new text end

new text begin (17) include a reinforcement response when a quiz question is answered correctly;
new text end

new text begin (18) include a response when a quiz question is answered incorrectly;
new text end

new text begin (19) include a final examination;
new text end

new text begin (20) allow the student to go back and review any unit at any time, except during the final
examination;
new text end

new text begin (21) provide a course evaluation at the end of the course. At a minimum, the evaluation
must ask the student to report any difficulties caused by the online education delivery
method; and
new text end

new text begin (22) provide a completion certificate when the course and exam have been completed
and the provider has verified the completion. Electronic certificates are sufficient.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Final examination. new text end

new text begin The final examination must be either an encrypted online
examination or a paper examination that is monitored by a proctor who certifies that the
student took the examination. The student must not be allowed to review the course content
once the examination has begun.
new text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.31, subdivision 2, is amended to read:


Subd. 2.

Approval.

(a) deleted text begin The commissioner must approve as a coordinator a person
meeting one or more of the following criteria: at least three years of full-time experience
in the administration of an education program during the five-year period immediately
before the date of application, or a degree in education plus two years experience during
the immediately preceding five-year period in one of the regulated industries for which
courses are being approved, or a minimum of five years experience within the previous six
years in the regulated industry for which courses are held.
deleted text end A person applying for approval
as a course coordinator mustnew text begin :
new text end

new text begin (1) be qualified or have experience in the applicable subject matter of courses offered
by the education provider or have experience in the administration of an education program;
and
new text end

new text begin (2)new text end make available upon request such records and data required by the commissioner to
administer the provisions and further the purposes of this chapter.

(b) Coordinator approval may not be transferred to an individual who has not already
been approved as an additional coordinator for the applicable license type for the providership
in question. An individual must be approved as a coordinator by the commissioner before
acting on behalf of an approved education provider.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.31, subdivision 3, is amended to read:


Subd. 3.

Responsibilities.

deleted text begin A coordinatordeleted text end new text begin An education providernew text end is responsible for:

(1) assuring compliance with all laws and rules relating to educational offerings governed
by the commissioner;

(2) assuring that students are provided with current and accurate information relating to
the laws and rules governing their licensed activity;

(3) supervising and evaluating courses and instructors. Supervision includes assuring,
especially when a course will be taught by more than one instructor, that all areas of the
curriculum are addressed without redundancy and that continuity is present throughout the
entire course;

(4) ensuring that instructors are qualified to teach the course offering;

(5) furnishing the commissioner, upon request, with copies of course and instructor
evaluations and qualifications of instructors. Evaluations must be completed by students
and coordinators;

(6) investigating complaints related to course offerings and instructors and forwarding
a copy of the written complaints to the Department of Commerce;

(7) maintaining accurate records relating to course offerings, instructors, tests taken by
students, and student attendance for a period of three years from the date on which the
course was completed. These records must be made available to the commissioner upon
request. In the event that an education provider ceases operation for any reason, the
coordinator is responsible for maintaining the records or providing a custodian for the
records acceptable to the commissioner. The coordinator must notify the commissioner of
the name and address of that person. In order to be acceptable to the commissioner, custodians
must agree to make copies of acknowledgments available to students at a reasonable fee.
Under no circumstances will the commissioner act as custodian of the records;

(8) ensuring that the coordinator is available to instructors and students throughout course
offerings and providing to the students and instructor the name of the coordinator and a
telephone number at which the coordinator can be reached;

(9) attending workshops or instructional programs as reasonably required by the
commissioner;

(10) providing course completion certificates within ten days of, but not before,
completion of the entire course. Course completion certificates must be completed in their
entirety. It is not necessary to provide a written course completion certificate if the course
completion certificate has been electronically delivered to the department or its designated
licensing contractor. A coordinator may require payment of the course tuition as a condition
for receiving the course completion certificate;

(11) notifying the commissioner immediately of any change in an application for the
course, coordinator, or instructor approval application; and

(12) in conjunction with the instructor, assuring and certifying attendance of students
enrolled in courses.

Sec. 8. new text begin REVISOR INSTRUCTION.
new text end

new text begin (a) The revisor of statutes shall change the term "self-study course" with "on-demand
course" wherever it appears in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 45. The revisor shall also make
grammatical changes related to the change in term.
new text end

new text begin (b) The revisor of statutes shall change the term "classroom course" with "live course"
wherever it appears in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 45. The revisor shall also make
grammatical changes related to the change in term.
new text end

Sec. 9. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 45.25, subdivisions 2a and 14, new text end new text begin are repealed.
new text end

APPENDIX

Repealed Minnesota Statutes: H3345-1

45.25 DEFINITIONS.

Subd. 2a.

Classroom course.

"Classroom course" means an educational process based on live or real-time instruction including, but not limited to:

(1) a course in which there is no geographic separation of instructor and learner;

(2) a course taught live that is concurrently simulcast to remote locations and where each location is monitored by a proctor; and

(3) a course taught live that is concurrently simulcast to individual students online and that includes a process to authenticate the student's identity and technology to guarantee seat time.

Subd. 14.

Self-study course.

"Self-study course" means a distance learning course that is not entirely taught by the instructor live via the Internet, video, or other electronic means.