1998 Minnesota Statutes

     148.515 Qualifications for registration. 

    Subdivision 1.    Applicability.  Except as provided in 
 section 148.516 or 148.517, an applicant must meet the 
 requirements in this section.  

    Subd. 2.    Master's or doctoral degree required.  (a) 
 An applicant must possess a master's or doctoral degree that 
 meets the requirements of paragraphs (b) to (h).  

    (b) All of the applicant's graduate coursework and clinical 
 practicum required in the professional area for which 
 registration is sought must have been initiated and completed at 
 an institution whose program was accredited by the educational 
 standards board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing 
 Association in the area for which registration is sought.  

    (c) The master's degree training must include a minimum of 
 112.5 quarter credits or 75 semester credits or their equivalent 
 of academic coursework that includes basic science coursework 
 and professional coursework.  

    (d) Applicants for registration in either speech-language 
 pathology or audiology must complete 40.5 quarter credits of the 
 112.5 quarter credits or 27 of the 75 semester credits or their 
 equivalent in basic science coursework, distributed as follows:  

    (1) nine quarter credits or six semester credits or their 
 equivalent must be in biological or physical sciences and 
 mathematics; 

    (2) nine quarter credits or six semester credits or their 
 equivalent must be in behavioral or social sciences, including 
 normal aspects of human behavior and communication; and 

    (3) 22.5 quarter credits or 15 semester credits or their 
 equivalent must be in basic human communication processes and 
 must include coursework in each of the following three areas of 
 speech, language, and hearing:  

    (i) the anatomic and physiologic bases; 

    (ii) the physical and psychophysical bases; and 

    (iii) the linguistic and psycholinguistic aspects.  

    (e) All applicants for registration must complete 54 
 quarter credits of the 112.5 quarter credits or 36 semester 
 credits of the 75 semester credits or their equivalent in 
 professional coursework.  The coursework must include the 
 nature, prevention, evaluation, and treatment of speech, 
 language, and hearing disorders.  The coursework must encompass 
 courses in speech, language, and hearing that concern disorders 
 primarily affecting children as well as disorders primarily 
 affecting adults.  A minimum of 45 of the 54 quarter credits or 
 30 of the 36 semester credits or their equivalent must be 
 courses for which graduate credit was received.  A minimum of 
 31.5 of the 45 quarter credits or 21 of the 30 semester credits 
 must be in the professional area for which registration is 
 sought.  

    (f) Applicants seeking registration as speech-language 
 pathologists must complete the following professional coursework:

    (1) 45 quarter credits of the 54 quarter credits of the 
 professional coursework or 30 semester credits of the 36 
 semester credits of the professional coursework or their 
 equivalent must be in courses pertaining to speech-language 
 pathology and nine quarter credits of the 54 quarter credits or 
 six semester credits of the 36 semester credits or their 
 equivalent in courses in the area of audiology; and 

    (2) the 45 quarter credits or 30 semester credits or their 
 equivalent pertaining to speech-language pathology must include 
 at least nine quarter credits or six semester credits or their 
 equivalent in speech disorders and nine quarter credits or six 
 semester credits or their equivalent in language disorders.  The 
 nine quarter credits or six semester credits or their equivalent 
 in the area of audiology must include at least 4.5 quarter 
 credits or three semester credits or their equivalent in hearing 
 disorders and hearing evaluation and 4.5 quarter credits or 
 three semester credits or their equivalent in habilitative and 
 rehabilitative procedures.  

    (g) Applicants seeking registration as an audiologist must 
 complete professional coursework as follows:  

    (1) 45 quarter credits of the 54 quarter credits or 30 
 semester credits of the 36 semester credits or their equivalent 
 of coursework must be in audiology.  At least nine quarter 
 credits of the 45 quarter credits or six semester credits of the 
 30 semester credits in audiology must be in hearing disorders 
 and hearing evaluation and at least nine quarter credits or six 
 semester credits or their equivalent must be in habilitative or 
 rehabilitative procedures with individuals who have hearing 
 impairment; and 

    (2) nine quarter credits of the 54 quarter credits or six 
 semester credits of the 36 semester credits or their equivalent 
 in the area of speech-language pathology.  At least 4.5 quarter 
 credits of the nine quarter credits or three semester credits of 
 the six semester credits must be in speech disorders and at 
 least 4.5 quarter credits of the nine quarter credits or three 
 semester credits of the six semester credits must be in language 
 disorders.  This coursework in speech-language pathology must 
 concern the nature, prevention, evaluation, and treatment of 
 speech and language disorders not associated with hearing 
 impairment.  

    (h) Of the professional coursework required in paragraphs 
 (f) and (g), no more than nine quarter credits or six semester 
 credits or their equivalent associated with clinical training 
 may be counted toward the minimum of 54 quarter credits or 36 
 semester credits or their equivalent of professional coursework. 
 However, those hours may not be used to satisfy the minimum of 
 nine quarter credits or six semester credit hours in hearing 
 disorders or evaluation, nine quarter credits or six semester 
 credits in habilitative or rehabilitative procedures, or nine 
 quarter credits or six semester credits in speech-language 
 pathology.  

    Subd. 3.    Supervised clinical training required.  (a) 
 An applicant must complete at least 375 hours of supervised 
 clinical training as a student that meets the requirements of 
 paragraphs (b) to (f).  

    (b) The supervised clinical training must be provided by 
 the educational institution or by one of its cooperating 
 programs.  

    (c) The first 25 hours of the supervised clinical training 
 must be spent in clinical observation.  Those 25 hours must 
 concern the evaluation and treatment of children and adults with 
 disorders of speech, language, or hearing.  

    (d) All applicants must complete at least 350 hours of 
 supervised clinical training that concern the evaluation and 
 treatment of children and adults with disorders of speech, 
 language, and hearing.  At least 250 of the 350 hours must be at 
 the graduate level in the area in which registration is sought.  
 At least 50 hours must be spent in each of three types of 
 clinical settings including, but not limited to, university 
 clinics, hospitals, private clinics, and schools, including 
 secondary and elementary.  

    (e) An applicant seeking registration as a speech-language 
 pathologist must: 

    (1) obtain 250 of the 350 supervised hours in 
 speech-language pathology; 

    (2) complete a minimum of 20 hours of the 250 hours in each 
 of the following eight categories: 

    (i) evaluation:  speech disorders in children; 

    (ii) evaluation:  speech disorders in adults; 

    (iii) evaluation:  language disorders in children; 

    (iv) evaluation:  language disorders in adults; 

    (v) treatment:  speech disorders in children; 

    (vi) treatment:  speech disorders in adults; 

    (vii) treatment:  language disorders in children; and 

    (viii) treatment:  language disorders in adults; 

    (3) complete a minimum of 35 hours in audiology including:  

    (i) 15 hours in the evaluation or screening of individuals 
 with hearing disorders; and 

    (ii) 15 hours in habilitation or rehabilitation of 
 individuals with hearing impairment; and 

    (4) obtain no more than 20 hours in the major professional 
 area that are in related disorders.  

    (f) An applicant seeking registration as an audiologist 
 must: 

    (1) obtain 250 of the 350 hours in audiology; 

    (2) complete a minimum of 40 hours in each of the following 
 four categories:  

    (i) evaluation:  hearing in children; 

    (ii) evaluation:  hearing in adults; 

    (iii) selection and use:  amplification and assistive 
 devices for children; and 

    (iv) selection and use:  amplification and assistive 
 devices for adults; 

    (3) complete a minimum of 20 hours in the category of the 
 treatment of hearing disorders in children and adults; 

    (4) complete a minimum of 35 hours of the 350 hours in 
 speech-language pathology unrelated to hearing impairment as 
 follows:  

    (i) 15 hours in evaluation or screening; and 

    (ii) 15 hours in treatment; and 

    (5) obtain no more than 20 hours in the major professional 
 area that are in related disorders.  

    Subd. 4.    Supervised postgraduate clinical experience 
 required.  (a) An applicant must complete no less than nine 
 months or its equivalent of full-time supervised postgraduate 
 clinical experience according to paragraphs (b) to (h).  

    (b) Supervision in the postgraduate clinical experience 
 includes both on-site observation and other monitoring 
 activities.  On-site observation must involve the supervisor, 
 the supervisee, and the client receiving speech-language 
 pathology or audiology services.  On-site observation must 
 include direct observation by the supervisor of treatment given 
 by the supervisee.  Other monitoring activities may be executed 
 by correspondence and include, but are not limited to, 
 conferences with the supervisee, evaluation of written reports, 
 and evaluations by professional colleagues.  Other monitoring 
 activities do not include the client receiving speech-language 
 pathology or audiology services but must involve direct or 
 indirect evaluative contact by the supervisor of the supervisee. 

    (c) The applicant must, as part of the postgraduate 
 clinical experience, be supervised by an individual who meets 
 the definition of section 148.512, subdivision 20, and:  

    (1) when registration as a speech-language pathologist is 
 sought, is a registered speech-language pathologist or hold a 
 current certificate of clinical competence in speech-language 
 pathology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; 
 and 

    (2) when registration as an audiologist is sought, is a 
 registered audiologist or hold a current certificate of clinical 
 competence in audiology from the American 
 Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 

    (d) The applicant may not begin the postgraduate clinical 
 experience until the applicant has completed the academic 
 coursework and clinical training in subdivisions 2 and 3. 

    (e) To be considered full time, at least 30 hours per week 
 must be spent over a nine-month period in clinical work.  
 Equivalent time periods may include part-time professional 
 employment as follows:  

    (1) 12 months of at least 25 hours per week; 

    (2) 15 months of at least 20 hours per week; or 

    (3) 18 months of at least 15 hours per week.  

    (f) The applicant's postgraduate clinical experience must 
 include direct clinical experience with patients, consultations, 
 report writing, recordkeeping, or other duties relevant to 
 clinical work.  A minimum of 80 percent of the clinical 
 experience must be in direct contact with persons who have 
 communication handicaps.  If the applicant uses part-time 
 employment to fulfill the postgraduate clinical experience 
 requirement, all of the minimum required hours of the part-time 
 work week requirement must be spent in direct professional 
 experience.  

    (g) The applicant must complete the postgraduate clinical 
 experience within a maximum of 36 consecutive months and must be 
 supervised in no less than 36 activities, including 18 one-hour 
 on-site observations.  A maximum of six hours can be accrued in 
 one day.  A minimum of six one-hour on-site observations must be 
 accrued during each one-third of the experience.  

    (h) The applicant must complete 18 other monitored 
 activities and complete at least one monitored activity each 
 month of the postgraduate clinical experience.  Alternatives to 
 on-site observation and monitoring activities include activities 
 supervised by correspondence, evaluation of written reports, and 
 evaluations by professional colleagues.  

    Subd. 5.    Qualifying examination score required.  (a) 
 An applicant must achieve a qualifying score on the National 
 Examination in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology (NESPA), 
 administered by NTE Programs, Educational Testing Service.  

    (b) The commissioner shall determine the qualifying scores 
 for both the speech-language pathology and audiology 
 examinations based on guidelines provided by the advisory 
 council or the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.  

    (c) The applicant is responsible for:  

    (1) making arrangements to take the examination described 
 in this subdivision; 

    (2) bearing all expenses associated with taking the 
 examination; 

    (3) having the examination scores sent directly to the 
 commissioner from the Educational Testing Service; and 

    (4) including a copy of the scores along with the original 
 registration application.  

    (d) The applicant must receive a qualifying score on the 
 examination within three years after the applicant applies for 
 registration under section 148.519.  If the applicant does not 
 receive a qualifying score on the examination within three years 
 after the applicant applies for registration, the applicant may 
 apply to the commissioner in writing for consideration to submit 
 a new application for registration under section 148.519. 

    HIST: 1996 c 363 s 5; 1998 c 317 s 2