Section 230. Procedures for awarding prelicense and continuing education credits

A. Course credits shall be awarded only once for courses having substantially equivalent content.

B. Proof of completion of such course, seminar, workshop or conference may be in the form of a transcript, certificate, letter of completion or in any such written form as may be required by the board. All courses, seminars and workshops submitted for prelicensure and continuing education credit must indicate the number of classroom hours.

C. Information that may be requested by the board in order to further evaluate course content includes, but is not limited to, course descriptions, syllabi, or textbook references.

D. All transcripts, certificates, letters of completion or similar documents submitted to verify completion of seminars, workshops or conferences for continuing education credit must indicate successful completion of the course, seminar, workshop or conference. Applicants must furnish written proof of having received a passing grade in all prelicense education courses submitted.

E. All courses, seminars, workshops, or conferences submitted for satisfaction of continuing education requirements must be satisfactory to the board.

F. Prelicense courses. A distance education course may be acceptable to meet the classroom hour requirement or its equivalent provided that the course is approved by the board, the learner successfully completes a written examination proctored by an official approved by the presenting entity, college, or university, the course meets the requirements for qualifying education established by the Appraiser Qualifications Board, the course is equivalent to the minimum of 15 classroom hours and meets one of the following conditions:

1. The course is presented by an accredited (Commission on Colleges or a regional accreditation association) college or university that offers distance education programs in other disciplines; or

2. The course has received approval of the International Distance Education Certification Center (IDECC) for the course design and delivery mechanism and either the approval of the Appraisal Qualifications Board through its course approval program or the approval of the board for the content of the course.

G. Continuing education. Distance education courses may be acceptable to meet the continuing education requirement provided that the course is approved by the board, is a minimum of two classroom hours, meets the requirements for continuing education established by the Appraiser Qualifications Board and meets one of the following conditions:

1. The course is presented to an organized group in an instructional setting with a person qualified and available to answer questions, provide information, and monitor student attendance;

2. The course has been presented by an accredited (Commission on Colleges or regional accreditation association) college or university that offers distance education programs in other disciplines and the student successfully completes a written examination proctored by an official approved by the presenting college or university or by the sponsoring organization consistent with the requirements of the course accreditation; or if a written examination is not required for accreditation, the student successfully completes the course mechanisms required for accreditation that demonstrate mastery and fluency (said mechanisms must be present in a course without an exam in order to be acceptable); or

3. The course has received approval of the IDECC for the course design and delivery mechanism and either the approval of the Appraiser Qualifications Board through its course approval program or the approval of the board for the content of the course and the student successfully completes a written examination proctored by an official approved by the presenting college or university or by the sponsoring organization consistent with the requirements of the course accreditation; or if a written examination is not required for accreditation, the student successfully completes the course mechanisms required for accreditation that demonstrate mastery and fluency (said mechanisms must be present in a course without an exam in order to be acceptable).

Historical Notes

Derived from VR583-01-03 § 5.4, eff. April 15, 1992; amended, Volume 11, Issue 04, eff. January 1, 1995; Volume 14, Issue 10, eff. March 4, 1998; Volume 19, Issue 18, eff. July 1, 2003; Volume 24, Issue 06, eff. January 1, 2008; Volume 24, Issue 23, eff. September 1, 2008; Volume 31, Issue 03, eff. January 1, 2015.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-201 and 54.1-2013 of the Code of Virginia.