Section 3000.100  Definitions

 

            "Act" means the Hearing Aid Consumer Protection Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 111, par. 7401 et seq.)

 

            "Advanced Track" means the material is designed for those dispensers who have been dispensing for a minimum of five years.

 

            "Beginning Track" means the material is general and requires no experience or knowledge in hearing aid dispensing.

 

            "Board" means The Hearing Aid Consumer Protection Board. (Section 3(h) of the Act)

 

            "Course Sponsor" means any person, school, association, company, corporation or group applying to provide a continuing education course.

 

            "Critical Issues Track" means the material is designed to present new issues or trends in the hearing aid industry.

 

            "Intermediate Track" means the material is designed for those dispensers who have been dispensing for a minimum of three years.

 

            "One Contact Hour" means a 50-minute classroom instructional laboratory or practicum session.

 

            "One Continuing Education Unit (CEU)" means ten contact hours of participation in a continuing education course.

 

(Source:  Amended at 14 Ill. Reg. 10337, effective June 18, 1990)

 

Section 3000.200  Approved Continuing Education Courses

 

a)         Continuing education courses shall be offered in the following areas:   acoustics; nature of the ear (normal ear, hearing process, disorders of hearing); hearing measurement; hearing aid technology; selection of hearing aids; federal and state laws/regulations regarding dispensing of hearing aids and ethical practices; or other areas deemed appropriate by the Board.

 

b)         Only Continuing Education Units approved by the Department, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) or the National Hearing Aid Society (NHAS) shall be applied towards meeting the minimum requirements set forth in Section 3000.230.  Sponsors other than ASHA and NHAS shall send the Department the following material prior to a course being offered when the Department approves the continuing education courses:  the procedures and criteria used to approve Continuing Education courses, a roster of the approved courses containing the name of the instructor(s), the location of the course, and the number of CEU's or contact hours assigned to the course.

 

c)         Only Continuing Education Units completed subsequent to the effective date of this rule shall be applied to the minimum requirements as set forth in Section 3000.230 of this Part.

 

(Source:  Amended at 17 Ill. Reg. 8817, effective June 10, 1993)

 

Section 3000.210  Responsibilities of Course Sponsors

 

a)         A course sponsor shall be responsible for obtaining prior approval from the Department, the ASHA or the NHAS, for continuing education courses.

 

b)         The course sponsor, or an individual applying for a course sponsor, shall forward a completed application package to the Department. The completed package shall consist of the following materials:  

 

1)         The Course Sponsor Application Form shall contain the following:  the course sponsor's name, address and phone number; the title of the CEU course, the number of CEUs to be awarded, and the dates the course will be given; the name of the instructor(s); the location of the course(s); and the Track designation (Beginning, Intermediate Advanced, or Critical Issues);

 

2)         The educational objective(s) of the course typed and double spaced;

 

3)         The course description, which shall be typed, double spaced and not exceed 600 words in length;

 

4)         The course agenda, which shall include the amount of time required to meet the course objectives. Specific times shall be provided for lecture, practicums, discussions, introductions, breaks, and lunches. Introductions, breaks, and lunches shall not be applied toward calculating contact hours on CEU's;

 

5)         The course sponsor's evaluation form to be completed by the participants; and

 

6)         All course instructor(s) vitae containing experiental and educational background.

 

c)         The course sponsor shall sign and date the Course Sponsor Application Form.

 

d)         The course sponsor shall anticipate a 60 day review process. Following approval of a course, the course sponsor shall notify the Department of any changes in the course content or instructors prior to the course offering. Upon such notification, the Board will review the changes in course content or instructors in accordance with Section 3000.220.

 

e)         Sponsors of continuing education courses shall provide such information as may be required by rule and shall pay a fee of $150 per course.  (Section 15 of the Act)

 

f)         Courses certified or approved for continuing education by the National Hearing Aid Society or the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association shall be exempt from such fee and compliance with such course filing requirements as specified by rule.  (Section 15 of the Act)

 

(Source:  Amended at 17 Ill. Reg. 8817, effective June 10, 1993)

 

Section 3000.220  Board

 

a)         The Board shall review applications from course sponsor(s), applying directly to the Department, using the following standards:

 

1)         All information in the application package shall be completed.

 

2)         Instructors shall possess the minimum of five years experience in hearing aid dispensing or the minimum of a baccalaureate degree in an area related to the course content.

 

3)         Utilizing their professional judgment, the Board shall determine if the application meets the following criteria:

 

A)        The objective(s) of the course and the topics (Section 3000.200) shall be consistent with the course description.

 

B)        The course shall be of sufficient duration to achieve the stated educational objective(s) for the instructional level indicated.

 

b)         The Board shall review the application package and recommend to the Department one of the following:

 

1)         For an approved course, the Department shall send an acceptance letter which informs the sponsor of the number of CEU's.

 

2)         For a disapproved course, the Department shall send a letter of denial which will delineate any deficiencies in the requirements as set forth in Section 3000.210.

 

3)         If the course sponsor desires to correct the deficiencies in the application, the course sponsor shall submit within 30 days the corrected application.

 

4)         Upon review of the course sponsor's corrected application, the Board shall approve or deny the course application as set forth in subsection (b).

 

5)         Denial of a course sponsor's application may be appealed to the Board. The appeal shall be addressed to the Chairman of the Board via the Department. The appeal shall be concerned with the nature of the appellant's complaint and document the appellant's reasons for the appeal. A majority of the Board shall recommend that the appeal is not valid or that the course application should be approved. This determination shall be made based on the criteria set forth in Section 3000.210.

 

c)         The Board shall approve courses for a 12 month period.

 

Section 3000.230  Dispenser Responsibilities

 

a)         For Department approved courses, the dispenser shall obtain a Participant's Registry Card from the Department. The Participant Registry Card shall be completed by the dispenser, signed by the course instructor, and sent to the Department. The Participant Registry Card consists of the participant's name, certificate identification number, name of business, business address, course name, date, site, participant's signature, and the instructor's signature.

 

b)         As verification of CEUs earned, the Department will accept (from dispensers) copies of transcripts or certificates of completion from continuing education courses approved by ASHA or NHAS.  The Department shall request direct confirmation from ASHA or NHAS of continuing education earned if questions arise as to the authenticity of submitted copies.

 

c)         A minimum of 2.0 CEUs shall be obtained by dispensers in order to have the license renewed every two years.

 

d)         Thirty days prior to a license expiration date, the dispenser shall verify, via the procedures set forth in subsections (a),(b) or (c) above, the total number of CEUs obtained subsequent to license renewal.

 

e)         The dispenser shall obtain the required CEUs before the license is renewed.

 

f)         CEUs shall not be applied to the dispenser's license renewal for the same course more than once between license renewals.

 

(Source:  Amended at 17 Ill. Reg. 8817, effective June 10, 1993)

 

Section 3000.APPENDIX A  Course Sponsor Application Form (Repealed)

 

(Source:  Repealed at 17 Ill. Reg. 8817, effective June 10, 1993)

 

Section 3000.APPENDIX B  Participant's Registry Card (Repealed)

 

(Source:  Repealed at 17 Ill. Reg. 8817, effective June 10, 1993)