Section 422.85  Agency Approval of Radon Courses

 

a)         Persons offering continuing education for a licensed individual may apply for approval by submitting to the Agency, 90 days prior to the start of the course, the following:

 

1)         A completed application on a form prescribed by the Agency that shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

 

A)        Name, business address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of the person providing the training;

 

B)        Type of course and title; and

 

C)        Total hours of supervised instruction within the course;

 

2)         Copies of the syllabus and all training materials to be used in the training course;

 

3)         Pertinent biographical information or credentials of all individuals instructing the training course participants; and

 

4)         Criteria for course approval upon which successful completion of the course by participants will be judged pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section.

 

AGENCY NOTE:  Operators of training courses shall submit a separate application for each course, but if a single course will provide instruction for more than one type of licensed individual, only one application is required.

 

b)         To maintain approval of a training course, the course operator shall do all of the following:

 

1)         Issue a certificate of completion to each individual who successfully completes the course;

 

2)         Submit to the Agency a list of all individuals who successfully completed the course within 30 days after completion of the course.  The list shall include name, business address, telephone number and radon license number;

 

3)         Request, in writing, the Agency's approval of any changes that would render the information contained in the application for approval inaccurate; and

 

4)         For a revised course, submit within 30 days before first teaching the revised course, an informational copy of the complete revised course, whether or not the revisions render the information contained in the application for approval inaccurate.

 

c)         The Agency may refuse to issue an approval and may revoke or suspend an approval issued pursuant to this Part if the operator of the course fails to meet the criteria specified in subsection (a) or (b) of this Section or if the course is not updated to incorporate new information pertinent to licensed activities.

 

d)         Approval of a training course shall be valid until the course is revised.

 

e)         Criteria for CE Course Approval

 

1)         General Format for Course Approval

 

A)        Opening pages/introduction of the course shall include the following:

 

i)          Name of the sponsor/course provider.

 

ii)         Name of the course developer, if different than the    sponsor/provider.

 

iii)        Name/title of the course.  The title shall be the same as approved by the Agency.

 

iv)        Course description.

 

v)         Course objectives.

 

vi)        Other references or source materials required for the course (e.g., textbook).

 

vii)       Course instructions shall include the following statements: 

 

•           "In order to receive CE credit, you shall first complete the course content.  When completed, go to the last page of the course to access the post-test." 

 

•           "Submit the completed answers to determine if you have passed the post-test assessment.  You must obtain a score of at least 70% to receive the CE credit.  You will have no more than 3 attempts to successfully complete the post-test."

 

viii)      CE credits:  Number of CE credits awarded for successful completion of the course.

 

ix)        Approving organization statement:  "Approved by Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Radon Program" and the course number.

 

x)         Statement about seeking CE credit for repeating a course:  "This course may be available in multiple formats or from different sponsors.  The Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Radon Program, does not allow CE courses such as Internet courses, home study programs or directed reading to be repeated for CE credit in the same 5 year period." 

 

AGENCY NOTE:  The Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Radon Program, will approve CE credits for courses that have similar content.  However, the credits cannot be for the same course completed from different formats.  For example, two different courses on Radiation Protection would be acceptable.  Two courses, one on CD and one as a home study, with the same content would not be acceptable.

 

xi)        Statement concerning a course awarded multiple CE course numbers. Depending on the situation, a course may be awarded credit through multiple evaluation programs for use by different credentialing organizations.  Different course numbers are then awarded to the same course.  In such situations, each course number and the approving authority for each course number shall be listed.

 

xii)       CE sponsor contact information shall be provided for participants who have questions regarding the CE course.

 

B)        Additional Requirements for an Online CE Course

 

i)          Hardware and software requirements for the course.

 

ii)         Access options (for example, dial-up, broadband, cable, DSL).

 

2)         Agency Approval for Number of CE Credits

 

A)        Evaluation of Content

 

i)          For an original approval, the course title shall match the title that was submitted on the CE credit application form.

 

ii)         For renewal applications, the title shall match the title approved by the Agency.

 

iii)        The content shall support the stated objectives.

 

iv)        The content shall be current and accurate.

 

v)         The content shall provide sufficient depth and scope of the subject matter.

 

vi)        Content taken from other copyrighted materials shall be appropriately identified as such and referenced.

 

vii)       Documentation of appropriate permissions for use of reprinted materials shall be clearly referenced.

 

viii)      All supporting materials (e.g., images, photos, diagrams, charts, tables and text) shall be legible and labeled correctly.

 

ix)        Acronyms shall be spelled out with the first use or a glossary of terms shall be provided.

 

x)         Credit requested to be awarded for the course shall be determined by the length of time it takes to complete the course.  Time utilized to complete the post-test may be considered part of learning the course information.

 

xi)        The CE application materials shall include a description of the grading and documentation process.  A copy of the certificate to be awarded and the post-test, with correct answers indicated, shall be included.

 

xii)       CE sponsors for courses that were developed by others (i.e., individuals or organizations) shall indicate the following information on the application for the CE credit:  The name of the individual or organization that developed the course and an affirmation statement that the developer of the course has granted the CE sponsor permission to use and distribute the course.

 

xiii)      For all formats of any course and at all sites, the Agency shall be provided with access (i.e., user ID and password) in order to evaluate the course in the manner that it is being presented.  For electronic courses, access shall be provided prior to the course being made available for use by customers.

 

3)         Assessment (Post-Test)

 

A)        Possible Uses for the Post-Test

 

i)          Post-Test Used to Assess Participation.  Multiple choice questions shall be provided to help determine if a person has participated in the course.  Answers do not need to be provided to the participant.

 

ii)         Post-Test Used as a Learning Tool.  Multiple choice questions shall be provided to help determine a level of learning.  If a question is answered incorrectly, detailed information is provided to explain the questions and answers.

 

B)        Format Evaluation

 

i)          Post-tests shall have a minimum number of questions based upon the number of CE credits requested to be awarded to the course (i.e., 5 questions for each credit hour).

 

ii)         When submitted for evaluation, the correct answers to the post-test questions shall be referenced (with paragraph and page numbers) in the content of the course.

 

iii)        Additionally, for online courses:

 

•           The participant shall not be able to go directly to the post-test from the introductory page without at least "paging" or "scrolling" through the content.  (This may be accomplished by requiring the participant to page through the content before reaching the post-test.  For example, do not place access to the post-test at the beginning of the course.)

 

•           The CE course content may be printed for review; however, the post-test shall not be available to print.

 

•           If the sponsor is using a test item, all questions and answers that a participant might see shall be provided to the Agency for review.

 

C)        Scoring

 

i)          A maximum of three attempts to pass the post-course assessment is allowed.  No CE credit will be awarded if there are three failed attempts.  (See subsection (e)(1)(A)(viii) of this Section.)

 

ii)         If a participant fails to score at least 70% on the post-test, the number of incorrect answers or the percent correct may be provided, but the individual questions answered incorrectly shall not be identified.  Post-test question security shall be maintained.

 

4)         Certificates of Participation

 

A)        Certificate Format

 

i)          Certificates shall contain the participant name, course, date completed, credits earned, approving organization (i.e., IEMA, Radon Program), reference number, sponsor name and/or logo and signature of the sponsor or its authorized representative.  (The same certificate information is required for all formats of a course, i.e., Internet, print, live, etc.)

 

ii)         The certificate shall reflect the "date of completion" as the date the sponsor received the completed post-test.

 

iii)        All post-tests received shall be date/time stamped (or date collected and recorded) for verification purposes.

 

B)        Certificate Distribution

 

i)          The certificate shall be awarded only after successful completion of the course.

 

ii)         The participant shall not be able to alter the information for the on-line certificate in any way before printing.

 

iii)        Duplicate on-line certificates may be made available by the CE sponsor for re-printing.

 

(Source:  Amended at 33 Ill. Reg. 14479, effective October 9, 2009)