Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 3, September 1, 2024
7.1 General Statement: Each licensee shall be required to meet the continuing education requirements of these guidelines for professional development as a condition for license renewal. Continuing education obtained by a licensee should maintain, improve or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure, or develop new and relevant skills and knowledge.
7.1.1 In order for a licensee to qualify for license renewal as a landscape architect in Delaware, the licensee must have completed 20 continuing education units (CEUs) acceptable to the Board within the previous two years, or be granted an extension by the Board for reasons of hardship. Such continuing education shall be obtained by active participation in courses, seminars, sessions, programs or self-directed activities approved by the Board.
7.1.1.1 For purposes of seminar or classroom continuing education, one CEU shall be no less than 50 minutes of instruction.
7.1.2 All courses, seminars, sessions and programs are acceptable for continuing education credit if sponsored by organizations listed in Rule 7.1.3. Courses that are not offered or sponsored by those organizations require Board approval. Licensees should request Board approval in advance of attendance. Requests for approval may be submitted afterward, but there is no guarantee of approval. These CEUs must be documented by a course agenda, syllabus, or other brief documentation that would allow the Board to assess the appropriateness of the course content. Licensees and/or sponsoring organizations may request course approval. All self-directed activities for continuing education credit allowed by rule 7.1.4 must also be approved by the Board.
7.1.2.1 Each course, seminar, session, program, or self-directed activity to be recommended for approval by the Board shall have a direct relationship to the practice of landscape architecture as defined in the Delaware Code and contain elements which will assist licensees to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Delaware served by Delaware licensed landscape architects.
7.1.3 Continuing Education courses offered or sponsored by the following organizations will be deemed to qualify for continuing education:
7.1.3.1 LA CESTM - Landscape Architecture Continuing Education SystemTM
7.1.3.2 American Society of Landscape Architects (National and local/chapter levels)
7.1.3.3 Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards
7.1.3.4 American Planning Association
7.1.3.5 American Institute of Certified Planners
7.1.3.6 Delaware Department of Natural Resources (DNREC) Division of Soil and Water Conservation, seminars or educational programs dealing with sediment erosion and control
7.1.4 Self-directed Activities: The Board will have the authority to allow self-directed activities to fulfill the continuing education requirements of the licensees. However, these activities must result in a book draft, published article, delivered paper, workshop, symposium, or public address within the two (2) year reporting period. Self-directed activities must advance the practitioner's knowledge of the field and be beyond the practitioner's normal work duties, and may include time spent researching, collecting data, preparing, and producing any such book draft, published article, delivered paper, workshop, symposium or public address. Instructors will not be granted CE credit for studies customarily associated with their usual university or college instruction teaching loads.
7.1.4.1 The Board may, upon request, review and approve credit for self-directed activities in a given biennial licensing period. A licensee must obtain pre-approval of the Board prior to undertaking the self-directed activity in order to assure continuing education credit for the activity. Any self-directed activity submitted for approval must include a written proposal outlining the scope of the activity, the number of continuing education hours requested, the anticipated completion date(s), the role of the licensee in the case of multiple participants and whether any part of the self-directed activity has ever been previously approved or submitted for credit by the same licensee. Determination of credit will be made by the Board upon review of the completed final project.
7.2 Each licensed landscape architect shall complete, biennially, 20 units of continuing education as a condition of license renewal.
7.3 The continuing education period will be from February 1 to January 31 of each biennial licensing period.
7.4 Documentation: Each licensee must retain copies of all supporting materials documenting proof of continuing education compliance for submission to the Board upon request. Supporting materials include a syllabus, agenda, itinerary or brochure published by the sponsor of the activity and a document showing proof of attendance (i.e., certificate, a signed letter from the sponsor attesting to attendance, report of passing test score). The Board reserves its right to request additional information and/or documentation to verify continuing education compliance.
7.5 Proof of continuing education is satisfied with an attestation by the licensee that he or she has satisfied the Requirement of Rule 7.0.
7.5.1 Attestation shall be completed electronically.
7.5.2 Licensees selected for random post renewal audit will be required to supplement the attestation with attendance verification pursuant to Rule 7.9.
7.6 Hardship: The Board will consider any reasonable special request from individual licensees for continuing education units and procedures. The Board may, in individual cases involving physical disability, illness, or extenuating circumstances, grant an extension, not to exceed two (2) years, of time within which continuing education requirements must be completed. In cases of physical disability or illness, the Board reserves the right to require a letter from a physician attesting to the licensee's physical condition. No extension of time shall be granted unless the licensee submits a written request to the Board prior to the expiration of the license.
7.7 Exemptions: New licensees by way of uniform national examination or by way of reciprocity shall be exempt from the continuing education requirements set forth herein for their first renewal period. Statutory Authority: 24 Del.C. §
205(12).
7.8 Audit. Each biennium, the Division of Professional Regulation shall randomly select from the list of renewed licensees a percentage, determined by the Board, of the licensees to be audited. The Board may also audit based on complaints or charges against an individual license, relative to compliance with continuing education requirements or based on a finding of past non-compliance during prior audits.
7.9 Documentation and Audit by the Board. When a licensee's name or number appears on the audit list, the Board shall obtain documentation from the licensee showing detailed accounting of the various CEU's claimed by the licensee. Licensees selected for audit are required to supplement the attestation with supporting materials which may include a syllabus, agenda, itinerary or brochure published by the sponsor of the activity and a document showing proof of attendance (i.e., certificate, a signed letter from the sponsor attesting to attendance, report of passing test score). The Board reserves the right to request additional information and/or documentation to verify continuing education compliance.
7.9.1 The Board shall attempt to verify the CEUs shown on the documentation provided by the licensee. The Board shall then review the documentation and verification. Upon completion of the review, the Board shall decide whether the licensee's CEU's meet the requirements of these rules and regulations. The licensee shall sign and seal all verification documentation with a Board approved seal.
7.10 Board Review. The Board shall review all documentation requested of any licensee shown on the audit list. If the Board determines the licensee has met the requirements, the licensee's license shall remain in effect. If the Board initially determines the licensee has not met the requirements, the licensee shall be notified, and in the event that the board disallows certain CEUs, the licensee shall have four months after the date of the Board's notice that the hours have been disallowed to complete the balance of acceptable CEUs required.
7.11 Non-compliance - Extenuating Circumstances. A licensee applying for renewal may request an extension and be given up to an additional twelve (12) months to make up all outstanding required CEUs providing he/she can show good cause why he/she was unable to comply with such requirements at the same time he/she applies for renewal. The licensee must state the reason for such extension along with whatever documentation he/she feels is relevant. The Board shall consider requests such as extensive travel outside the United States, military service, extended illness of the licensee or his/her immediate family, or a death in the immediate family of the licensee. The written request for extension must accompany the renewal application. The Board shall issue an extension when it determines that one or more of these criteria have been met or if circumstances beyond the control of the licensee have rendered it impossible for the licensee to obtain the required CEU's. A licensee who has successfully applied for an extension under this paragraph shall make up all outstanding hours of continuing education within the extension period approved by the Board.
7.12 Appeal. Any licensee denied renewal pursuant to these rules and regulations may contest such ruling by filing an appeal of the Board's final order pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act.
