(a)(No change.)
(b)Use of approved Instructor.
(1)Except as provided by this subsection, a provider
must use an instructor that is currently approved by the Commission
to teach the specified course;
(2)Each instructor shall be selected on the basis
of expertise in the subject area of instruction and ability as an
instructor;
(3)A provider shall require specialized training or
work experience for instructors teaching specialized subjects such
as law, appraisal, investments, taxation or home inspection;
(4)An instructor shall teach a course in substantially
the same manner represented to the Commission in the instructor's
manual or other documents filed with the application for course approval
[form]; and
(5)A provider may use the services of a guest instructor
who is not approved as an instructor by the Commission for qualifying
real estate or inspector courses provided that person instructs for
no more than 10% of the total course time.
(c)Advertising.
(1)The following practices are prohibited:
(A)using any advertising which does not clearly and
conspicuously contain the provider's name on the first page or screen
of the advertising;
(B)representing that the provider's program is the
only vehicle by which a person may satisfy educational requirements;
(C)conveying a false impression of the provider's
size, superiority, importance, location, equipment or facilities,
except that a provider may use objective information published by
the Commission regarding pass rates;
(D)promoting the provider directly or indirectly as
a job placement agency, unless the provider is participating in a
program recognized by federal, state, or local government and is providing
job placement services to the extent the services are required by
the program;
(E)making any statement which is misleading, likely
to deceive the public, or which in any manner tends to create a misleading
impression;
(F)advertising a course under a course name other
than the course name approved by the Commission; or
(G)advertising using a name that implies the course
provider is the Texas Real Estate Commission, including use of the
acronym "TREC", in all or part of the course provider's name.
(2)Any written advertisement by a provider that includes
a fee that the provider charges for a course must display any
additional [all] fees that the provider charges for
the course in the same place in the advertisement and with the same
degree of prominence.
(3)The provider shall advertise a course for the full
clock hours of time for which credit is awarded.
(4)The provider is responsible for and subject to
sanctions for any violation of this subsection by any affiliate or
other third party marketer or web hosting site associated with or
used by the provider.
(d) - (f)(No change.)
(g)Presentation of courses.
(1)Classroom Delivery:
(A)The location for the course must be:
(i)conducive to instruction, such as a classroom,
training room, conference room, or assembly hall that is separate
and apart from work areas;
(ii)adequate for the class size;
(iii)pose no threat to the health or safety of students;
and
(iv)allow the instructor to see and hear each student
and the students to see and hear the instructor, including when offered
through the use of technology.
(B)The provider must:
(i)check the photo identification of each student
at class sign up and when signing in for each subsequent meeting of
the class;
(ii)ensure the student is present for the course for
the hours of time for which credit is awarded;
(iii)provide a 10 minute break per hour at least every
two hours; and
(iv)not have daily course segments that exceed 12
hours.
(C)If the course is a qualifying or non-elective continuing
education course delivered through the use of technology and there
are more than 20 students registered for the course, the provider
will also use:
(i)a monitor at the broadcast origination site to
verify identification of each student, monitor active participation
of each student and facilitate questions for the instructor; and
(ii)a proctor at each remote site with more than 20
students to verify identification of each student, monitor active
participation of each student and proctor any on-site examination.
(D)Makeup Session for Classroom Courses.
(i)A provider may permit a student who attends at
least two-thirds of an originally scheduled qualifying course to complete
a makeup session to satisfy attendance requirements.
(ii)A member of the provider's staff must approve
the makeup procedure to be followed. Acceptable makeup procedures
are:
(I)attendance in corresponding class sessions in a
subsequent offering of the same course; or
(II)the supervised presentation by audio or video
recording of the class sessions actually missed.
(iii)A student shall complete all class makeup sessions
no later than the 90th day after the date of the completion of the
original course.
[(iv)Dropped status may not be changed
by makeup sessions, and any hours accumulated by a student may not
be transferred to any other course, prior to being dropped from a
course.]
(iv)[(v)] A student who attends
less than two-thirds of the originally scheduled qualifying course
is not eligible to complete a makeup session. The student shall automatically
be dropped from the course with no credit [and the provider shall
report the student's status to the Commission].
(2)Distance Education Delivery. The provider must
ensure that:
(A)the student taking all topics of the course and
completing all quizzes and exercises is the student receiving credit
for the course through a student identity verification [validation
] process acceptable to [that meets guidelines
approved by] the Commission;
(B)an approved instructor is available to answer students'
questions or provide assistance as necessary in a timely manner;
(C)a student has completed all instructional modules
and attended any hours of live instruction required for a given course;
and
(D)an approved instructor is responsible for providing
answers and rationale for the grading of the written course work.
(3)A provider is not required to present topics [and
units] in the order outlined for a course on the corresponding
course approval form.
(4)The periods of time prescribed to each unit of
a topic for a qualifying course as outlined on the corresponding course
approval form are recommendations and may be altered to allow instructors
flexibility to meet the particular needs of their students.
(h)Course examinations.
(1)The final examination given at the end of each
course must be given in the manner submitted to and approved
by the Commission [a form and with questions that were
submitted to the Commission with the course approval form].
All final examinations must be closed book [booked].
(2)Final examination questions must be kept confidential
and be significantly different from any quiz questions [quizzes
] and exercises used in the course.
(3)A provider shall not permit a student to view or
take a final examination before the completion of regular course work
and any makeup sessions required by this section.
(4)A provider must rotate all versions of the examination
required by §535.62(b)(7) of this title throughout the approval
period for a course in a manner acceptable to the Commission and examinations
must:
(A)require an unweighted passing score of 70%; and
(B)be proctored by a member of the provider faculty
or staff, or third party proctor acceptable to the Commission, who:
(i)is present at the test site or able to monitor
the student through the use of technology acceptable to the Commission;
and
(ii)has positively identified that the student taking
the examination is the student registered for and who took the course.
(5)The following are examples of acceptable
third party proctors:
(A)employees at official testing or learning/tutoring
centers;
(B)librarians at a school, university, or public library;
(C)college or university administrators, faculty,
or academic advisors;
(D)clergy who are affiliated with a specific temple,
synagogue, mosque, or church; and
(E)educational officers of a military installation
or correctional facility.
(6)A provider may not give credit to a student who
fails a final examination and a subsequent final examination as provided
for in subsection (i) of this section.
(i)(No change.)
(j)Course completion certificate.
(1)Upon successful completion of a qualifying [
core] course, a provider shall issue a course completion certificate
that a student can submit to the Commission. The course completion
certificate shall show:
(A)the provider's name and approval number;
(B)the instructor's name and instructor license number
assigned by the Commission;
(C)the course title;
(D)course numbers;
(E)the number of classroom credit hours;
(F)the course delivery method;
(G)[(F)] the dates the student
began and completed the course; and
(H)[(G)] printed name and signature
of an official of the provider on record with the Commission.
(2)A provider may withhold any official completion
documentation required by this subsection from a student until the
student has fulfilled all financial obligations to the provider.
(3)A provider shall maintain adequate security against
forgery for official completion documentation required by this subsection.
(k)Instructor and course evaluations.
(1)A provider shall provide each student enrolled
in a course with an instructor and course evaluation form and provide
a link to an online version of the form that a student can complete
and submit any time after course completion.
(2)An instructor may not be present when a student
is completing the evaluation form and may not be involved in any manner
with the evaluation process.
(3)When evaluating an instructor or course, a provider
shall use all of the questions from the evaluation form approved by
the Commission, in the same order as listed on that form. A provider
may [also] add additional questions to the end of the Commission
evaluation questions or request the students to also complete the
provider's evaluation form.
(4)A provider shall maintain any comments made by
the provider's management relevant to instructor or course evaluations
with the provider's records.
(5)At the Commission's request, a provider shall produce
instructor and course evaluation forms for inspection by Commission
staff.
(l)Maintenance of records for a provider of qualifying
courses.
(1)A provider shall maintain records of each student
enrolled in a course for a minimum of four years following completion
of the course, including course and instructor evaluations and student
enrollment agreements.
(2)A provider shall maintain financial records sufficient
to reflect at any time the financial condition of the school.
(3)A school's financial statement and balance sheets
must be available for audit by Commission staff, and the Commission
may require presentation of financial statements or other financial
records.
(4)All records may be maintained electronically but
must be in a common format that is legible [legibly]
and easily printed or viewed without additional manipulation or special
software.
(m)Changes in Ownership or Operation of an approved
provider of qualifying courses.
(1)An approved provider shall obtain the approval
of the Commission at least 30 days in advance of any material change
in the operations [operation] of the provider
by submitting the Qualifying Education Provider Supplement Application,
including but not limited to changes in:
[(A)ownership;]
(A)[(B)] Operations or
records management; and
(B)[(C)] the location of main
office and any other locations where courses are offered.
[(2)An approved provider, upon transfer
to the new owner, must meet the financial review standards imposed
by §535.61 of this subchapter.]
(2)[(3)] An approved provider
requesting approval of a change in ownership shall provide all of
the following information or documents to the Commission:
(A)An Education Provider Application
reflecting all required information for each owner and the required
fee;
(B)A Principal Information Form for
each proposed new owner who holds at least 10% interest in the school;
(C)Financial documents to satisfy
standards imposed by §535.61 of this title, including a $20,000
surety bond for the proposed new owner; and
(D)Business documentation reflecting
the change.
[(A)a new bond of $20,000 for the
proposed new owner, a statement from the bonding company indicating
that the former bond will transfer to the proposed new owner, or other
security acceptable to the Commission under §1101.302 of the
Act;]
[(B)an Education Provider Application
reflecting all required information for each proposed new owner;]
[(C)a Principal Information Form
for each proposed new owner who would hold at least a 10% interest
in the school; and]
[(D)pay the fee required by §535.101
or §535.210 of this title.]
The agency certifies that legal counsel
has reviewed the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's
legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on August 17, 2018
TRD-201803573 Kerri Lewis
General Counsel
Texas Real Estate Commission
Earliest possible date of adoption: September 30, 2018
For further information, please call: (512) 936-3092
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