| (m) Term of instructor approval. If the commission determines that the applicant meets the standards for instructor approval, the commission shall approve the application and provide a written notice of the approval to the applicant. Unless surrendered or revoked for cause, the approval will be valid for a period of five years. (n) Subsequent application for instructor approval. No more than six months prior to the expiration of the current approval, an instructor may apply for approval for another five year period. (o) Required legal update and ethics courses. The commission shall approve bi-annually a legal update course and a legal ethics course which shall be conducted through providers by instructors certified by the commission under this subchapter. The subject matter and course materials for the courses shall be created for and approved by the commission. The courses expire on December 31 of each odd-numbered year and shall be replaced with new courses approved by the commission. A provider may not offer a new course until an instructor of the course obtains recertification by attending a new instructor training program. Providers must acquire the commission-developed course materials and utilize such materials to conduct the required legal courses. The required legal courses must be conducted as prescribed by the rules in this subchapter and the course materials developed for the commission. (p) Modification of the required legal courses. Providers and instructors may modify a required legal course only to provide additional information on the same or similar topics covered in the course or to create distance learning courses that are substantially similar to the live courses developed for the commission. To the extent that a required legal course is modified or integrated into a longer course for which additional elective credit is requested, the commission shall grant elective and legal credit for the combined course. (q) Instructor certification. Only instructors certified by the commission may teach the required legal courses or develop distance learning courses for the presentation of required legal courses. An instructor must obtain prior commission approval under subsection (m) of this section prior to attending an instructor training program. The commission shall issue a written certification to an instructor to teach the applicable required legal course(s) upon the instructor's satisfactory completion of a training program to teach the required legal course(s) that is acceptable to the commission. An instructor may obtain certification to teach either one or both required legal courses. A certified legal course instructor may teach the required legal courses for any approved provider after the instructor has attended an instructor training program. A certified legal course instructor may not independently conduct a required legal course unless the instructor has also obtained approval as a provider. An instructor must obtain written certification from the commission prior to teaching the required legal courses and prior to representing to any provider or other party that he or she is certified or may be certified as a legal course instructor. An instructor's certification to teach a required legal course expires on December 31 of every odd-numbered year. An instructor may obtain recertification by attending a new instructor training program. (r) Elective credit courses. To be approved to offer a course for MCE elective credit, the provider must demonstrate that the course subject matter is appropriate for a continuing education course for real estate licensees and that the information provided in the course will be current and accurate by submitting a brief statement that describes the objective of the course and explains how the subject matter is related to activities for which a real estate license is required, including but not limited to relevant issues in the real estate market or topics which increase or support the licensee's development of skill and competence. (s) Elective course application. A provider applicant must submit an MCE Form 3A-3, MCE Course Application and receive written acknowledgment from the commission prior to offering an MCE elective course. Prior to advertising or offering a course offered by another provider, the subsequent provider must submit an MCE Form 3B-3, Course Application Supplement and receive written acknowledgment from the commission. (t) Legal update and legal ethics course application. A provider must submit an MCE form 3B-3, Course Application Supplement and receive written acknowledgment from the commission prior to offering a required legal update or required legal ethics course. (u) Core courses for elective credit. Courses approved by the commission for core real estate course credit provided in the Act, §1101.356 and §1101.358, may be accepted for satisfying MCE elective credit course requirements provided the student files a course completion certificate with the commission. (v) Acceptable combined courses. An elective credit course offered by a provider to satisfy all or part of the nine hours of other than legal topics required by the Act, §1101.455, may be offered with the required legal update course or required legal ethics course. (w) Required legal courses for real estate related courses. MCE legal update and legal ethics courses may be accepted by the commission as real estate related courses for satisfying the education requirements of §1101.356 and §1101.358, of the Act. (x) Correspondence courses for elective credit. An MCE provider may register an MCE elective course by correspondence with the commission if the course is subject to the following conditions: (1) the course must be offered by a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association, such as the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or its equivalent, which offers correspondence courses, whether credit or noncredit, in other disciplines; (2) the content of the course must satisfy the requirements of the Act, §1101.455, and these sections; and (3) the course does not include a request for required legal course credit. (y) Alternative delivery method courses for elective credit. An MCE provider may register an MCE elective course by alternative delivery method with the commission if the course is subject to the following conditions: (1) The content of the course must satisfy the requirements of the Act, §1101.455, and these sections; (2) the course does not include a request for required legal course credit; and (3) every provider offering a registered course under this subsection shall: (A) ensure that a qualified person is available to answer students' questions or provide assistance as necessary; (B) provide that procedures are in place to ensure that the student who completes the work is the student who is enrolled in the course; and (C) certify students as successfully completing the course only if the student: (i) has completed all instructional modules; and (ii) has attended any hours of live instruction and/or testing required for a given course. (z) Correspondence courses for required legal credit. The commission may approve a provider to offer an MCE required legal ethics course by correspondence subject to the following conditions: (1) the course must be offered by a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association, such as the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or its equivalent, which offers correspondence courses, whether credit or noncredit, in other disciplines; (2) the content of the course must satisfy the requirements of the Act, §1101.455 and these sections, and must be substantially similar to the legal courses disseminated and updated by the Commission; (3) students receiving MCE credit for the course must pass either: (A) a proctored final examination administered under controlled conditions to positively identified students, at a location and by an official approved by the commission and graded by the instructor or, if the examination is being graded mechanically or by use of a computer, by the provider, using answer keys approved by the instructor or provider; or (B) an examination by use of a computer under conditions that satisfy the commission that the examinee is the same person who seeks MCE credit; and (4) written course work required of students must be graded by an approved instructor or the provider's coordinator or director, who is available to answer students' questions or provide assistance as necessary, using answer keys approved by the instructor or provider. (aa) Each required legal course offered by correspondence must contain the following: (1) course description; (2) learning objectives; (3) evaluation techniques; (4) lessons; (5) learning activities; (6) final examination; Cont'd... |
