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(a)The following words and terms, when used in these sections, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. (1)Act--The Real Estate License Act, Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6573a. (2)Applicant--A person seeking approval to be a provider or instructor of a course for which mandatory continuing education credit is given. (3)Hour--Fifty minutes of actual session time. (4)Commission--The Texas Real Estate Commission. (5)Day--A calendar day. (6)Instructor--A person approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission to teach mandatory continuing education courses. (7)MCE--Mandatory Continuing Education. (8)Person--An individual, partnership, or a corporation, foreign or domestic. (9)Proctor--A person who monitors a final examination for a course offered by a provider under the guidelines contained in this section. A proctor may be a course instructor, the provider, an employee of a college or university testing center, a librarian, or other person approved by the commission. (10)Provider--A person approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission to offer courses for which mandatory continuing education credit is given. (11)Student--An individual taking an MCE course for credit. (b)A person who wishes to offer courses accepted by the commission for MCE credit shall apply to the commission for approval to be an MCE provider and for approval of each MCE course using application forms prepared by the commission. The commission may refuse to accept any application which is not complete or which is not accompanied by the appropriate filing fee. Each prospective provider shall submit a provider application and at least one principal information form. Only instructors approved by the commission for that subject area may teach that course. (c)The commission adopts by reference the following forms published and available from the commission, P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas, 78711-2188: (1)MCE Form 1A-1, MCE Provider Application; (2)MCE Form 1B-1, MCE Provider Application Supplement; (3)MCE Form 2-2, MCE Principal Information Form; (4)MCE Form 3A-1, MCE Course Application; (5)MCE Form 3B-2, MCE Course Application Supplement; (6)MCE Form 3C-1, MCE Single Course Offering Application; (7)MCE Form 8-3, MCE Course Completion Roster; (8)MCE Form 9-5, Alternative Instructional Methods Reporting Form; (9)MCE Form 10-0, MCE Out of State Course Credit Request; (10)MCE Form 11-3, MCE Instructor Credit Request; (11)MCE Form 12-1, Individual MCE Credit Request for State Bar Course; (12)MCE Form 12A-0, Provider MCE Credit Request for State Bar Course; and (13)MCE Form 13-0 , Guidelines for Creating a Course Instructor's Manual for Mandatory Continuing Education Courses. (d)To be approved as an MCE provider, a person must satisfy the commission as to the person's ability to administer with honesty, trustworthiness and integrity a course of continuing education in MCE subjects approved by the commission. If the person proposes to employ independent contractors to conduct or to administer the courses, any independent contractor named in the application must meet this standard as if the independent contractor were the applicant; however, the applicant is responsible for responding to communications from the commission relating to the application. (e)To be approved to offer a course for MCE credit, the provider must satisfy the commission 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. (1)A provider applicant must submit an MCE Form 3A-1, MCE Course Application, the first time approval is sought to offer an MCE course. Prior to advertising or offering a course offered by another provider the subsequent provider shall complete MCE Form 3B-2, file the form with the commission and receive written acknowledgment from the commission that all necessary documentation has been filed. Except for single course offerings, providers shall submit an instructor's manual for each proposed course. The commission may require a copy of the previously approved instructor's manual to be submitted for each previously approved course the provider intends to offer. Subsequent providers shall offer the course as originally approved or as revised with the approval of the commission and shall use all materials required in the original or revised course. (2)The commission may approve a course for a single offering without regard to the requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection. The provider must submit MCE Form, 3C-1, MCE Single Course Offering Application and receive written authorization from the commission to offer the course prior to offering the course. A single course offering approved by the commission may be offered by the provider no more than four times during a period of one year after the course is approved or until the provider's authority to act as a provider expires or is withdrawn for cause, whichever occurs first. At least seven days prior to offering a course more than once, the provider must notify the commission of the date, time, location, and fee to be charged for the subsequent offerings and pay a fee of $25 for each subsequent offering. (f)To be approved as an instructor of any MCE course, a person must satisfy the commission as to the person's competency in the subject matter to be taught and ability to teach effectively. Except as provided in subsection (s) of this section and for instructors of single course offerings, if the person is not currently approved by the commission to teach the subject areas of the course, the person must submit Form ED 4-0, Instructor Application, and meet the requirements of §535.64(I) of this title (relating to Accreditation of Schools and Approval of Courses and Instructors). A person who has received a credential as a certified real estate instructor (CREI), distinguished real estate instructor (DREI), an instructor of the Realtor Institute (GRI), or an instructor who has received a comparable credential from another organization as determined by the commission will be deemed to have met the requirements of §535.64(I) as regards teaching experience and education. The commission may also approve an instructor for a single offering of a course. The provider must submit an MCE Form 3C-1, MCE Single Course Offering Application, and provide a resume to show that the proposed instructor is qualified to teach the subject matter. (g)An applicant may be requested to provide additional information, and the commission may terminate an application without further notice if the applicant fails to provide the additional information within 60 days of the mailing of a request by the commission. (h)Fees shall be established by the commission in accordance with the provisions of the Act, §7A, at such times as the commission deems appropriate. Fees are not refundable and must be submitted in the form of a check or money order, or, in the case of state agencies, colleges or universities, in a form of payment acceptable to the commission. (i)The commission may authorize the head of the education division of the commission, or a designate, to determine whether applications for MCE providers, courses or instructors should be approved. The commission may disapprove an application for approval as a provider or instructor for the same reasons as the commission may disapprove an application for a real estate license. If an application is disapproved, written notice detailing the basis of the decision shall be provided to the applicant. (j)An applicant may appeal a disapproval by filing with the commission a written request for a hearing within 10 days after the receipt of the notice of disapproval. Following the hearing, the commission may sustain or withdraw the disapproval or establish conditions for the approval of a provider, course or instructor. Proceedings involving applications shall be conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act, Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6252-13a. Venue for any hearing conducted under this section shall be in Travis County. (k)A course offered by a provider to satisfy all or part of the six hours of legal topics required by the Act, §7A, must include one or more of the legal topics listed in the Act or approved by the commission. The commission shall periodically publish lists of additional legal topics approved for MCE credit. (l)A course must be devoted to one or more of the subjects specified under the course titles in the Act, §7(a)(2)-(4) and §7(a)(7)-(10), to real estate professionalism and ethics or to other subjects approved by the commission for MCE credit. MCE courses must be presentations of relevant issues and changes within the subject areas as they apply to the practice of real estate in the current market or topics which increase or support the licensee's development of skill and competence. Courses approved by the commission for core real estate course credit provided in the Act, §7(d)-(e), may be accepted for satisfying MCE requirements provided the student files a course completion certificate with the commission. MCE courses may be accepted by the commission as real estate related courses for satisfying the education requirements of §7(d)-(e) of the Act. Courses related to technology, such as the use of personal computers, must be primarily devoted to the application of technology to the practice of the licensee. (m)Providers must furnish students with copies, for students' permanent use, of any printed material which is the basis for a significant portion of the course. Ample space must be provided on handouts for note taking or completion of any written exercises. If a provider charges fees for supplies, materials, or books needed in course work, the fees must be itemized in a written statement provided to each student by the provider before the student registers for the course. (n)If a provider does not maintain a fixed office in this state for the duration of the provider's approval to offer courses, the provider shall designate a resident of this state as attorney-in-fact to accept service of process and act as custodian of any records in Texas which the provider is required to maintain by these sections. A power-of-attorney designating the resident must be filed with the commission in a form acceptable to the commission. (o)Unless withdrawn earlier for cause as provided by these sections, a provider's authority to offer courses for which MCE credit is given expires two years from the date the provider is approved by the commission. Authority to offer any MCE courses ends with the expiration of the provider's approval, and the provider must pay current fees and reapply for approval as a provider in order to offer MCE courses again. Except for a course approved as a single course offering, a course approved by the commission may be offered by the provider for a period of two years after the course is approved or until the provider's authority to act as a provider finally expires or is withdrawn for cause, whichever first occurs. If a course was originally approved for another provider, the approval period is measured from the date of approval for the original provider. A provider may apply for approval to be a provider for another two years no sooner than six months prior to the expiration of existing provider approval. An instructor's approval expires every five years as provided by §535.64 of this title (relating to Accreditation of Schools and Approval of Courses and Instructors. (p)Correspondence courses. The commission may approve a provider to offer an MCE 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, §7A, and these sections; (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. (q)An applicant must submit an MCE Form 3A-1, MCE Course Application, the first time approval is sought to offer a MCE correspondence course. Once a course has been approved, no further approval is required for another approved provider to offer the same course. Prior to advertising or offering the course, however, the subsequent provider must complete MCE Form 3B-2, file the form together with the appropriate fee with the commission and receive written acknowledgment from the commission that all necessary documentation has been filed. Each correspondence course must contain the following: (1)course description; (2)learning objectives; (3)evaluation techniques; (4)lessons; (5)learning activities; (6)final examination; (7)bibliography or source of updated subject matter; and (8)instructor grading guidelines, including acceptable answers for lessons, assessments and examinations. (r)The commission may accept courses offered by alternative delivery methods subject to the following conditions. (1)Every course accepted under this subsection shall teach to mastery. Teaching to mastery means that the course must, at a minimum: (A)divide the material into major units as approved by the commission; (B)divide each of the major units of content into modules of instruction for delivery on a computer or other approved interactive audio or audiovisual programs; (C)specify the learning objectives for each module of instruction. The learning objectives must be comprehensive enough to ensure that if all the objectives are met, the entire content of the course will be mastered; (D)specify an objective, quantitative criterion for mastery used for each learning objective; (E)implement a structured learning method by which each student is able to attain each learning objective; (F)provide a means of diagnostic assessment of each student's performance on an ongoing basis during each module of instruction, measuring what each student has learned and not learned at regular intervals throughout each module of instruction, and specifically assessing the mastery of each concept covered in the content material; (G)provide a means of tailoring the instruction to the needs of each student as identified in Subparagraph (E) of this subsection. The process of tailoring the instruction shall ensure that each student receives adequate remediation for specific deficiencies identified by the diagnostic assessment; (H)continue the appropriate remediation on an individualized basis until the student demonstrates achievement of each mastery criterion; and (I)require that the student demonstrate mastery of all material covered by the learning objectives for the module before the module is completed. (2)The commission must approve the method by which each of the above elements of mastery in subparagraphs (A)-(I) of this subsection is accomplished. (3)The rationale for the education processes implemented in the course must be based on sound instructional strategies which have been systematically designed and proven effective through educational research and development. The basis and rationale for any proposed instructional approach must be specified in the application for approval. The following types of programs will not be approved: (A)those which consist primarily of text material; (B)those which primarily consist of questions similar to those on the state licensing examination; or (C)those which consist primarily of combinations of the elements in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph. (4)An approved instructor or the provider's coordinator/director shall grade the written course work. (5)Every provider offering an approved course under this subsection shall: (A)ensure that a qualified person is available to answer students' questions or provide assistance as necessary; (B)satisfy the commission 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 required to demonstrate mastery of the material; (ii)has attended any hours of live instruction and/or testing required for a given course; and (iii)has passed either: (I)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 (II)an examination by use of a computer under conditions that satisfy the commission that the examinee is the same person who seeks MCE credit. (s)A provider may use as a guest speaker a person who has not been approved as an instructor, provided that no more than a total of three hours of instruction is taught by the person during an approved MCE course. If the guest speaker will be providing more than one hour of instruction, the provider must submit to the commission before the course presentation a resume or other biographical information showing that the guest speaker is qualified to teach the subject matter. The commission-approved instructor must remain in the classroom during the guest speaker's presentation, and only one guest speaker per course may be utilized.
This agency hereby
certifies that the adoption has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on April 28, 2003
TRD-200302677 Loretta DeHay
General Counsel
Texas Real Estate Commission
Effective date: May 18, 2003
Proposal publication date: March 14, 2003
For further information, please call: (512) 465-3900
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