Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB613 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Rodriguez S.B. No. 613
2	2	(Alvarado)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to educational requirements for licensing as a
8	8	speech-language pathologist or audiologist.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 401.304, Occupations
11	11	Code, is amended to read as follows:
12	12	(a) To be eligible for licensing as a speech-language
13	13	pathologist or audiologist, an applicant must:
14	14	(1) if the application is for a license in:
15	15	(A) speech-language pathology, possess at least
16	16	a master's degree with a major in at least one of the areas of
17	17	communicative sciences or disorders from a program accredited by a
18	18	national accrediting organization that is approved by the board and
19	19	recognized by the United States secretary of education under the
20	20	Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1001 et seq.) [the
21	21	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association] in an accredited or
22	22	approved college or university; or
23	23	(B) audiology, possess at least a doctoral degree
24	24	in audiology or a related hearing science from a program accredited
25	25	by a national accrediting organization that is approved by the
26	26	board and recognized by the United States secretary of education
27	27	under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 1001 et
28	28	seq.) in an accredited or approved college or university;
29	29	(2) submit a transcript from a public or private
30	30	institution of higher learning showing successful completion of
31	31	course work in amounts set by the board in:
32	32	(A) normal development and use of speech,
33	33	language, and hearing;
34	34	(B) evaluation, habilitation, and rehabilitation
35	35	of speech, language, and hearing disorders; and
36	36	(C) related fields that augment the work of
37	37	clinical practitioners of speech-language pathology and audiology;
38	38	(3) have successfully completed at least 36 semester
39	39	hours in courses that are acceptable toward a graduate degree by the
40	40	college or university in which the courses are taken, at least 24 of
41	41	which must be in the professional area for which the license is
42	42	requested and at least six of which must be:
43	43	(A) in audiology if the application is for a
44	44	speech-language pathology license; or
45	45	(B) in speech-language pathology if the
46	46	application is for an audiology license;
47	47	(4) have completed the minimum number of hours,
48	48	established by the board, of supervised clinical experience with
49	49	persons who present a variety of communication disorders; and
50	50	(5) have completed the full-time supervised
51	51	professional experience, as defined by board rule, in which
52	52	clinical work has been accomplished in the major professional area
53	53	for which the license is being sought.
54	54	SECTION 2. (a) Section 401.304, Occupations Code, as
55	55	amended by this Act, applies only to a person who applies for a
56	56	speech-language pathologist or audiologist license on or after the
57	57	effective date of this Act. A person who applies for a license
58	58	before that date is governed by the law in effect immediately before
59	59	the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
60	60	effect for that purpose.
61	61	(b) A person who holds a license as an audiologist issued
62	62	before the effective date of this Act may continue to renew that
63	63	license without complying with the change in law made by this Act to
64	64	Subsection (a), Section 401.304, Occupations Code.
65	65	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.