Section 12 AAC 62.310 - Continuing education requirements(a) A licensee applying for renewal of a professional counselor license must complete the number of continuing education contact hours set out in this section. For a biennial licensing period ending on or before October 31, 2023, at least three contact hours must be in professional ethics. For a biennial licensing period beginning on or after November 1, 2023, at least three contact hours must be in professional ethics, at least three contact hours must be in suicidality, and at least three contact hours must be in cultural competency. The number of contact hours for a biennial licensing period is as follows: (1) first biennial renewal, if the licensee held the license for less than 12 months during the concluding biennial licensing period, 20 contact hours;(2) first biennial renewal, if the licensee held the license for at least 12 months but less than 18 months during the concluding biennial licensing period, 30 contact hours;(3) first biennial renewal, if the licensee held the license for 18 months or more during the concluding biennial licensing period, 40 contact hours;(4) second or subsequent biennial renewal, 40 contact hours.(b) Except as provided in (c) of this section, the board will consider one continuing education contact hour as a minimum of 50 minutes of classroom instruction between instructor and participant, including instruction in real-time audio and audio-visual courses. The board will accept academic credit converted to contact hours as follows: (1) one semester academic credit equals 15 contact hours;(2) one quarter academic credit equals 10 contact hours.(c) For a course, seminar, or workshop offered or approved by an organization listed in 12 AAC 62.320(b) (2), if the organization has designated the number of continuing education units to be awarded for that course, seminar, or workshop, the board will accept contact hours equal to the designated number of continuing education units.(d) A minimum of 20 hours of the total number of continuing education contact hour required for renewal of a license under this section must be earned through attendance and completion of synchronous course, seminar, and workshops.(e) Not more than one-half of the total number of continuing education contact hours required for renewal of a license under this section may be earned by completion of a correspondence, videotape, audiocassette, or other individual study program.(f) Only hours of actual attendance during instruction will be accepted as continuing education contact hours earned from an academic course audited by the licensee. The total number of contact hours earned may not exceed the number of academic credit hours offered for that course.(h) Not more than 12 contact hours in a 24-hour period may apply to the total number of continuing education contact hours required for renewal of a license under this section.Eff. 10/30/99, Register 152; am 12/29/2006, Register 180; am 9/20/2015, Register 215, October 2015; am 2/20/2022, Register 241, April 2022; am 7/15/2023, Register 247, October 2023Authority:AS 08.29.020
AS 08.29.140