W. Va. Code R. § 29-1-15

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 29-1-15 - Coursework requirement for Master's Equivalency for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology

15.1 Definitions.

15.1.1. "Equivalent" is defined as holding a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.

15.1.2. "Equivalency" is defined as at least 42 post-baccalaureate semester hours acceptable toward a master's degree.

15.2. Outline of the Academic Courses required for the basis of the Master's Degree Equivalency.

15.2.1. At least 30 semester hours shall be in the areas of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, or Speech-Language and Hearing Science.

15.2.2. Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists shall obtain at least 21 of these 42 semester hours from a single college or university.

15.2.3. No academic hours shall be completed more than 10 years prior to the date of application.

15.2.4. No more than six semester hours shall be obtained for clinical practicum.

15.3. In evaluation of credits, one-quarter hour is the equivalent of two-thirds of a semester hour. An applicant shall submit official transcripts to the Board for special evaluation if the transcript does not report credit in terms of semester or quarter hours.

15.4. An applicant shall complete a total of 60 additional semester hours of academic credit from accredited colleges or universities. These hours must demonstrate that the applicant has obtained a well-integrated program or course study dealing with the normal aspects of human communication, development, disorders, and clinical techniques for evaluation and management of such disorders.

15.5. Courses in Basic Communication Processes Area.

15.5.1. The applicant shall complete 15 of these 60 hours in courses that provide information pertaining to normal development and use in speech, language and hearing, hereafter referred to as the basic communication processes area. These 15 hours shall provide the applicant with a wide exposure to diverse kinds of information suggested by the following areas:

15.5.1.a. Anatomic and physiological basis for the normal development and use of speech, language and hearing such as anatomy, neurology, and physiology of speech, language and hearing mechanisms

15.5.1.b. Physical basis and processes of the production and perception of speech, language and hearing, such as:

15.5.1.b.1. acoustics or physics of sound;

15.5.1.b.2. phonology;

15.5.1.b.3. physiologic and acoustic phonetics;

15.5.1.b.4. perceptual processes; and

15.5.1.b.5. psychoacoustics; and

15.5.1.c. Linguistic and psycholinguistic variables related to normal development and use of speech, language and hearing, such as:

15.5.1.c.1. linguistics (historical, descriptive, socialinguistics, urban language);

15.5.1.c.2. psychology of language;

15.5.1.c.3. psycholinguistics;

15.5.1.c.4. language and speech acquisition; and

15.5.1.c.5. verbal learning or verbal behavior.

15.5.2. The applicant shall earn at least two semester hours of credit in each of the three categories, set forth in 15.5.1.a., 15.5.1.b., and 15.5.1.c. of this rule.

15.6. It is emphasized that the three broad categories of required education in this section, and the examples of areas of study within these classifications, are not meant to be analogous to, or imply, specific course titles. Neither are the examples of areas of study within these categories meant to be exhaustive. Some of these 15 semester hours may be obtained in courses that are taught in departments other than those offering speech-language pathology and audiology degrees.

15.6.1. The applicant shall not receive credit for courses designed to improve one's speaking and/or writing ability.

15.7. The applicant shall obtain 30 of these 60 semester hours in courses that provide:

15.7.1. information relative to communication disorders;

15.7.2. information about and training in evaluation and management of speech, language and hearing disorders; and

15.7.3. At least 24 of these 30 semester hours shall be in courses in the major professional area (Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology) for which licensure is requested At least six hours shall be in audiology for licensure in speech-language pathology and at least six hours shall be in speech-language pathology for licensure in audiology, hereafter referred to as the minor professional area.

15.8. Professional Education Hours Required for Speech-Language Pathology.

15.8.1. The 24 semester hours of professional education required for licensure in speech-language pathology should be in the broad, but not necessarily exclusive, categories of study as follows:

15.8.1.a. Understanding of speech and language disorders, such as:

15.8.1.a.1. various types of disorders of communication;

15.8.1.a.2. their manifestations; and

15.8.1.a.3. their classifications and causes;

15.8.1.b. Evaluation skills such as procedures, techniques, and instrumentation used to assess:

15.8.1.b.1. the speech and language status of children and adults; and

15.8.1.b.2. the basis of disorders of speech and language; and

15.8.1.c. Management procedures; such as principles in remedial methods used in habilitation and rehabilitation for children and adults with various disorders of communication.

15.8.2. At least six semester hours shall deal with speech disorders and at least six semester hours shall deal with language disorders.

15.8.3. The remaining six semester hours of the 30 shall be in the minor professional area of audiology. Of these six semester hours, three semester hours shall be in the habilitative rehabilitative procedures with speech and language problems associated with hearing impairment, and three semester hours shall be in study of the pathologies of the auditory system and assessment of auditory disorders. However, when more than the minimum six semester hours is met, study of habilitative or rehabilitative procedures may be counted in the major professional area.

15.9. Professional Education Hours Required for Audiology.

15.9.1. The 24 semester hours of professional education required for licensure in audiology should be in the broad, but not necessarily exclusive, categories of study as follows.

15.9.1.a. auditory disorders, such as:

15.9.1.a.1. pathologies of the auditory system; and

15.9.1.a.2. assessment of auditory disorders and their effective on communication;

15.9.1.b. habilitative or rehabilitative procedures, such as:

15.9.1.b.1. selection and use of appropriate amplification instrumentation for the hearing impaired, both wearable and group;

15.9.1.b.2. evaluation of speech and language problems of the hearing impaired; and

15.9.1.b.3. management procedures for speech and language habilitation and/or rehabilitation of the hearing impaired, that may include manual communication;

15.9.1.c. conservation of hearing, such as:

15.9.1.c.1. environmental noise control; and

15.9.1.c.2. identification audiometry (school, military, industry); and

15.9.1.d. Instrumentation, such as:

15.9.1.d.1. electronics;

15.9.1.d.2. calibration technique; and

15.9.1.d.3. characteristics of amplifying systems.

15.9.2. At least six semester hours shall deal with auditory pathology and at least six semester hours shall deal with habilitation and rehabilitation.

15.9.3. The remaining six semester hours of the 30 shall be in the minor professional area of speech-language pathology. Of these six semester hours, three semester hours shall be in speech pathology, and three semester hours shall be in language pathology. It is suggested that where only this minimum requirement of six semester hours is met, that the study be in the areas of evaluation procedures and management of speech and language problems that are not associated with hearing impairment.

15.9.4. An individual who holds a clinical doctorate in audiology (Au.D.) and has completed 75 hours of post-baccalaureate coursework from a regionally accredited audiology program fulfills the requirement for a supervised postgraduate professional employment experience.

15.10. Related Areas of Study.

15.10.1. In addition to the 15 semester hours of course study in basic communication processes, the 24 semester hours in the major professional area, and the six semester hours in the minor professional area, credit for study of information pertaining to related fields that augment the work of the clinical practitioner of speech-Language Pathology and/or Audiology may also apply toward the total 60 semester hours, hereafter referred to as related areas. Such study should pertain to the understanding of human behavior, both normal and abnormal, as well as services available from related professions, and in general should augment the background for a professional career. Examples of such areas of study are:

15.10.1.a. theories of learning and behavior;

15.10.1.b. services available from related professions that also deal with persons who have disorders of communication; and

15.10.1.c. information from these professions about the sensory, physical, emotional, social, and/or intellectual status of a child or an adult.

15.10.2. Academic credit obtained from practice teaching or practicum work in other professions may not be counted toward the minimum requirements.

15.10.3. In order that the future applicant for one of the professional licenses shall be capable of critically reviewing scientific matters dealing with clinical issues relative to speech-language pathology and audiology, credit for study in the area of statistics, beyond an introductory course, allowed to a maximum of three semester hours. Academic study of the administrative organization of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology programs may also be applied to a maximum of three semester hours.

15.10.4. Certain types of course work are acceptable among more than one of the areas of study specified in subsection 14.10 of this rule, depending on the emphasis. For example, courses that provide an overview of research, e.g., introduction to graduate study or introduction to research in communication sciences, disorders or management, and/or a more general presentation of research procedures and techniques that permit the clinician to read and evaluate literature critically are acceptable for a maximum of three semester hours. These courses may be credited to the basic communication process area, or one of the professional areas or related area, if substantive content of the courses covers material in those areas.

15.10.4.a. Academic credit for a thesis or dissertation is be acceptable for a maximum of three semester hours in the appropriate area.

15.10.4.b. The applicant shall submit an abstract of the study with the application if credit is requested.

15.10.4.c. In order to be acceptable, the thesis or dissertation must have been an experiment of descriptive investigation in the areas of speech, language and hearing science, Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology. Credit is not allowed if the project was a survey of opinions, a study of professional issues, an annotated bibliography, biography, or a study of curricular design.

15.10.5. As set forth in subsection 15.10 of this rule, the academic credit hours obtained from one course or one enrollment may, although should not be in some instances, divided among the basic communication processes area and one of the professional areas, and/or the related area. In such cases, a description of the content of that course should accompany the application. This description should be extensive enough to provide the Board with information necessary to evaluate the validity of the request to apply the content to more than one of the areas. Study in the area of understanding, evaluation, and management of speech and language disorders associated with hearing impairment may apply to the 24 semester hours in the major professional area associated with either license (Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology).

15.10.5.a. The applicant is not allowed more than six semester hours in that area of study toward the license in speech-language pathology.

15.10.6. Thirty of the total 60 semester hours that are required for licensure shall be in courses that are acceptable toward a graduate degree by the college or university in which they are taken.

15.10.6.a. This requirement can be met by courses completed as an undergraduate providing the college or university in which they are taken specifies that these courses would be acceptable toward a graduate degree if they were taken for graduate degree if they were taken for graduate credit.

15.10.6.b. Twenty-one of these 30 semester hours shall be within the 24 semester hours required in the professional area (speech-language pathology or Audiology) for which licensure is requested or within the six semester hours required in the other area as specified in subdivision 15.7.3. of this rule.

15.11. A student who is enrolled in a terminal degree program in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology who has not yet completed a terminal degree is not eligible for licensure.

W. Va. Code R. § 29-1-15