Practice By Instructor

(1) Continuing Education (a) An instructor shall complete at least sixteen (16) hours of actual instruction in order to obtain credit. An instructor shall deduct any time in which the instructor failed to attend the program from the amount of credit sought for attendance. (b) In order for a licensed instructor to obtain credit for taking a continuing education course in a state other than the State of Tennessee, the licensed instructor shall obtain the Board’s approval before taking the course by submitting a written request for LICENSING CHAPTER 0440-01 approval to the Board within sixty (60) days before the licensed instructor intends to take the course. Such written request must include a copy of the course’s curriculum. (c) A licensed instructor shall submit a request for an extension of time to complete the instructor-training requirements in writing along with proof showing a medical hardship, a death in the immediate family, or other emergency pursuant to T.C.A. § 62-4-114 prior to the expiration date of the instructor’s license. (2) An instructor may only practice or teach the discipline in which he or she is licensed; therefore, an instructor may only obtain credit for an instructor-training program in the discipline in which he or she is licensed. (3) An instructor who is not granted an extension prior to the expiration date of the certificate of registration and who fails to obtain the required number of continuing education hours shall be denied renewal. The Executive Director shall have discretion to allow the instructor up to one hundred eighty (180) additional days to submit continuing education hours and renew the certificate of registration if a written request is made by the instructor within sixty (60) days following the expiration date of the certificate of registration and the instructor shows a causal connection between a medical illness and failure to obtain the continuing education hours or shows a death in the immediate family. (4) If the instructor fails to make a written request within sixty (60) days of the expiration date of the certificate of registration, but makes the request within three hundred sixty-five (365) days following the expiration date of the certificate of registration or does not meet the criteria for Executive Director approval in paragraph (3), the Board shall have the discretion to allow the instructor up to one hundred eighty (180) additional days to submit continuing education hours if the instructor can demonstrate a medical illness, a death in the immediate family or other emergency pursuant to T.C.A. § 62-4-114. (5) An instructor who fails to obtain the required number of continuing education hours prior to the expiration date appearing on the certificate of registration and is either not eligible for an extension pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) or not granted an extension shall not engage in any activity which requires an instructor’s certificate of registration and shall be required to retake the instructor’s examination, complete the continuing education hours, and pay any applicable fees in order for the certificate of registration to be reinstated.