Align Landscape Architect Registration Examination admission requirements with national standards and clarify professional study and experience requirements for landscape architecture candidates.
Text of proposed rule:
1. Section 79-1.1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective June 13, 2012, as follows:
79-1.1 Professional study [of] and experience requirements for landscape architecture.
(a) Definition. Unless otherwise provided, acceptable accrediting agency means an accrediting agency which is recognized by the United States Commissioner of Education as a reliable authority for the purpose of accreditation at the postsecondary level, and which applies its criteria for granting accreditation in a fair, consistent and nondiscriminatory manner.
(b) Licensure requirement. To meet the professional education [requirement] and experience requirements for [admission to the examination] licensure as a landscape architect in this State, the applicant shall submit evidence of either:
(1)(i) graduation from a five-year professional program in landscape architecture registered by the department, accredited by an acceptable accrediting [organization acceptable to the department] agency, or determined by the department to be the equivalent of a registered or accredited program; and
(ii) receipt of the degree of bachelor of landscape architecture or higher [master of landscape architecture], or the equivalent as determined by the department, from a school offering a program which meets the requirements of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph; and
(iii) completion of a minimum of three years of landscape architectural work experience of a scope and nature satisfactory to the State Board for Landscape Architecture; or
(2)(i) graduation from a four-year professional program in landscape architecture registered by the department, accredited by an acceptable accrediting agency, or determined by the department to be the equivalent of a registered or accredited program; and
(ii) receipt of the degree of bachelor of landscape architecture, or the equivalent as determined by the department, from a school offering a program which meets the requirements of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph; and
(iii) completion of a minimum of four years of landscape architectural work experience of a scope and nature satisfactory to the State Board for Landscape Architecture; or
(3) completion of experience in landscape architectural work acceptable to the State Board for Landscape Architecture, or a combination of education and experience totaling 12 years which is determined by the department to be the equivalent of the education and experience described in paragraph (1) or (2) of this subdivision.
[(b) A graduate from a program in landscape architecture registered by the department, accredited by an accrediting organization acceptable to the department, or determined by the department to be the equivalent of a registered or accredited program, or a candidate with eight years of experience satisfactory to the State Board for Landscape Architecture, may be admitted to the part of the licensing examination related to fundamental landscape architectural theory prior to completion of the experience requirements provided in subdivision (a) of this section.
(c) The department may conditionally admit to the licensing examination any person who will complete the experience requirement within 90 days after the examination.]
(c) The department may accept a second professional degree in landscape architecture in lieu of not more than one year of work experience.
2. Section 79-1.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective June 13, 2012, as follows:
79-1.2 Licensing examinations.
(a) Content. The examination may include, but need not be limited to, landscape architectural history, theory, construction, professional administration, landscape architectural design and plant materials and planting design. The department may accept satisfactory scores on all or part of the written examination produced by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards.
(b) Passing score. All parts of the examination shall be scored numerically or on a pass/fail basis. For numerically scored examinations, the [The] passing score on each part of the examination shall be 75.0 as determined by the State Board for Landscape Architecture.
(c) Retention of credit. The grade retention provisions of section 59.5(f) of this Title shall not be applicable to the examination.
(d) [Rescorings and reviews. Multiple choice or other objective parts of the examination will be rescored upon written request of the candidates. Candidates who have failed the graphic parts of the examination may review those parts in accordance with the provisions of section 59.5(g) of this Title. Graphic parts of the examination with scores of 65 or above will be regraded upon written request including detailed justification of such appeal.] Admission to examination. (1) To meet the professional education and experience requirements for admission to the licensing examination, an applicant shall either:
(i) have met the professional study requirements of section 79-1.1(b)(1)(i) and (ii) or 79-1.1(b)(2)(i) and (ii) of this Part; or
(ii) have met the eligibility requirements of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards; or
(iii) provide evidence of completion of experience in landscape architectural work acceptable to the State Board for Landscape Architecture or a combination of education and experience totaling 8 years which is determined by the department to be the equivalent of the education and experience credit described in section 79-1.1(b)(1) or 79-1.1(b)(2) of this Part.
(2) The department may conditionally admit to the licensing examination any person who will complete the experience requirement within 90 days after the examination.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Mary Gammon, State Education Department, Office of Counsel, State Education Building Room 148, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 473-2183, email: legal@mail.nysed.gov
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Office of the Professions, Office of the Deputy Commissioner, State Education Department, State Education Building 2M, 89 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-1941, email: opdepcom@mail.nysed.gov
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement
1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Section 207 of the Education Law grants general rule-making authority to the Board of Regents to carry into effect the laws and policies of the State relating to education.
Section 6504 of the Education Law authorizes the Board of Regents to supervise and the State Education Department to administer admission to and regulate the practice of the professions.
Subdivision (1) of section 6506 of the Education Law authorizes the Board of Regents to supervise the admission to the practice of the professions and to promulgate rules to carry out such supervision.
Paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section 6507 of the Education Law authorizes the Commissioner of Education to promulgate regulations in administering the admission to and the practice of the professions.
Paragraph (2) of subdivision 1. of section 7324 of the Education Law requires an applicant for licensure in landscape architecture to have education in accordance with the Commissioner's regulations.
Paragraph (3) of subdivision 1. of section 7324 of the Education Law requires an applicant for licensure in landscape architecture to have experience satisfactory to the board in appropriate landscape architectural work.
Paragraph (4) of subdivision 1. of section 7324 of the Education Law requires an applicant for licensure in landscape architecture to pass a licensing examination satisfactory to the board and in accordance with Commissioner's regulations.
Subdivision (2) of section 7324 of the Education Law authorizes the Department to accept 12 years of practical experience in landscape architecture of a grade and character satisfactory to the board in lieu of the usual education and experience requirements, provided that each complete year of study satisfactory to the department may at the discretion of the board be accepted in lieu of two years of experience but not to exceed eight years toward the required total of 12 years.
2. LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:
The proposed amendment carries out the intent of the aforementioned statutes by establishing education and experience requirements for admission to the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) and for licensure.
3. NEEDS AND BENEFITS:
The purpose of the proposed amendments to sections 79-1.1 and 79-1.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is to align the New York State requirements for admission to the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) with national standards beginning with the September 2012 administration of the LARE and to clarify the professional study and experience requirements for landscape architecture candidates. The modification of the existing regulation regarding the admission to the LARE will be consistent with policy of the owners of the national licensing examination, the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB). The professional study and experience requirements for licensure candidates will be clarified to incorporate long-held policies used by the Department and State Board for Landscape Architecture during education/experience evaluations.
The proposed amendment to section 79-1.1 of the Regulations of the Commissioner clarifies the education and experience requirements in order to be a landscape architect, while recognizing the varying statutory pathways to licensure. The licensure pathways reflected in the proposed amendment include those affecting candidates with and without a professional degree. Specifically, the amendment offers three routes to licensure. The first route requires a five-year professional degree from an accredited landscape architecture program and three years of acceptable experience satisfactory to the State Board for Landscape Architecture. The second route requires a four-year professional degree from an accredited landscape architecture program and four years of acceptable experience satisfactory to the State Board. The third and final route permits those without the professional degree to attain licensure by compiling up to 12 years of a combination of education and experience acceptable to the Department and State Board for Landscape Architecture.
The proposed amendment to section 79-1.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner aligns New York's requirements with the national requirements for entry to the licensing examination. Beginning with the September 2012 administration of the LARE, CLARB will move to a fully computerized model for the delivery of exam content to improve relevance and reliability. In order to clarify and streamline the examination process for New York candidates, those candidates who meet CLARB exam eligibility requirements will directly apply to CLARB to take the licensing examination instead of applying to the Department. The proposed amendment also removes the ability of candidates to review their graphic solutions and have their exams rescored by CLARB since CLARB will no longer offer candidate those opportunities. Finally, the proposed amendment will allow those atypical candidates who do not meet CLARB's exam eligibility standards to apply for exam admission to the Department instead of CLARB.
4. COSTS:
(a) Costs to State government: The amendment will not impose any additional costs on State government. The State Education Department will continue to review atypical candidates who do not meet CLARB's exam eligibility requirements. Existing staff and resources of the State Education Department will continue to be used for these tasks.
(b) Costs to local government: None.
(c) Costs to private regulated parties: The amendment will not impose any additional costs to private regulated parties.
(d) Cost to the regulatory agency: As stated above in Costs to State Government, the proposed amendment does not impose additional costs on the State Education Department.
5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:
The proposed amendment establishes requirements relating to admission to the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) for candidates in New York. The amendment does not impose any program, service, duty or responsibility upon local governments.
6. PAPERWORK:
The existing regulation contains no direct recordkeeping or other paperwork requirements.
7. DUPLICATION:
There are no other State or Federal requirements on the subject matter of this amendment. Therefore, the amendment does not duplicate other existing State or Federal requirements.
8. ALTERNATIVES:
There are no viable alternatives to the proposed amendment, and none were considered.
9. FEDERAL STANDARDS:
There are no Federal standards concerning the subject matter of this amendment.
10. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:
The proposed amendment must be complied with on its effective date. No additional period of time is necessary to enable regulated parties to comply.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The proposed amendment relates to requirements for admission to the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) and clarifies the professional study and experience requirements for landscape architecture candidates. The amendment does not regulate small businesses or local governments. It does not impose any reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements on small business or local governments, or have any adverse economic effect on them.
Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it does not affect small businesses or local governments, no affirmative steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis for small businesses and local governments is not required and one has not been prepared.
Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
1. TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RURAL AREAS:
The proposed amendment will apply to the 44 rural counties with less than 200,000 inhabitants and the 71 towns in urban counties with a population density of 150 per square mile or less. Each year, about 52 individuals are licensed by the State Education Department as landscape architects in New York. The Department estimates that about 13 will come from a rural county of New York State.
2. REPORTING, RECORDKEEPING AND OTHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS; AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
The proposed amendment relates to requirements that individuals must meet for admission into the Landscape Architect Registration Examination and clarifies the professional study and experience requirements for landscape architecture candidates. The proposed amendment does not impose any direct recordkeeping or other paperwork requirements, and does not impose a need for professional services.
3. COSTS:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional costs on applicants seeking licensure as a landscape architect in New York State.
4. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
The proposed amendment amends sections 79-1.1 and 79-1.2 to align the New York State requirements for admission to the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) with national standards beginning with the September 2012 administration of the LARE and to clarify the professional study and experience requirements for landscape architecture candidates. The licensure requirements are in place to ensure minimal competency in newly licensed professionals and thereby safeguard the public. The statutory requirements for licensure in New York State do not make exceptions for individuals who live or work in rural areas. The Department has determined that the proposed amendment shall apply to all applicants seeking licensure as a landscape architect in New York State, regardless of their geographic location, to help ensure minimum competency for licensure across the State. Because of the nature of the proposed amendment, alternative approaches for rural areas were not considered.
5. RURAL AREAS PARTICIPATION:
Comments on the proposed amendment were solicited from statewide organizations representing all parties having an interest in the practice of landscape architecture. Included in this group was the State Board for Landscape Architecture and professional associations representing the landscape architecture profession. These groups have members who live or work in rural areas. Each organization has been provided with notice of the proposed amendment and an opportunity to comment.
Job Impact Statement
The purpose of the proposed amendments to sections 79-1.1 and 79-1.2 is to align the New York State requirements for admission to the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (LARE) with national standards beginning with the September 2012 administration of the LARE and to clarify the professional study and experience requirements for landscape architecture candidates. These regulatory changes will have no effect on the number of jobs or employment opportunities in the field of landscape architecture or any other field.
Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it will have no impact on jobs and employment opportunities, no further steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required and one was not prepared.
