Alabama Administrative Code Chapter 364-X-8 — Examinations

364 Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.01 Statement Of Policy

A candidate for licensing must pass a written examination, approved by the Board, which is designed to demonstrate that the applicant has the necessary knowledge and requisite skills to exercise the responsibilities of the public practice of geology.

(1) The Board shall waive the written examination requirement if, within one (1) year after the initial Board's first request for applications, the applicant meets all other requirements and makes a written request to the Board for such waiver at the time of application for licensing.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§34-41-10, 34-41-11.
• New Rule: Filed May 10, 1996; effective June 14, 1996.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.02 Examination Dates And Locations

(1) Written examinations are offered annually at times and dates set by the Board.

(2) Locations at which the examinations are given are designated by the Board and this information is available at least three (3) months in advance of the examinations.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§34-41-5, 34-41-10.
• New Rule: Filed May 10, 1996; effective June 14, 1996.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.03 Examinations In The English Language

All examinations will be in the English language.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§34-41-10, 34-41-11.
• New Rule: Filed May 10, 1996; effective June 14, 1996.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.04 Examination Fee

The fee for examination shall not exceed $200.00 per examination.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §34-41-11.
• New Rule: Filed May 10, 1996; effective June 14, 1996. Amended: Filed March 5, 2002; effective April 9, 2002.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.05 Examination Offerings

(1) An applicant will be notified at least thirty (30) days in advance of the examination time and location for which the exam fee has been paid.

(a) Should the applicant fail to take the examination offered or fail to pass the examination, the applicant must file a request for reexamination and pay the examination fee as set by the Board. Should the applicant fail to take the examination or fail to pass the examination applied for, the fee paid is not refundable.

(b) In the event an applicant fails to pass the required examination after three (3) attempts (including absences), the applicant will be notified that the application has been denied.

(c) If an application is denied, an applicant, in order to be considered for further examinations, must file a new application, pay the application fee as required by law and submit a statement of additional education that is satisfactory to the Board. It will be incumbent upon the applicant to indicate on the new application the extent of additional qualifying experience and/or education since application closing which will permit the applicant to qualify for further examinations.

(d) In the event the requalified applicant again fails to pass the required examination after three (3) additional attempts, the application will be denied and the procedure as outlined in (c) above would then be repeated before further consideration would be afforded the applicant.

(e) An application will be considered valid and retained on file for a period of five (5) years only. After three (3) failures or five (5) years, whichever occurs first, an application will be closed and the applicant will be required to follow the procedure outlined in (c) above for reapplication.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§34-41-10, 34-41-11.
• New Rule: Filed May 10, 1996; effective June 14, 1996.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.06 Examination Results

Examination results will be reviewed by the Board and no information will be given to any applicant who has taken the examination until after the scores have been approved by the Board. The passing score on each examination will be determined by the National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG), the exam administrator. Passing scores will not be reported; however, the candidate will be advised of his/her score if below the passing score.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §34-41-15.
• New Rule: Filed May 10, 1996; effective June 14, 1996. Amended: Published June 30, 2023; effective August 14, 2023.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.07 Reference Points

The Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists, in agreement with the National Association of State Boards of Geologists (ASBOG) and member states registration or licensure boards, accepts test scores for the ASBOG Fundamental and Practice examination as a part of the licensure and registration requirements and as part of the comity licensure requirements. However, because veterans preferences and other forms of score adjustment are not recognized by the Board for licensure in Alabama, test scores that have been enhanced to a passing score by awarding of veterans preference or other forms of score adjustment in another member state will not be accepted for purposes of comity if the original score was below the recommended passing grade as established by testing service. An applicant from those member states granting veterans’ preference points or other score adjustments to an applicant’s test score will be asked to provide the original test score and the amount of preference point adjustment. A passing grade for each of the ASBOG tests is 70, as determined by the ASBOG testing service. No other passing grades enhanced by veterans or other preference points will be accepted.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §34-41-15.
• New Rule: March 5, 2002; effective April 9, 2002.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 364-X-8-.08 Challenges And Appeals To Professional Licensure Examination Tests

(1) The Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Geologists, in agreement with the National Association of State Boards of Geologists (ASBOG), abides by the conditions and procedures as outlined in the examination contract between the Board and ASBOG. The Board, in using the ASBOG examinations, Fundamentals of Geology and Practice of Geology, has agreed to follow the suggested guidelines as provided in Sections 7 and 8 of the ASBOG Examination Contract. Those provisions are as follows:

Section 7. Appeals of Examination Results.

(a) Any appeals by candidates of the Examination shall be made directly to the Member Board.

(b) ASBOG will maintain a copy of the Examination for the purpose of legal review. In the event of a statutory appeal from a decision of the MEMBER BOARD, ASBOG, upon written request of the MEMBER BOARD, shall:

(1) manually re-score or re-grade answer sheets of any of the Examinations for a period of up to 90 days after the release of the Examination grades by the MEMBER BOARD; and

(2) promptly deliver, along with the above-referenced manually graded answer sheet(s), (via secured, traceable means) a copy of the Examination and related reference materials. The examination(s) and reference materials shall be returned by MEMBER BOARD (via secured, traceable means) to ASBOG promptly upon conclusion of appeal.

(c) ASBOG shall further respond to requests from the MEMBER BOARD for assistance with respect to challenges to the Examination by providing the MEMBER BOARD with written documentation that describes a statistical performance of examinations.

Section 8. Retention of Records. ASBOG shall retain scores, copies of the Examinations, scoring keys and the examination candidate’s original answer sheet for a period of three (3) years after the Examinations are given by the MEMBER BOARD. In the event the MEMBER BOARD wants the above-stated documents retained for a period in excess of three (3) years from the date of Examinations are given, the MEMBER BOARD shall provide written notice of this request to ASBOG at least ninety (90) days prior to the end of the retention period.

(2) The Board will not accept challenges or request for appeal from individual examinees as to the results of the examination, if the examinee has a grade of less than 65. Challenges with a score of 65 to 69, when appealing the test score results, may review the examination and select no more than a total of six questions for comprehensive review. If, after review, the challenger still has not achieved a passing score of 70, no further challenge or appeal will be allowed for that particular examination. If the challenger is successful, the test may be re-scored. If the re-score examination is 70, the Board shall pass the examinee.

(3) Questions and challenges directed toward the methodology of preparation and grading of the examinations are to be directed to ASBOG and not to the Board. Scoring statistics of individual examinations are available to the Board upon request.

(4) All costs incurred in a challenge or appeal are to be borne by the challenger. An administrative fee of $100.00 per challenge or appeal must be submitted to the Board in order to initiate a challenge for review. All costs above the administrative fee are to be paid directly to ASBOG as prescribed by ASBOG. Under no circumstances will any part of the Administrative fee be waived or returned to the challenger.

History

• Author: Thornton L. Neathery
• Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §34-41-15.
• New Rule: Filed March 5, 2002; effective April 9, 2002.