(a) Academic Courses. A licensee may receive CNE credit for attendance and completion of an academic course within the framework of a curriculum that leads to an academic degree in nursing or any academic course directly relevant to the licensee's area of nursing practice.
  (1) Upon audit by the Board, the licensee must submit to the Board an official transcript indicating completion of the course with a grade of "C" or better, or a "Pass" on a Pass/Fail grading system.
  (2) Contact hours may be obtained by this means for academic courses that were completed within the licensing period. CNE credit for academic courses will convert on the following basis: one academic quarter hour = 10 contact hours; one academic semester hour = 15 contact hours.
(b) Program Development and/or Presentation.
  (1) A licensee may receive CNE credit for development and/or presentation of a program that is approved by one of the credentialing agencies or providers recognized by the Board.
  (2) Upon audit by the Board, the licensee must submit to the Board on one page: the title of the program, program objectives, brief outline of content, name of credentialing agency that approved the program for contact hours, provider number, program number, dates and locations of the presentation, and number of contact hours.
  (3) Contact hours for program development and/or presentation shall equal the number of contact hours awarded by a credentialing agency or provider recognized by the Board for the offering. Contact hours may be obtained by this means by the nurse(s) who developed and/or presented the qualifying program per licensing period; only distinct activities may be used to obtain contact hours by this means for a licensing period.
(c) Authorship.
  (1) A licensee may receive CNE credit for development and publication of a manuscript related to nursing and health care that is published in a nursing or health-related textbook or journal.
  (2) Upon audit by the Board, the licensee must submit to the Board a letter from the publisher indicating acceptance of the manuscript for publication or a copy of the published work.
  (3) One contact hour per distinct publication may be obtained by this means per licensing period.

Source Note: The provisions of this §216.5 adopted to be effective August 16, 2009, 34 TexReg 5524; amended to be effective February 23, 2014, 39 TexReg 982; amended to be effective November 10, 2014, 39 TexReg 8693; amended to be effective December 5, 2018, 43 TexReg 7766