N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8 § 59.5

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 59.5 - Professional examinations

(a) The department may develop its own examinations or may select in whole or in part examinations developed or administered by other organizations. Unless specifically authorized by the department, no examination shall be deemed acceptable which has been used in its entirety during the five years previous to the current administration.

(b) Applications for admission to a licensing examination, including all required fees shall be completed and filed not less than 60 days prior to the examination. When the department finds that the application is complete and that the requirements for admission to an examination have been met, it will issue to the applicant an admission card which will include the date, time and place of the examination and entitle the applicant to admission thereto.

(1) The department may accept applications for admission to department conducted examinations after the filing date for such examinations provided that the department is able to review and process such applications in a timely manner and that there are adequate examination facilities and materials available. Such applications shall require the payment of the late filing fee enumerated in section 59.9 of this Part, which shall be in addition to the regular admission or reexamination fee. If, upon review of a late application, the department determines that the applicant is ineligible to be admitted to the examination, the department shall retain the late filing fee. In the event that the department is unable to review a late application, the late filing fee shall be refunded.

(2) The department may waive the late filing fee or delay the required date for filing in cases where notification to the applicant of the results of the previous examination are released less than 75 days prior to the next examination.

(c) For the purpose of identification for admission to the examination, the applicant shall present the current admission card with a photograph attached and, at the conclusion of the examination, return the card to the department representative conducting the examination. A candidate shall permit fingerprints to be taken during each part of an examination.

(d) Licensing examinations shall be held at times and places determined by the commissioner and conducted under the following conditions. Any candidate violating such conditions may be dismissed from the examination by the department representative, and the examination paper of such candidate shall be deemed a failure. At the discretion of the department, such candidate may be denied admission to subsequent licensing examinations.

(1) No candidate shall enter any examination more than 60 minutes after the scheduled admission time, nor shall any candidate leave the examination until 60 minutes have elapsed from the scheduled admission time. No candidate shall leave a department administered practical or clinical examination until dismissed by the chief examiner.

(2) Compensatory time may be granted candidates arriving late for an examination, at the discretion of the department.

(3) A candidate shall not obtain unauthorized possession of examination materials.

(4) During the examination, no candidate shall give or receive help, or communicate with any other candidate in any way, except upon the express permission of the department representative.

(5) A candidate shall bring into the examination room only such books and other materials as are indicated on the admission card and permitted by the department.

(6) A candidate shall not remove from the examination room any of the materials provided for an examination, and shall not reproduce or reconstruct any portion of the examination or answer paper, or aid in such reproduction or reconstruction by any means, unless authorized by the department. Such materials include examination booklets, individual examination questions, answer sheets or score sheets, instructions and any reference tables or papers which were provided by the department and which may have been used in the course of the examination.

(e) Papers will be scored and candidates notified of success or failure by the department or its designee. If the candidate has failed, the department will advise when and on what basis the candidate may be reexamined and of any procedure for review of the failed examination.

(f) The passing score in each component of each part of the licensing examination shall be determined as provided by law and shall be computed without rounding. In those examinations administered by the department, unless otherwise provided in the regulations pertaining to a specific profession, a candidate may retain credit for scores earned on examination parts for a period not to exceed five years from the examination date. A candidate who is reexamined in a part already passed shall not retain credit for such part from earlier examinations. In those professions which use national or regional examinations administered by the department, this subdivision shall apply whether or not the examination is taken in the State of New York.

(g) In those professions where reviews of examination papers are permitted, candidates will be allowed to review only those parts of the examination which they failed with a score of 60 or higher. In those professions which permit candidates to pass on average all scores used in computing the average are reviewable. A request for review of an examination paper or score may be made in writing to the department not later than 30 days after examination grades are released by the department. A candidate shall not remove from the reviewing site any of the materials provided for the review of an examination given previously, and shall not reproduce or reconstruct any portion of the examination or the answer paper, or aid in such reproduction or reconstruction by any means, unless authorized by the department. No one other than the candidate will be permitted access to examination materials. Where examinations are offered under contract with testing agencies, reviews shall be consistent with these contracts, where applicable. All reviews shall be conducted at sites selected and supervised by the department or an authorized testing agency.

(h) An applicant who has been admitted to a professional licensing examination conducted by the department and subsequently fails to appear for such an examination twice shall forfeit any remaining fee credits for that examination. The applicant, upon subsequently applying for readmission to that examination, shall pay all required admission fees.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 8 § 59.5