The Attorney General of Texas 

September 19, 1978 

JOHN L. HILL 

Attorney General 

President Duane M. Leach 

Texas A & I University 

Kingsville, Texas 78383 

Opinion No. H- 1245 

Re: Authority of Texas State 

Board of Examiners of 

Psychologists to require that 

applicants for certification have 

taken coursework from faculty 

members who are Boardcertified psychologists. 

Dear President Leach: 

You inform us that the Texas State Board of Examiners of 

Psychologists, which administers the Psychologist’s Certification and 

Licensing Act, article 4512c, V.T.C.S., has issued a rule requiring applicants 

for certification to take coursework from professors who are Boardqertified 

psychologists. General Ruling 400.02.00.010. The rule affects applicants for 

qualification as “sub-doctoral personnel,” who must have a master’s degree. 

V.T.C.S. art. 4512c, S 19. After certification, these persons use titles such as 

psychological assistant or psychological technician. Id. If the applicant’s 

coursework does not comply with the Board’s rule, he is&eligible to take the 

certification examination. You ask whether the Board may require that 

professors of psychology at state colleges and universities be certified in 

order to teach in the program which prepares students for Board-administered 

certification examinations. 

Article 4512c, V.T.C.S., prohibits anyone from representing himself to 

be a psychologist within the state unless he is certified or licensed by the 

Board or exempted by the statute. Sec. 25. We determined in Attorney 

General Opinion H-879 (1976) that the employees of state colleges and 

universities were exempted by section 22(a) from any licensing requirement 

imposed by the Act. The Board has submitted a brief stating that it does not 

require any university faculty member to be certified or licensed as a 

psychologist, and that it does not have statutory authority to promulgate such 

a requirement. It asserts, however, that the rule merely establishes a 

standard for the qualification of sub-doctoral personnel as authorized by 

section 19 of article 4512~. 

P. 4952 
President Duane M. Leach - Page 2 (H-1245) 

Although section 19 of article 4512~ authorizes the Board to set standards for 

qualification of such personnel, it also states that they must have a master’s degree 

in a program primarily psychological in nature from “an accredited university or 

college.” Accreditation is done by a private professional or educational body, not 

by the Board. See Ex parte State Board of Law Examiners of Florida, 193 So. 753 

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(Fla. 1940) (law school); Louisiana Board of Pharmacy v. Smith, 65 So.2d 654 (La. 

Ct. of App. 19531, aff’d, 76 So.2d 722 (La. 1954) (college of pharmacy). We believe 

the Legislature chose to rely on the judgment of the accrediting body as to the 

qualifications of faculty members and did not authorize the Board to reject degrees 

from accredited institutions on the ground that faculty members were not Boardcertified. 

In contrast, section 21, which provides for the licensing of a person who offers 

psychological services for compensation, requires that 

(2) he has had at least two year’s experience in the field of 

psychological services, at least . . . one year of which was 

under the supervision of a psychologist licensed under the 

provisions of this Act. 

‘When the Legislature intended the applicant’s preparation to include work with a 

Board-qualified psychologist, it said so expressly. We believe, therefore, the 

Board’s rule constitutes the imposition on subdoctoral personnel of a requirement 

not contemplated by the statute. Cf. Bloom v. Texas State Board of Examiners of 

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Psychologists, 492 S.W.2d 460 (Tex. 1973) ( Board may not impose additional 

requirements for applicant under the grandfather clause). 

SUMMARY 

The Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists may 

not require that applicants for certification as subdoctoral 

personnel have taken coursework from Board-certified 

psychologists. 

DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant 

p. 4953 
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President Duane M. Leach - Page 3 (H-1245) 

a 

Opinion Committee 

jsn 

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