Hot Topics and Committee Updates from CLEAR's 2025 Midyear Meeting
CLEAR recently held its 2025 Midyear meeting in Savannah, Georgia and the event was a fantastic start to the new year! The Midyear meeting enabled CLEAR’s Board, committees, and subcommittees to meet in-person, discuss their progress thus far in the 2024-2025 membership year, and plan their future goals.
There were a number of relevant topics discussed in each meeting, and we have included a few committee updates below that may be of interest to our membership.
Hot Topics from Midyear 2025
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The Regulatory Agency Administration Committee held an environmental scan and saw several themes emerge that will inform the work of the committee this year, including:
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Fraud in licensing – multiple people using the same license, submission of fraudulent documents in licensing application, etc.
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Alternative and quicker pathways to licensure for internationally trained professionals.
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Dealing with newer business models that intersect with licensed professionals such as IV hydration clinics, vitamin infusions, psilocybin, ayahuasca, TikTok influencers providing nutrition and medical advice, and so on
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Human trafficking issues in cosmetology and massage therapy
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The Exam Resources and Advisory Committee-
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The Examination Resources and Advisory Committee and the Regulatory Administration Working Group have been working on a focus group session and invites all CLEAR-member regulators to participate. Your insights and feedback are invaluable in guiding our projects and content for 2025. This is your chance to voice your needs and priorities for the crosswalk between examinations and regulatory administration and help ensure that the committee's initiatives align with regulators' challenges and opportunities. You can sign up to participate in the focus group session here.
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The committee will be sending out a Quick Poll question focusing on the reasons for discontinuing licensing and certification program.
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The Education & Training Committee is starting to develop courses on the following topics: Regulation 101, Soft Skills for Regulators, and Demonstrating Regulatory Effectiveness. The committee discussed additional ideas for course topics, and is also supporting the Board as they make decisions on a potential credential program for CLEAR.
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The Program Committee-
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The Program Committee and Subcommittees met to review proposals and make selections for the 2025 Annual Educational Conference program. The subcommittee meeting discussions were particularly dynamic this year, with many committee members commenting on the impressive quality of the proposals received.
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Beyond the track sessions for the upcoming conference, the committee chairs deliberated the program’s keynote and plenary speakers as well as topics for pre-conference workshop offerings. With decisions to be finalized over the coming weeks, the committee is excited to share the 2025 program later this winter.
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The International Relations Committee-
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The issue of global workforce mobility continues to be top of mind. Regulators from multiple jurisdictions are grappling with simplifying and speeding up pathways to licensure for international applicants (particularly IMGs) while ensuring competency standards are maintained.
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Legislative changes are having major impacts on regulatory bodies as they work to implement these changes. From mandates to improve pathways for international applicants (particularly in certain medical professions) and specific laws dictating changes to how regulatory bodies are structured or the professions they regulate, regulators are navigating these changes while being mindful of potential political swings.
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Several members are working on issues related to regulatory barriers in the workforce: beyond the more familiar issues of expense and time to the ongoing hurdles for international applicants, barriers such as collateral consequences for justice-impacted individuals and the limitations facing the ALICE cohort (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), are increasingly being examined by the regulatory community along with innovate approaches to competency assessments aimed at keeping practitioners in the workforce.
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- The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee met to plan its work and will shortly finalize working groups which committee members will be invited to join. These will include a working group on external resources and another focused on CLEAR's internal metrics. During the meeting, several members also spoke about their reasons for becoming involved with the work of the committee and the anticipated outcomes that may result.
If you are interested in getting involved with one of CLEAR’s committees, you can learn more about the process and expectations at the button below. We are always looking for newer members to participate and contribute their expertise to any of CLEAR’s many initiatives.