Qualification Renewal Regarding Voluntary Suspension Program

Under the Voluntary Suspension Program, persons who are having trouble participating in Society activities and are unable to pay the membership fee due to illness, childbirth, childcare, study abroad, or similar reason can voluntarily suspend their membership for a certain period by requesting such suspension themselves. A voluntary suspension period will in principle not exceed three (3) Society's fiscal years (see Note). During a voluntary suspension, payment of the annual membership fee will not be required, starting with the next fiscal year and extending up to three (3) years. However, since Society activities for the member will be suspended during that period, the qualifications of the member, such as an NST therapist, will also be suspended. Also, the period of voluntary suspension will not be included in the subsequent membership history.
During the period of voluntary suspension, the person cannot apply for new or renewed qualifications or acquire units (credits). The renewal time for qualification holders will be extended only for the fiscal year or years of the voluntary suspension.
Note: The Society's fiscal year runs from December 1 of the current year to November 30 of the following year.

■Extension of qualification renewal time and handling of units (credits)
Qualification renewal time extensions have to meet the following conditions (some items are already mentioned above):
*Only for a person who requests voluntary suspension in accordance with the procedures in Article 4 of the Bylaws for the Articles of Incorporation, the voluntary suspension period shall be requested in fiscal-year units.
*A period of accreditation that extends along with a voluntary suspension will be linked to the voluntary suspension procedures and will be counted in fiscal-year units up to a maximum of three (3) years.
*After a voluntary suspension period ends, Society activities can be resumed and units (credits) can be acquired through participation in academic meetings and seminars. During a voluntary suspension period, however, such units (credits) will not be recognized as units (credits) required for renewal qualification even if acquired.

■Application of voluntary suspension
In conjunction with the completion of the voluntary suspension procedure, the renewal time will automatically be extended by an amount corresponding to the voluntary suspension period.
Voluntary suspension periods are not counted as part of the periods of accreditation (5 years), and since unit acquisition periods prior to the voluntary suspension will be carried forward, there is no easing of requirements during renewal.