How to track your CF hours: the ASHA Clinical Fellowship, step by step

The ASHA Clinical Fellowship (CF) takes at least 36 weeks and 1,260 hours of professional experience. Full time is 35 hours a week, and a week counts only if you work at least 5 hours (ASHA (opens in a new tab)). At least 80% of your work has to be direct clinical contact, and the CF is split into three segments. In every segment, your CF mentor does at least 6 hours of direct observation and 6 hours of indirect supervision, and rates you on the Clinical Fellowship Skills Inventory (CFSI) (opens in a new tab).

Those numbers come from ASHA’s 2020 certification standards (opens in a new tab), the ones in effect in 2026. ASHA also says tracking your weekly hours is your job, not your mentor’s. Here’s how.

I’m an SLP grad student heading into my own CF soon, and my fiancée is already in hers, trying to keep her hours straight. Tracking hours the right way was one of the first things I wanted to figure out.

The CF requirements at a glance

• Length: at least 36 weeks of full-time work (35 hours a week) or the part-time equivalent, and at least 1,260 hours.
• Minimum week: a week with fewer than 5 hours doesn’t count toward the CF.
• Direct contact: at least 80% of your work. Up to 20% can be other duties.
• Telepractice: for CFs that began on or after January 1, 2023, up to 25% of direct contact hours can be telepractice.
• Segments: three, each about one third of the CF and at least 12 weeks long.
• Mentoring, per segment: at least 6 hours of direct observation and 6 hours of indirect supervision from each mentor. No more than 6 observation hours count in a single day.
• Skills: your mentor rates you on the CFSI at least once each segment. In the final segment you need a 2 or better on every skill.
• Time limit: once you start, you have 48 months to finish.

For CFs that began on or after January 1, 2023, at least 3 of each segment’s 6 direct observation hours must be on site and in person; the other 3 can be real-time video (Standard VII-B (opens in a new tab)). Any other supervision method needs a written request approved by ASHA’s certification council before the CF starts. ASHA’s 2027 standards (opens in a new tab) keep 36 weeks, 1,260 hours, three segments and the 80% rule. For segments that begin on or after August 1, 2027, they allow up to 100% telepractice and telesupervision, and the CFSI is done at the end of each segment.

What counts toward your hours

ASHA’s CF guide (opens in a new tab) lists examples of direct clinical contact (work within the ASHA Scope of Practice):

• screening, RtI and observations of the client
• assessment and diagnostic evaluations
• treatment
• writing reports and notes, and billing
• family or client consultation and counseling
• IEP and IFSP meetings, rounds, and other meetings about a client’s diagnosis and treatment plan

Yes, your report writing and IEP meetings count as direct contact. Work that isn’t about a client’s care, like in-services, trainings and presentations, falls in the other 20%.

ASHA doesn’t say where session planning or general staff meetings go, so agree on it with your mentor at the start and log it the same way all year. For example, you might put planning and materials prep under other duties, and leave purely administrative meetings (safety drills, benefits, budget) off the log. A meeting about a client’s care, like an IEP meeting, counts as direct.

What doesn’t count: travel, lunch, vacations, holidays, leaves of absence, and any other paid or unpaid time off. Neither do hours from any stretch when your mentor didn’t meet ASHA’s mentor requirements.

Watch out: AI answers get this wrong

While researching this post, an AI search answer told us that writing SOAP notes and meetings about a client’s care belong in the “other” bucket. ASHA’s CF guide (opens in a new tab) says the opposite: writing reports and notes, and IEP, IFSP or other meetings about a client’s treatment plan, are direct clinical contact. A CF who followed that answer would undercount their direct hours and could look short of the 80% minimum when they aren’t. So check any hours rule against ASHA’s own page, and settle the gray areas, like planning time, with your mentor.

A simple weekly tracking routine

1. Every workday, before you leave: log the hours you worked, split into direct contact and other duties. Leave out lunch and travel.
2. Every time your mentor observes or meets with you: log it the same day. Note which segment it’s in, whether it was a direct observation or an indirect activity (like reviewing your reports or a meeting), and how long it took.
3. Every Friday: total the week. Did it reach 5 hours? What’s your running total toward 1,260? Is your direct share still at 80% or above?
4. At the start of each segment: check that your mentor’s ASHA certification is still current. ASHA suggests checking before each feedback session too.
5. Halfway through each segment: count your mentor’s hours so far. If you’re not on pace for 6 direct and 6 indirect, book the rest now, not in the last week.
6. At the end of each segment: sit down with your mentor for CFSI feedback, and keep your own copy of anything written.

ASHA also offers a free template for tracking supervisory activities (opens in a new tab).

Common CF tracking mistakes

• Leaving observations for the end. Each segment needs its own 6 and 6, from each mentor, with no more than 6 observation hours in one day.
• Assuming the school year covers it. Breaks, holidays and days off don’t count, so a school-year CF can end up short of 1,260 hours. Check your running total in January, not May.
• Changing jobs mid-segment without the mentoring done. A new mentor can’t make up your last mentor’s missing hours.
• Not checking your mentor’s status. Hours from any stretch when your mentor didn’t qualify don’t count. Your mentor needs a current CCC-SLP, at least 9 months of full-time experience after earning it, and 2 hours of professional development in supervision.
• Forgetting to split your reports. If you change settings, mentors, or hours per week, each stretch goes on your application as a separate entry.

What your mentor verifies and signs

• Each segment: your mentor gives you feedback using the CFSI at least once. ASHA strongly encourages written copies for both of you.
• When you apply: you enter your CF experience on your online ASHA certification application. ASHA then emails your mentor, who verifies your hours and enters your CFSI scores in their ASHA account within 90 days.
• Paper copies: don’t send them to ASHA. Keep them for your records.

You can apply for the CCC-SLP any time; you don’t have to wait for the CF to end. Your state license, and in schools your state education credential, may add their own rules and forms.

A printable CF hours log

If you like paper, keep one page per segment. Log one row per week: the dates, direct hours, how many of those were telepractice, other-duty hours, the week’s total, whether it reached 5 hours, and your running total. Below that, log each mentor activity: the date, the mentor, whether it was an in-person observation, a live-video observation or indirect supervision, and how long it took. At the end of the segment, total it all up and check your direct share against 80%. Leave client names off it; your mentor needs your hours, not your caseload.

Download the free CF hours log (PDF): one page per 12-week segment, US Letter, made to print in black and white. Print one per segment, three for a full-time CF. It’s not an official ASHA form.

How SLPcentral’s CF hours tracker helps

Full disclosure: I built SLPcentral, so weigh this section with that in mind. Its CF hours tracker lives in the licensed account, on iPhone and on the web:

• Two-tap logging. Choose direct contact or other duties, tap 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours for today, and undo if you mis-tap. Or add a full entry with the date, setting, mentor and a note. Keep client names and initials out of your notes; they’re saved to your account.
• Your progress at a glance. A ring toward 1,260 hours, a count of the weeks with 5 or more hours toward 36, and a gauge showing your direct share against the 80% line.
• Mentor activities by segment. Log on-site observations, monitoring activities and each segment’s CFSI evaluation, and see your observations and CFSI status for each segment.
• A log your mentor can sign. Export a print or PDF log with your totals and a signature block for your CF mentor. It’s for your records and your mentor’s review; ASHA verification happens online.

Licensed accounts start with a 14-day free trial of the whole app. If you don’t subscribe when it ends, your caseload tools go view-only, but logging CF hours stays open, and viewing and exporting your log is never locked. The full app is $74.99 for your CF year: request the CF price.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• ASHA, A Guide to the ASHA Clinical Fellowship Experience (opens in a new tab) (36 weeks and 1,260 hours, the 5-hour week, what counts as direct contact, segments, mentor qualifications and hours, the CFSI score, online mentor verification)
• ASHA, 2020 Standards for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (opens in a new tab) (Standard VII: 35 hours a week, the 80% rule, 48 months, mentoring per third of the CF)
• ASHA, 2020 Clinical Fellowship Skills Inventory (CFSI) (opens in a new tab) (PDF)
• ASHA, Template for tracking supervisory activities (opens in a new tab) (PDF)
• ASHA, 2027 SLP Certification Standards (opens in a new tab) (effective August 1, 2027)

ASHA requirements checked October 22, 2026. They change, so check asha.org for the current rules.

Drafted with AI help from the sources listed, then reviewed and edited by Ryan Lillard. No client information is used in this article. ASHA sets the CF requirements; SLPcentral isn’t affiliated with ASHA. This article is general information; follow ASHA’s standards, your state board’s rules and your employer’s policies.