b) The following
rules govern maintenance of the Certification of Approval under the 1945 Act:
1) Annual Reporting
A) Each approved institution shall file
annually with the Board its current catalogs.
B) Compliance with all State and federal
reporting mandates is required for maintenance of approvals.
2) Reviews
The staff of the Board may conduct reviews and/or visitations
of approved institutions as necessary for the implementation of the statute and
this Part.
3) Complaints
Each approved institution must respond in writing within 10
business days after receiving a student's complaint from the Board. The Board
shall review the response and determine if additional information is needed
from the institution.
4)
Investigations of Institutions_
The status of institutions under investigation as described in
this Section shall be reported in Board public materials as "Institutions under
investigation: on hold pending review of Board approval status".
A) The staff of the Board shall initiate an
investigation upon receipt of a verified written complaint and may initiate an
investigation in response to oral or written information concerning any of the
following:
i) Alleged violation of any of the
conditions governing issuance of the Certificate of Approval;
ii) Alleged failure to comply with this
Part;
iii) Alleged fraudulent
conduct on the part of any person operating the institution or of any person,
acting within the scope of his/her employment by the institution, on account of
which any student ever enrolled in the institution has been injured or has
suffered financial loss;
iv) Loss,
suspension, probation or similar adverse action taken by an accrediting body
with which the institution is or was affiliated;
v) Actions of federal or state regulatory
agencies or Offices of Attorneys General, Offices of Inspectors General, or
similar bodies that affect an institution's status with those
bodies.
B) The
institution will be notified by the Board about the initiation of an
investigation. During the investigation there may be a temporary hold placed on
any of the institution's pending applications and requests to the Board for
modification of existing approvals. The hold will be for a specified period of
time not to exceed six months, unless the Board begins collection of pertinent
information related to satisfying the issues associated with the investigation,
such as the results of adverse actions by federal or state regulatory agencies,
the results of pending court action for which a sworn affidavit has been filed,
actions of accrediting bodies, or similar information. Upon completion of the
investigation, the Board will accept the institution's request to voluntarily
relinquish its approval, begin the process for revocation as provided in
subsection (b)(4), at which time the hold continues, or remove the hold.
Information that any current authorizations or future applications are on hold
will be provided by the Board on its web page or in print materials that
reference authorized institutions.
5) Revocation or Relinquishment of the
Certificate of Approval
A) Grounds for
revocation include any of the following:
i)
Violation of any of the conditions governing issuance of the Certificate of
Approval;
ii) Failure to comply
with this Part;
iii) Fraudulent
conduct on the part of any person operating the institution or of any person,
acting within the scope of his/her employment by the institution, on account of
which any student ever enrolled in the institution has been injured or has
suffered financial loss;
iv)
Failure to offer degrees or instruction for one continuous 12-month period;
v) Abandonment of the
institution;
vi) Loss of
accreditation status with an accrediting body with which the institution is or
was affiliated;
vii) Actions of
federal or state regulatory agencies or Offices of Attorneys General, Offices
of Inspectors General, or similar bodies that affect an institution's status
with those bodies;
viii) Pervasive
and substantial student complaints against the institution.
B) Procedures for Revocation
i) Before revoking any certificate to
operate, the Board shall designate a Hearing Officer who shall schedule and
conduct a hearing, as prescribed in Section 6-9 of the 1945 Act. The Board
shall not be required to schedule a hearing and has the option to waive a
hearing if the institution has not operated for one continuous 12-month period
or the institution has been abandoned; even in these cases, however, the Board
shall be required to revoke the certificate at a public meeting at which any
opponent who is injured or impacted by the revocation must be given the
opportunity to be heard.
ii) If the
Board decides to grant a rehearing pursuant to Section 10 of the 1945 Act, it
shall appoint another Hearing Officer, different from the first, who shall
conduct a hearing upon only those grounds for which the rehearing was granted.
The second Hearing Officer shall submit a written report of findings and
recommendations to the Board, which shall make a final determination.
iii) Upon revocation of the Certificate to
Operate, the Certificate of Approval shall be rendered invalid.
iv) At any time after revocation of a
Certificate of Approval, the Board may restore it to the institution.
v) A closed institution shall
arrange for its student records to be maintained in a safe and suitable place
as determined by the Board (such as another like kind of institution or the
Board).
C) Voluntary
Relinquishing of Approval
i) Institutions may
voluntarily relinquish their Certificate of Approval, Authorization to Operate,
or Authorization to Grant Degrees. The voluntary relinquishment shall be in
writing and does not require a hearing or any other Board action to be
effective.
ii) Institutions
relinquishing approval and/or authorization shall be required to provide for an
appropriate repository of records and may be required to provide a student
completion plan that must be approved by the Board.
D) Change of Legal Status of the Institution
i) An institution's Certificate of Approval,
Authorization to Operate and Authorization to Award Degrees are granted to a
specific legal entity based on the conditions under which the institution
and/or its degrees were authorized. A change to the legal status of the entity
shall result in immediate loss of the certificate or authorization.
ii) A change of legal status ends the
exempted status of institutions described in Section
1030.10.
After a change of legal status, institutions previously exempted must seek new
operating and degree granting authority.
iii) Institutions that are planning a change
of legal status shall inform the Board as early as possible. If new approvals
will be sought by the institution, a plan should be developed in consultation
with the Board to facilitate the transition process.
iv) In cases in which a change in
shareholders results in new leadership of an institution, the Board shall
require that the institution submit documentation demonstrating that no change
has occurred in the operation of the institution that would affect the
conditions under which the institution and/or its degrees were authorized.
v) Merger of two institutions
resulting in the creation of a new institution causes both institutions to lose
their approvals and results in the need for new
authorizations.