Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 52, December 27, 2024
a) Most
institutions are approved to operate under both the 1945 Act and the 1961 Act.
Institutions under only the 1945 Act shall comply with Section
1030.70.
Institutions under only the 1961 Act shall comply with Section 1030.80.
Institutions under both Acts shall comply with both Sections
1030.70
and 1030.80. When the two Sections are identical, the institution will be
considered in compliance with the 1945 Act by complying with Section 1030.80
and vice versa.
b) This subsection
(b) governs the Maintenance of the Authorization to Operate and/or Award
Specific Certificates and Degrees procedure under the 1961 Act.
1) Annual Report
Each authorized institution shall file annually with the Board
its current catalogs. In addition, institutions must comply with any data
requests to satisfy Board reporting requirements.
2) Reviews
The staff of the Board may conduct reviews and/or visitations
of authorized institutions and/or their certificate and degree programs as
necessary for the implementation of the statute. This may include a review in
the fifth year of a new program's existence. Board staff may review the
program, in cooperation with institutional staff, to verify the institution's
implementation and maintenance of the conditions that were presented in its
applications and that formed the basis upon which the authorizations were
granted. The fifth year review may also include information on improvements in
the institution's capacity to efficiently and effectively deliver certificate
and degree programs using technological innovation and comprehensive data
systems. Evidence that the program meets standards enumerated in Section
1030.30(a)
may be reviewed. In the case of a program in which State licensure is required
for employment in the field, a program can be found to be in good standing if
the institution is able to provide evidence that program graduates are eligible
to take the appropriate licensure examination and pass rates are maintained as
specified in the objectives of the unit of instruction. If there is no such
evidence, approval of the program may be withdrawn by the
Board.
3) Complaints
Concerning Institutional Degree Practices
The staff of the Board may initiate an investigation in
response to written or oral information suggesting that changes have occurred
in the conditions under which Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
Certificates and Degrees was given. During the investigation, there may be a
temporary hold placed on the institution's applications to the Board for new
program approvals and other programs. The hold will be for a specified period
of time not to exceed six months, unless the Board begins the process for
revocation as provided in subsection (b)(5), at which time the hold will
continue until the Board decision is made.
4) Temporary Suspension of Program
An institution may place any approved program on temporary
suspension after receiving Board approval. The institution shall provide an
annual status report to the Board on any program under temporary suspension
status. The Board will consider a program placed on temporary suspension status
to be terminated if an annual status report is not received or if no
reinstatement request is received within the first five years after the program
was placed on temporary suspension. An institution may petition for
reinstatement during the five-year period.
5) Revocation or Relinquishment of Operating
and/or Degree-Granting Authority
A) Grounds
for revocation include:
i) Failure to permit
any duly authorized representative of the Board to enter upon the premises of
the institution and to inspect or otherwise examine the institution and its
books, papers or other records.
ii)
Failure to maintain the conditions under which the institution and/or its
certificates and/or its degrees were authorized.
iii) Failure to maintain the institution's
implementation and maintenance of the conditions that were presented during its
fifth year review and that formed the basis upon which the authorizations were
continued.
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.
B) Procedures for
Revocation
i) Following the Board staff
investigation of the institutional degree practices, the staff may recommend to
the Board revocation of the Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
Certificates and Degrees.
ii) If
the Board votes to revoke the Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
Certificates and Degrees, the institution may request a hearing. 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 authority at a public hearing at which any
opponent who is injured or impacted by the revocation must be given the
opportunity to be heard.
iii) The
Board shall designate a Hearing Officer who shall schedule and conduct a
hearing.
iv) The Hearing Officer
shall make a written report of findings and recommendation to the Board, which
shall make a final determination and shall notify the institution of its
decision.
v) Following a Board
decision to revoke the Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
Certificates and Degrees, the letter of authorization shall be rendered
invalid.
vi) At any time after
revocation, the Board may restore an Authority to Operate and/or Award Specific
Certificates and Degrees.
vii) 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).
6) Institutional or Unit Closure and Teach
Out
An institution that is closing entirely or one or more units,
either voluntarily or involuntarily, shall send to the Board the
following:
A) Notice Required
i) Notice to the Board of the closure
immediately by email or certified mail;
ii) The name, address and telephone number of
the person who will be responsible for closure processes;
iii) A list of students affected and
anticipated decisions regarding teach out for each student (e.g., graduation,
transfer, remain at institution, and participate in teach out, etc.);
iv) Information on the remaining credit and
other requirements outstanding for each student to complete the program;
v) Copies of the student-directed
communication plan that includes the proposed timeline and methods for
notifying students of teach-out options. Plans must include communication with
any students who may be on approved leaves of absence or otherwise difficult to
reach;
vi) Copies of the
communication plans for informing faculty, staff and other institutional
constituents;
vii) Identification
of an individual who will be empowered to act as official registrar, if needed,
after the closure; and
viii)
Submission of a letter of permission to the Board to access all institutional
properties in order to secure student records, if
necessary.
B) Teach-Out
Plan
i) After December 31, 2017, when a Board
approved institution proposes to discontinue its operation, that institution
shall cause to be created a teach-out plan acceptable to the Board. The
teach-out plan shall fulfill the institution's educational obligations to its
students. Should the institution fail to deliver or act on the teach out plan,
the Board is in no way responsible for providing the teach-out.
ii) An institution shall have written plans
designed to protect the contractual rights of its students and graduates in the
event the institution closes or undergoes a change of status (e.g., if the
institution changes location or if its authority is revoked), including the
right to complete the course of instruction in which the students or graduates
enrolled.
iii) If students are
receiving instruction prior to the institution's closing, the institution shall
file a plan to ensure that the institution's students will continue to receive
training of the same quality and content as that for which they
contracted.
C)
Arrangements for transferring students to a public or another approved
institution shall be filed with the Board prior to any student transfer. Prior
to approving the institution's arrangements for completing its teaching
obligations to students, the Board shall verify that students transferring will
receive the same kind of program and instructional services as those for which
they contracted.
D) Academic
Records
In the event an institution proposes to discontinue its
operations, the chief administrative officer of the institution shall arrange
for all original or legible true copies of all such academic records of the
institution to be maintained in a safe and suitable place as determined by the
Board (such as a third party provider, a like institution, or the
Board).
i) These records shall
include, at a minimum, the academic records of each former student that are
traditionally provided on an academic transcript, such as, but not limited to,
courses taken, terms, grades and other such information.
ii) The institution shall make students aware
of how to obtain transcripts from either the closed institution and/or new
institution permanently retaining the records.
iii) The institution must release any holds
on student records before operation is discontinued and the records are
transferred