New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 5 - POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
Chapter 99 - DISTANCE EDUCATION
Part 1 - PUBLIC AND PRIVATE POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS OPERATING UNDER THE INTERSTATE DISTANCE EDUCATION ACT
Section 5.99.1.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Accreditation" means a verified accreditation status with an accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education.

B. "Department" means the New Mexico higher education department.

C. "Distance education" means instruction offered online or through correspondence or interactive video or other means enabling a student to receive instruction from a higher education provider. Instruction may be either synchronous (instruction in which a group of students engage in learning at the same time), asynchronous (instruction that does not occur in the same place or at the same time), or experiential learning activity.

D. "Distance education authorization" or "DEA" means a post-secondary institution that has been deemed by the department to satisfactorily meet criteria, as set by the department, to provide distance education, under the Interstate Distance Education Act.

E. "Educational activity" means distance education which is synchronous (instruction in which a group of students engage in learning at the same time) or asynchronous (instruction that does not occur in the same place or at the same time).

F. "Exempt" or "exemption" means an institution that meets criteria in 5.99.1.10 NMAC to be exempt from obtaining distance education authorization and has completed all documentation required by the department.

G. "Experiential learning activity" means application of previously studied skills through practica, student teaching, clinical placements, research, internships, or other similar placements by a student receiving supervised field experience at an experiential learning site.

H. "Experiential learning site" means a clinical, practicum, internship, student teaching or other similar site location where a student participates in a supervised field experience.

I. "Higher education" means education or training beyond secondary education.

J. "Home state" means a state or territory where the institution holds its legal domicile and accreditation. To operate under the act an institution must have a single home state.

K. "Non-New Mexico home state SARA institutions" means an institution which holds its legal domicile and accreditation in a state or territory in the United States and outside of New Mexico and is an approved member institution of SARA.

L. "Physical presence" means the ongoing occupation of a physical location in the state, the ongoing maintenance of an administrative office to support the provision of higher education instruction, or engaging in one or more of the activities detailed in 5.99.1.8 NMAC.

M. "Post-secondary educational institution" or "institution" means public post-secondary educational institutions and private post-secondary educational institutions.

N. "Portal entity" means the state agency or other state body designated by each SARA member state to serve as the interstate point of contact for SARA questions, complaints and other communications. In New Mexico, the portal entity is the department.

O. "Private post-secondary educational institution" means a post-secondary educational institution not primarily funded by public funds.

P. "Public post-secondary educational institution" means a post-secondary educational institution primarily funded by public funds.

Q. "SARA Manual" means a manual which codifies existing SARA policy and includes procedures for use by states and institutions to regulate SARA. A current version of the manual will be maintained on the NC-SARA website.

R. "State authorization reciprocity agreement" or "SARA" means an agreement, developed by the national council for state authorization reciprocity agreements (NC-SARA) that provides uniform standards and parameters for the interstate provision of post-secondary distance education courses and programs.

S. "State portal agent" means the portal entity employee responsible for SARA duties.

T. "Student location" or "students located" means the physical location in which the student engages in distance education. The student's legal state of residence will not be a criterion for determining the student's physical location for purposes of the act.

U. "Supervised field experience" means a form of distance education which enables instruction from an experiential learning site, through an agreement with an institution pursuant to 5.99.1.11 NMAC. To be considered supervised field experience, the student location must be in a different state or territory than that of the institution.