Transcript Who is SARA? - ACCESS

Who is SARA?
And should I know her?
SARA
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State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement
Establishes comparable national standards for
interstate offering of postsecondary distance
education courses and programs
Intended to simplify
Overseen by a board, National Council for
SARA (NC-SARA)
Administered by four regional education
compacts
FAQ
 Who
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can be a member
States are members
Join through respective region compact
Institutions are approved by their own state
agency if that state has joined SARA
4 Regions
MHEC
NEBHE
WICHE
SREB
 MHEC
- Midwestern Higher Education Compact
 NEBHE - New England Board of Higher Education
 SREB - Southern Regional Education Board
 WICHE - Western Interstate Commission for Higher
Education
FAQ
 How
does a state join SARA?
 Decide
which state agency has legal
authority to sign an interstate agreement
governing distance education laws for both
public and private colleges.
 Determine which state agency will serve as
the portal agency.
 Determine whether state laws allow the portal
agency (or a combination of agencies) to
investigate/resolve complaints .
Current Membership
 20
states are current members:
Alaska
Arizona
Colorado
Idaho
Indiana
Kansas
Louisiana
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
South Dakota
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
FAQ
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What is SARA’s purpose?
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Centralizes the process
Monitors
Program quality
 Financial stability
 Consumer protection
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Graduated fees
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< 2,500: $2,000
2,500-9,999: $4,000
10,000+: $6,000
Quick Test
1.
What if Kevin from Illinois wants to take a
course at Huntington University?
Quick Test
1.
What if Troy from Virginia wants to take a
course at Huntington University?
FAQ
 How
does the federal government feel
about SARA?
“SARA staff has been advised that the
Department of Education will embrace this
approach. Institutions will still need to get
separate authorization in non-SARA states.”
SARA says no physical
presence if
 It
is advertising (print, billboards, direct
mail, internet, radio, TV, etc.)
 Maintaining electronic devices
 Using recruiters in a SARA member state
 Students do not gather in groups
 If enrollment on military base is limited to
federal employees and their families
 Holding proctored exams
SARA says no physical
presence if
 Academic
personnel live in a state but do
not gather with students
 Short course/seminar < 20 classroom hrs
 Full term course meeting no more than 2
meeting totaling <6 hours
 Operating limited supervised field
experience*
Supervised field experience
A
student learning experience under the
oversight of a supervisor, mentor, faculty
member of other qualified professional
 Located in host state
 Responsible to enrolling institution
 Placement of not more than 10 students
from an individual academic program
placed simultaneously at one clinical or
practicum site.
Quick test
1.
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4.
Huntington University (HU), based in Indiana,
chooses to open an administrative office in
Illinois.
HU runs radio advertisements on the Bubba
Gump show in Ohio and Alabama.
The science department at HU offers online
classes and requires they meet once a
month for 2 hours for a lab.
The HU education department requires
students to do student teaching.
Complaint Process
 Institutions
offering distance education
must provide information regarding the
filing of a complaint for each state where
classes are offered.
Annual Reporting
 Beginning
fall 2015
 One month after fall enrollment numbers
are reported (IPEDS)
 # of students by state/territory or district
Odds & Ends
 If
a state requires an out-of-state college
to register with the secretary of state or
other state registry and/or appoint an
agent in the host state, SARA does not
impact that requirement
 SARA has no effect on state professional
licensing requirements
Application process
 For
states - http://www.nc-sara.org/whatdoes-state-need-to-join-sara
 For institutions - http://www.ncsara.org/what-does-institution-do
 Contact by state - http://www.ncsara.org/content/state-portal-agencycontacts
For additional information
 Jenny
Parks, M-SARA director, will be
joined by colleagues for a SARA update
webinar on Tuesday, March 24, at 1:00
p.m. CT.
 https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registration
s/new?cid=s0x63qk9hvxm