All eligible institutions may apply to the Coordinating Board
for admission to SARA under the signature of the institution's chief
academic officer. Coordinating Board staff will review the application
and make a determination to approve or deny the request to participate
in SARA. Within the application, an institution shall make assurances
that it:
(1) Agrees to abide by the C-RAC Guidelines for the
Evaluation of Distance Education.
(2) Agrees to be responsible for the actions of any
third-party providers used by the institution to engage in operations
under SARA.
(3) Agrees to notify the board of any negative changes
to its accreditation status.
(4) Agrees to provide data requested by the board.
(5) Agrees to cooperate with the board in the investigation
of any complaints arising from the students its serves in other states
through SARA and to abide by investigating authority's resolution
of any such complaint.
(6) All complaints must follow the institution's customary
resolution procedure prior to being referred to the Coordinating Board.
Grade appeals and student conduct appeals will be resolved at the
institutional level without further appeal through SARA.
(7) Agrees to notify all students in a course or program
that customarily leads to professional licensure, or which a student
could reasonably believe leads to such licensure, whether or not the
course or program meets requirements for licensure in the state where
the student resides. If an institution does not know whether the course
or program meets licensure requirements in the student's state of
residence, the institution may meet this SARA requirement by informing
the student in writing and providing the student the contact information
for the appropriate state licensing board(s). An email dedicated solely
to this purpose and sent to the student's best known email address
meets this requirement.
(8) Agrees, in cases where the institution cannot fully
deliver the instruction for which a student has contracted, to provide
a reasonable alternative for delivering the instruction or reasonable
financial compensation for the education the student did not receive.
(9) Agrees to pay an annual fee to NC-SARA. This fee
replaces any state fees that the institution would normally pay to
other SARA member states. If an institution offers distance education
to students in non-SARA participating states, it must pay required
state fees.
(10) If institutional membership is denied, the board
will provide a written reason for denial. The institution may reapply
at any time, having corrected any deficiencies, or may appeal the
denial within 30 calendar days to the Coordinating Board's SARA signatory.
The Coordinating Board's SARA signatory will review the appeal and
render a final decision. If the denial is upheld, the institution
may appeal to the SREB to determine if the board has met the requirements
of SARA, but the SREB cannot overturn the final decision made by the
Coordinating Board's SARA signatory.
|
