U.S. Department of Education 

Higher Education Act 

2013 Gainful Employment Negotiated Rulemaking Committee 

Meeting Summary 

September 9 - 11, 2013 

Welcome 

Mr. Jeff Appel, Deputy Under Secretary of the Department, welcomed the members of the Gainful 

Employment Negotiating Committee and thanked them for agreeing to assist the Department in 

developing proposed regulations to address gainful employment issues. 

Introductions 

All members in attendance introduced themselves. 

Overview of the Negotiated Rulemaking Process 

The facilitators provided an overview of the negotiated rulemaking process. They explained that the 

Committee’s discussions would focus on developing consensus regulatory text for the Department’s 

proposed rule on gainful employment. 

Review and Adopt Minutes 

This was the initial meeting of this Negotiating Committee, so there were no minutes from a previous 

meeting. 

Organizational Protocols and Membership 

The members of the Committee discussed and approved the draft Organizational Protocols. The 

membership of the Committee, primaries and alternates, was discussed. Nominations for additions to the 

committee were made from those in attendance from the public. There was not a consensus on adding the 

nominated individuals to the Committee. The membership of the 2103 Gainful Employment Negotiated 

Rulemaking Committee is: 

2013 Gainful Employment Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

Facilitator

Chip Cameron Charles Pou

Federal Negotiator

U.S. Department of

Education

John Kolotos

U.S. Department of Education
Non‐Federal Negotiators

Community of Interest Primary Alternate

Students Rory O’Sullivan, Policy and Research

Director, Young Invincibles

Kalwis Lo, Legislative Director, United

States Student Association

Legal assistance

organizations that

represent students

Eileen Connor, Senior Staff Attorney,

Special Litigation Unit, New York Legal

Assistance Group

Whitney Barkley, Staff Attorney,

Mississippi Center for Justice

Consumer advocacy

organizations

Margaret Reiter Tom Tarantino, Chief Policy Officer, Iraq

and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Financial aid

administrators

Kevin Jensen, Financial Aid Director,

College of Western Idaho

Rhonda Mohr, Student Financial Aid

Specialist, California Community

Colleges Chancellor’s Office

State higher education

executive officers

Jack Warner, Executive Director and

CEO, South Dakota Board of Regents

Sandra Kinney, Vice President of

Institutional Research and Planning,

Louisiana Community and Technical

College System

State attorneys general

and other appropriate

State officials

Della Justice, Special Assistant Attorney

General, Kentucky Attorney General

Libby DeBlasio, Assistant Attorney

General, Colorado Department of Law,

Consumer Protection Section,

Consumer Fraud Unit

Business and industry Ted Daywalt, CEO and President, VetJobs Thomas Kriger, Research Director,

Building and Construction Trades

Department, AFL‐CIO, Director,

Standing Committee on Apprenticeship

and Training

Minority serving

institutions

Helga Greenfield, Associate Vice

President for College Relations and

Director of Title III and Government

Relations, Spelman College

Ronnie Higgs, Vice President, Student

Affairs and Enrollment Services at

California State University, Monterey

Bay
Two‐year public

institutions

Richard Heath, Financial Aid Director,

Anne Arundel Community College

Glen Gabert, President, Hudson County

Community College

Four‐year public

institutions

Barmak Nassirian, Director of Federal

Policy Analysis, American Association of

State Colleges and Universities

Barbara Hoblitzell, Associate Director,

Student Financial Support, University of

California Office of the President

Private, non‐profit

institutions

Jenny Rickard, Vice President for

Enrollment, University of Puget Sound

Thomas Dalton, Assistant Vice President

for Enrollment Management, Excelsior

College

Private, for‐profit

institutions—publicly

traded

Brian Jones, General Counsel, Strayer

University

Raymond Testa, Vice President of

Government Affairs & Compliance,

Empire Education Group  

Private, for‐profit

institutions‐‐ not

publicly traded

Marc Jerome, Board Member,

Association of Proprietary Colleges in

New York and Executive Vice President,

Monroe College

Justin Berkowitz, Vice President of

Operations, Daytona College  

  

Accrediting agencies   Belle Wheelan, President, Southern

Association of Colleges and Schools

Commission on Colleges

Neil Harvison, Chair, Association of

Specialized and Professional

Accreditors, Chief Academic and

Scientific Affairs Officer of the American

Occupational Therapy Association

Review Negotiating Agenda of Issues 

The Committee discussed the agenda for the meeting. The Committee agreed that the discussion of issues 

would begin with the draft regulatory text that was circulated by the Department before the meeting.

Public Comment 

Several opportunities were provided for the public to provide comment. No comments were received 

from the public at the end of Day 1. Comments from the public were received at the end of the second and 

the third days of the meeting.

Next Steps 

The Non-Federal Negotiators formed several informal Working Groups on the following issues: 

Repayment rates 

Placement rates 

Transition period 

Cohort default rates 

Upfront program eligibility 

Student consequences 
Opportunity to Improve?? 

Prior to the next meeting, the Department will review the proposals from the Working Groups, as well as 

proposals from other Negotiators, and will provide draft regulatory text to the Committee.