UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20202

www.ed.gov

The Department of Education’s mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global Competitiveness 

by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

2021 Negotiated Rulemaking

Affordability and Student Loans Committee

Organizational Protocols

I. Mission Statement

The U.S. Department of Education has established this negotiated rulemaking committee to

develop proposed student financial assistance regulations pursuant to Sec. 492 of the Higher

Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The goal of the committee’s work is to obtain 

consensus on proposed regulations.

II. Participation

A. The committee consists of the following members:

US Department of Education Jennifer Hong, Federal Negotiator

Todd Davis, Soren Lagaard, and Brian Siegel

Office of General Counsel (non-voting)

Facilitators Kayla Mack

Cynthia Jeffries

Brady Roberts

Emil Totonchi

B. The primary member will participate for the purpose of determining consensus. The

alternate will participate for the purpose of determining consensus in the absence of the 

member. Other members may not serve as a proxy in the absence of the primary and the 

alternate negotiator for a constituency. 

C. The primary and alternate will work together as a team to represent their constituency. A 

primary and alternate negotiator may decide that the alternate negotiator will take the primary 

negotiator’s place at the table for certain topics and will inform the facilitators in advance of the 

discussion of the topic. A primary negotiator may request that an alternate negotiator be 

provided an opportunity to speak on a particular subtopic. Facilitators will determine at what 

point the alternate may speak.

III. Meeting Facilitation

A. The facilitator(s) will help to ensure that negotiations run smoothly, develop meeting

agendas, prepare and distribute a record of agreements, help parties to resolve their 

differences, and work to achieve consensus on the issues addressed by the committee.

B. The facilitator(s) will be available to facilitate full committee meetings and any caucuses.
U.S. Department of Education

Affordability and Student Loans Committee, p. 2

IV. Committee and Subcommittee Membership

A. The committee may add members. Requests for membership must be approved by all current

primary committee members. New members may participate immediately upon admission to

membership.

B. Upon the initiation by any member in writing and after consultation with the facilitators, the 

Secretary may remove a member he determines is not acting in good faith in accordance with 

these protocols. In such a case, the Secretary will provide an explanation in writing to the

member and the committee.

C. The Secretary may remove any member who ceases to be employed by or be associated

with the community of interests the individual was chosen to represent.

D. The Department and/or the committee may form a subcommittee(s) to address specified issues 

and to make recommendations to the committee. The Department has formed the Prison 

Education Program Subcommittee for this negotiation. A subcommittee may consist of

committee members (primary or alternate negotiators) and/or individuals who are not 

committee members but who have expertise that will be helpful in developing proposed 

regulations. As the subcommittee is not a decision-making or voting body, it will not include 

alternates. Subcommittee meetings will be held between the meetings of the committee. All 

committee members will be notified of all subcommittee meetings.

V. Advisors

A. Advisors are not members of the committee and will not impact the consensus vote. The 

advisors will be expected to be available during all committee meetings (excluding any 

subcommittee meetings). 

B. There will be two advisors at the table who will serve as resources to assist this committee. One 

advisor will represent qualifying employers on the topic of Public Service Loan Forgiveness. 

The other advisor will provide expertise in economic and/or higher education policy analysis 

and higher education data and will support the committee in evaluating and understanding its 

options. 

C. Any member of the negotiating committee and/or any of the facilitators may request assistance 

from the advisors as needed during the negotiating sessions. 

D. Advisors may provide written materials to the committee and/or request to speak by informing 

the facilitators in advance of or during a meeting.

E. With approval by a consensus of the primary members of the committee, individuals who are 

invited by a primary member but who are not members of the committee may participate in 

committee or subcommittee meetings as needed and appropriate.

VI. Decision Making

A. The committee will operate by consensus, which means that there must be no dissent by any
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Affordability and Student Loans Committee, p. 3

member for the committee to be considered to have reached agreement. Members should not 

block or withhold consensus unless they have serious reservations about what is proposed.

Absence will be equivalent to not dissenting.

B. Consensus will be separately determined for each issue; thus, consensus could be reached 

for some issues, but not others.

C. All agreements reached during the negotiations will be assumed to be tentative until the call for

final agreement on regulatory language. Committee members may not withdraw their

consensus once consensus is achieved in the final vote for each issue.

VII. Agreement

A. The goal of the committee is to develop proposed regulations that reflect a final consensus of 

the committee. If consensus is reached on the proposed regulations, the Department may

provide a preamble, consistent with the proposed regulations, to the members of the committee 

for review and comment prior to publication of the proposed regulations. The Department is 

not required to adopt or respond to the committee members' comments on the preamble.

B. If the committee reaches consensus on regulations on an issue, the Department will use this 

consensus-based language in its proposed regulations, and committee members and their 

employers will refrain from commenting negatively on the consensus-based regulatory 

language, except as provided below in paragraph C of this section.

C. The Department will act in good faith regarding consensus reached and will not substantively 

alter the consensus-based language of its proposed regulations unless the Department reopens 

the negotiated rulemaking process or provides a written explanation to the committee 

members regarding why it has decided to depart from that language. That written 

explanation will contain a detailed statement of the reasons for altering the consensus-based 

language and will be provided to the committee members in advance of the publication of the 

proposed regulations to allow committee members a real opportunity to express their 

concerns to the Department. If the Department alters consensus-based language, it will also

identify the changes made after consensus in the preamble to the proposed regulations, and 

committee members may comment positively or negatively on those changes and on other

parts of the proposed regulations.

VIII. Committee Meetings

A. The facilitator(s) will maintain a clear and reliable record of tentative and final agreements

reached during the negotiation process, as well as discussions of preamble language. The

draft meeting summaries will be provided to members, who may share them with others

within their community of interests. After review and approval by the committee, this record

will be made available to the public.

B. The Department will make every effort to distribute materials to committee members in a

timely fashion. To the extent practicable, the Department will provide members with

documents for discussion at committee meetings at least seven days in advance of the

meetings.

C. Any member may request a caucus through the facilitator(s) at any time for the purpose of
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Affordability and Student Loans Committee, p. 4

consultation.

D. The facilitator(s) will be responsible for developing an agenda for all meetings of the

committee. This agenda will be developed in consultation with the members of the

committee.

E. All committee meetings and subcommittee meetings, but not caucuses, are open to the

public and will be livestreamed to provide access to the public.

F. Committee members will remain engaged in the work of the committee and refrain from

other activity (including posting to social media) during the time that committee 

meetings are in session. Breaks will be provided with times announced by the 

facilitators.

G. If a negotiator requests data from the Department to clarify implications of potential 

actions or deepen the understanding of a topic, the Department will respond to the 

request prior to or at the next negotiation session. The response will be one of the 

following: 1) providing the requested data, 2) stating that more time is needed and a 

target date for providing the data, and/or 3) an explanation of why some or all of the 

data cannot or will not be provided. The Department will share any data supplied with 

the entire committee.

IX. The Virtual Negotiation Process

A. The facilitator will announce each topic. The first time a topic is discussed during 

each session, the Federal negotiator will provide an overview of the topic. A 

committee member who wishes to speak on that topic should virtually raise their hand. 

The facilitators will determine the order by which committee members speak. 

Committee members must wait until called to speak and follow facilitator instructions.

B. Only one committee member may speak at a time. All other committee members’ 

microphones are to remain muted. 

C. When called on, a committee member will have up to three minutes to speak. A 

committee member who exceeds the time may be muted. The facilitator will remind

the member when there are 30 seconds remaining.

D. To preserve time, a committee member should not repeat a previously made point 

when it is that committee member’s turn to speak. In the interest of time, facilitators 

may mute a committee member if it appears that the committee member is only 

repeating previously made points.

X. The Virtual Caucus Process

A. Any negotiator may call for a caucus, which generally consists of a subset of 

negotiators. A caucus stops the discussions of the full committee.

B. When a committee member calls for a caucus, a facilitator will collect the names of all 

committee members who will participate in the caucus so that participating members 

can be invited to the breakout room or a separate meeting.
U.S. Department of Education

Affordability and Student Loans Committee, p. 5

C. The committee member who called for the caucus should request the amount of time 

expected for the caucus to facilitate the return to negotiations. Additional time may be 

granted at the discretion of the facilitators and the Federal negotiator. The facilitators 

will communicate any change in schedule to all negotiators. Negotiators resume when 

the caucus has ended.

D. The committee member who called for the caucus will lead the discussion. The facilitators will 

ensure that members who wish to speak are provided time to do so using the time allotted.

XI. The Virtual Subcommittee Process

A. Cameras should remain on during active negotiations at all sessions. Cameras should 

be turned off during breaks and may also be turned off during a brief absence.

B. Subcommittee members will remain engaged in the work of the subcommittee and 

refrain from other activity (including posting to social media) during the time that 

subcommittee meetings are in session. 

C. The Federal subcommittee lead will introduce each new topic. A subcommittee 

member who wishes to speak on that topic should virtually raise their hand. A 

Department staff member will serve as the facilitator, determine speaking order, and 

call upon subcommittee members when it is their turn to speak. Subcommittee 

members must wait their turn and follow the Department staff instructions.

D. Only one subcommittee member may speak at a time. All other subcommittee 

members’ microphones are to remain muted. 

E. The subcommittee will provide timely recommendations to the committee. The 

committee may also request additional information from the subcommittee as needed.

XII. Safeguards for Members

A. Any member may withdraw from the negotiations at any time, without prejudice, by 

notifying the facilitator(s) in writing.

B. Any member whose employment changes during the negotiations will notify the facilitator(s)

of that change. The Department will determine if they are still an appropriaterepresentative 

of the constituency for which they were selected.

C. All members and the organizations they represent shall act in good faith in all aspects of

these negotiations.

D. Contact with the media, the investment community, and other organizations outside the

community of interest represented by the member will generally be limited to discussion 

ofthe overall objectives and progress of the negotiations. Members will refrain from

characterizing the views, motives, and interests of other members regarding negotiated

rulemaking during contact with the media, the investment community, other organizations

outside the community of interest represented by the member, and to the public including,

but not limited to, through social media.