NY Educ L § 210-C (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 1 - General Provisions Article 5 - University of the State of New York Part 1 - General Organization 210-C - Interstate Reciprocity Agreement for Post-Secondary Distance Education Programs.

§  210-c. Interstate reciprocity agreement for post-secondary distance education programs.     INTERSTATE RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT FOR THE POST-SECONDARY DISTANCE                            EDUCATION PROGRAMS                                 Article I                       Purpose, findings, and policy   The states party to an interstate agreement desire by common action to establish  comparable  standards  for  the  offering  of   postsecondary distance-education courses and programs and to facilitate more offerings of distance education courses to the students in their state.                                Article II                                Definitions   As used in this section and any agreements and contracts made pursuant to it, unless the context clearly states otherwise:  (a)"Accredited" shall mean holding institutional accreditation by name as  a  U.S.-based  institution from an accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.  (b)"Approve"  or  "Approval"  in  the  context  of  an   institutional application   to  operate  under  the  state  authorization  reciprocity agreement (SARA) means: a written statement by  a  home  state  that  an institution  meets  the  standards  required  by SARA and is eligible to operate under SARA.  (c)"Complaint" means: a formal assertion in writing that the terms  of this  agreement,  or  of  laws, standards or regulations incorporated by this agreement, are being violated  by  a  person,  institution,  state, agency or other organization or entity operating under the terms of this agreement.  (d) "Council" means: the National Council for SARA.  (e)"C-RAC  guidelines"  and  other  uses  of  "C-RAC"  refers  to  the Interregional  Guidelines  for  the  Evaluation  of  Distance  Education Programs  (Online Learning) for best practices in postsecondary distance education adopted by the Council  of  Regional  Accrediting  Commissions (C-RAC).  (f)   "Distance  education"  means,  for  purposes  of  an  interstate reciprocity agreement under this section:  instruction  offered  by  any means  where  the  student  and  faculty member are in separate physical locations. It includes, but is not limited to, online, interactive video or correspondence courses or programs. It does  not  include  intrastate distance education activity.  (g) "Home state" means: a member state where the institution holds its legal  domicile. To operate under SARA an institution must have a single home state.  (h) "Institution" means: a degree-granting postsecondary entity.  (i) "Legal domicile" of an institution for purposes of eligibility  in an  interstate  agreement  means  the  state  in which the institution's principal  campus  holds  its  institutional   accreditation   and,   if applicable,  its  federal  Office  of Postsecondary Education Identifier (OPEID) number. In the event that the OPEID  number  is  assigned  to  a campus  that  is  in  a  different  state  than the principal accredited campus, the SARA committees of  the  affected  regional  compacts  shall determine which is the home state for purposes of SARA.  (j)  "Member  state"  means: any state, district or territory that has joined SARA.  (k) "Physical presence" means: a measure by which a state defines  the status  of  an  educational institution's presence within the state. The distance education activities  of  an  educational  institution  with  a physical  presence  within the state are not covered under an interstate  reciprocity  agreement  under  this  Act  and  instead  must  meet   the requirements of the state.  (l)  "Portal  agency" means: the single agency designated by the state to serve as the interstate point of contact  for  questions,  complaints and  other  communications  related to the interstate compact and/or any regional compact.  (m) "Regional compact" means  one  of  New  England  Board  of  Higher Education,   Midwestern  Higher  Education  Compact,  Southern  Regional Education Board or Western Interstate Commission for  Higher  Education, or another SARA interstate regional compact for the mid-Atlantic states.  (n)  "State  authorization reciprocity agreements" or "SARA" means: an agreement among member  states,  districts  and  U.S.  territories  that establishes  comparable  national  standards  for interstate offering of post-secondary distance-education courses and programs.                                Article III  Interstate reciprocity agreements for postsecondary distance education  (a) The commissioner shall have the authority on behalf of New York to enter into SARA and/or any regional compacts on  behalf  of  this  state with  one  or  more  other  states  to  provide  for  the reciprocity of postsecondary  distance  education  and  to  carry  out  all  activities necessary to carry out such function.  (b)   Upon  entrance  into  SARA  and/or  any  regional  compact,  the department shall:  (i) be designated as the portal agency and shall  be  responsible  for the  administrative  and functional responsibilities of participation in SARA.   The department  shall  not  be  responsible  for  all  oversight activities  of  providers  in the state, but shall be the portal for the state;  (ii) consider applications from degree-granting  institutions  on  the same basis and either:  (A)  approve  any  institutions  that  meet the standards of SARA, and agree to the process and commitments of SARA without differentiating  by sector;  (B)  disapprove  any  institution  that does not meet the standards of SARA, or does not agree to the process and commitments of SARA; or  (C) may approve an institution applying for initial  participation  in SARA  to  participate  on  a  provisional status in any of the following circumstances:  (I) the institution is on probationary status or the  equivalent  with its institutional accrediting body;  (II)  the  institution  is using a letter of credit or is under a cash management agreement by the U.S. Department of Education;  (III)  the  institution  is  the  subject  of  a  publicly   announced investigation  by  a government agency, and the investigation is related to the institution's academic quality, financial stability or student or consumer protection; or  (IV) the institution is the subject of a current investigation by  its home  state  related  to  the  institution's academic quality, financial stability or student or consumer protection.  (iii) prescribe state processes for consumer protection and complaints in regulations of the commissioner, as required by SARA;  (iv) operate under the processes, procedures and  guidelines  required by  SARA,  including  the Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education developed by  the  Council  of  Regional  Accrediting Commissioners, if required by SARA;  (v)  serve  as  the  default  forum for any complaint filed against an institution  approved  by  the  state  to  participate  in   the   state authorization   reciprocity   agreement  and  the  department  shall  be  responsible for  coordinating  any  such  efforts  and  shall  have  the authority  to  investigate and resolve complaints that originate outside of the state. All other state agencies  and  governing  boards  of  such institutions shall assist as necessary in such investigations and report as needed to the department;  (vi) impose as a penalty refunds or other corrective action to resolve complaints involving residents of other states;  (vii) maintain written documentation of:  (A) all formal complaints received;  (B)  complaint  notifications provided to institutions and accrediting agencies;  (C)  actions  taken  that  are  commensurate  with  the  severity   of violations; and  (D) complaint resolutions.  (viii)  report complaints and concerns to the institutions about which the compliant is lodged, the home state portal  agency  responsible  for the institution, and, if appropriate, any accrediting bodies; and  (ix)  impose  an  annual  fee  on any institution participating in any interstate agreement, in an amount prescribed  by  the  commissioner  in regulations  which  shall  be  consistent  with any fees required by the interstate agreement and any fees required for the state  to  administer SARA.  Any institution that is removed from eligibility from SARA during the period of approval receives no fee refund; and  (x) report any information required by the National Council for SARA.                                Article IV              Institutional eligibility for admission to SARA   An institution applying to operate pursuant to SARA under this section shall:  (a) have its principal campus or central administrative unit domiciled in a state that has joined SARA and be authorized  to  operate  in  that state.  Only distance education content originating in the United States or a U.S. territory is eligible to be offered under the agreement;  (b) be a U.S. degree-granting institution that  is  accredited  by  an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education;  (c)  agree  to  be bound by any standards, processes and/or guidelines required  by  SARA,  including  the  Interregional  Guidelines  for  the Evaluation  of  Distance  Education developed by the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissioners, if required by SARA;  (d) agree to remain responsible for compliance with  the  requirements of  SARA  and  applicable  laws,  regardless  of whether the institution engages in operations  under  SARA  itself,  or  through  a  third-party provider;  (e)  agree  to notify the education department of any negative changes to its accreditation status;  (f) agree to provide any data requested by the  education  department, to  the extent permitted by applicable law, and assist the department in resolving any complaints arising from  its  students  and  to  abide  by decisions  of  the  department, in order for the education department to effectively monitor any activities under the agreement;  (g) report any information required by SARA and/or this section.                                 Article V                      Approved and accepted programs   Nothing in this section shall be  construed  to  repeal  or  otherwise modify  any  law or regulation of this state relating to the approval of any other educational programs not covered by this section.                                Article VI                           Effect and withdrawal    1. This section shall become effective upon this state's execution  of SARA and/or regional compact for distance education.   2.  The  duration  of any regional compact and/or interstate agreement and the methods and conditions of withdrawal therefrom  shall  be  those specified in their terms.