Illinois Administrative Code › Title 23 - EDUCATION AND CULTURAL RESOURCES › Part 1030 - LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD FOR ILLINOIS RETAIL ACT › Section 1030.80 - Maintenance of Authorization to Operate and/or Grant Certificates and Degrees under the 1961 Act

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Most
			 institutions are approved to operate under both the 1945 Act and the 1961 Act.
			 Institutions under only the 1945 Act shall comply with Section
			 1030.70.
			 Institutions under only the 1961 Act shall comply with Section 1030.80.
			 Institutions under both Acts shall comply with both Sections
			 1030.70
			 and 1030.80. When the two Sections are identical, the institution will be
			 considered in compliance with the 1945 Act by complying with Section 1030.80
			 and vice versa.
b) This subsection
			 (b) governs the Maintenance of the Authorization to Operate and/or Award
			 Specific Certificates and Degrees procedure under the 1961 Act.
1) Annual Report
Each authorized institution shall file annually with the Board
				its current catalogs. In addition, institutions must comply with any data
				requests to satisfy Board reporting requirements.
2) Reviews
The staff of the Board may conduct reviews and/or visitations
				of authorized institutions and/or their certificate and degree programs as
				necessary for the implementation of the statute. This may include a review in
				the fifth year of a new program's existence. Board staff may review the
				program, in cooperation with institutional staff, to verify the institution's
				implementation and maintenance of the conditions that were presented in its
				applications and that formed the basis upon which the authorizations were
				granted. The fifth year review may also include information on improvements in
				the institution's capacity to efficiently and effectively deliver certificate
				and degree programs using technological innovation and comprehensive data
				systems. Evidence that the program meets standards enumerated in Section
				1030.30(a)
				may be reviewed. In the case of a program in which State licensure is required
				for employment in the field, a program can be found to be in good standing if
				the institution is able to provide evidence that program graduates are eligible
				to take the appropriate licensure examination and pass rates are maintained as
				specified in the objectives of the unit of instruction. If there is no such
				evidence, approval of the program may be withdrawn by the
				Board.
3) Complaints
			 Concerning Institutional Degree Practices
The staff of the Board may initiate an investigation in
				response to written or oral information suggesting that changes have occurred
				in the conditions under which Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
				Certificates and Degrees was given. During the investigation, there may be a
				temporary hold placed on the institution's applications to the Board for new
				program approvals and other programs. The hold will be for a specified period
				of time not to exceed six months, unless the Board begins the process for
				revocation as provided in subsection (b)(5), at which time the hold will
				continue until the Board decision is made.
4) Temporary Suspension of Program
An institution may place any approved program on temporary
				suspension after receiving Board approval. The institution shall provide an
				annual status report to the Board on any program under temporary suspension
				status. The Board will consider a program placed on temporary suspension status
				to be terminated if an annual status report is not received or if no
				reinstatement request is received within the first five years after the program
				was placed on temporary suspension. An institution may petition for
				reinstatement during the five-year period.
5) Revocation or Relinquishment of Operating
			 and/or Degree-Granting Authority
A) Grounds
			 for revocation include:
i) Failure to permit
			 any duly authorized representative of the Board to enter upon the premises of
			 the institution and to inspect or otherwise examine the institution and its
			 books, papers or other records.
ii)
			 Failure to maintain the conditions under which the institution and/or its
			 certificates and/or its degrees were authorized.
iii) Failure to maintain the institution's
			 implementation and maintenance of the conditions that were presented during its
			 fifth year review and that formed the basis upon which the authorizations were
			 continued.
iv) Failure to offer
			 degrees or instruction for one continuous 12-month period.
v) Abandonment of the institution.
vi) Loss of accreditation status with an
			 accrediting body with which the institution is or was affiliated.
vii) Actions of federal or state regulatory
			 agencies or Offices of Attorneys General, Offices of Inspectors General, or
			 similar bodies that affect an institution's status with those
			 bodies.
B) Procedures for
			 Revocation
i) Following the Board staff
			 investigation of the institutional degree practices, the staff may recommend to
			 the Board revocation of the Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
			 Certificates and Degrees.
ii) If
			 the Board votes to revoke the Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
			 Certificates and Degrees, the institution may request a hearing. The Board
			 shall not be required to schedule a hearing and has the option to waive a
			 hearing if the institution has not operated for one continuous 12-month period
			 or the institution has been abandoned; even in these cases, however, the Board
			 shall be required to revoke the authority at a public hearing at which any
			 opponent who is injured or impacted by the revocation must be given the
			 opportunity to be heard.
iii) The
			 Board shall designate a Hearing Officer who shall schedule and conduct a
			 hearing.
iv) The Hearing Officer
			 shall make a written report of findings and recommendation to the Board, which
			 shall make a final determination and shall notify the institution of its
			 decision.
v) Following a Board
			 decision to revoke the Authorization to Operate and/or Award Specific
			 Certificates and Degrees, the letter of authorization shall be rendered
			 invalid.
vi) At any time after
			 revocation, the Board may restore an Authority to Operate and/or Award Specific
			 Certificates and Degrees.
vii) A
			 closed institution shall arrange for its student records to be maintained in a
			 safe and suitable place as determined by the Board (such as another like kind
			 of institution or the Board).
6) Institutional or Unit Closure and Teach
			 Out
An institution that is closing entirely or one or more units,
				either voluntarily or involuntarily, shall send to the Board the
				following:
A) Notice Required
i) Notice to the Board of the closure
			 immediately by email or certified mail;
ii) The name, address and telephone number of
			 the person who will be responsible for closure processes;
iii) A list of students affected and
			 anticipated decisions regarding teach out for each student (e.g., graduation,
			 transfer, remain at institution, and participate in teach out, etc.);
iv) Information on the remaining credit and
			 other requirements outstanding for each student to complete the program;
v) Copies of the student-directed
			 communication plan that includes the proposed timeline and methods for
			 notifying students of teach-out options. Plans must include communication with
			 any students who may be on approved leaves of absence or otherwise difficult to
			 reach;
vi) Copies of the
			 communication plans for informing faculty, staff and other institutional
			 constituents;
vii) Identification
			 of an individual who will be empowered to act as official registrar, if needed,
			 after the closure; and
viii)
			 Submission of a letter of permission to the Board to access all institutional
			 properties in order to secure student records, if
			 necessary.
B) Teach-Out
			 Plan
i) After December 31, 2017, when a Board
			 approved institution proposes to discontinue its operation, that institution
			 shall cause to be created a teach-out plan acceptable to the Board. The
			 teach-out plan shall fulfill the institution's educational obligations to its
			 students. Should the institution fail to deliver or act on the teach out plan,
			 the Board is in no way responsible for providing the teach-out.
ii) An institution shall have written plans
			 designed to protect the contractual rights of its students and graduates in the
			 event the institution closes or undergoes a change of status (e.g., if the
			 institution changes location or if its authority is revoked), including the
			 right to complete the course of instruction in which the students or graduates
			 enrolled.
iii) If students are
			 receiving instruction prior to the institution's closing, the institution shall
			 file a plan to ensure that the institution's students will continue to receive
			 training of the same quality and content as that for which they
			 contracted.
C)
			 Arrangements for transferring students to a public or another approved
			 institution shall be filed with the Board prior to any student transfer. Prior
			 to approving the institution's arrangements for completing its teaching
			 obligations to students, the Board shall verify that students transferring will
			 receive the same kind of program and instructional services as those for which
			 they contracted.
D) Academic
			 Records
In the event an institution proposes to discontinue its
				operations, the chief administrative officer of the institution shall arrange
				for all original or legible true copies of all such academic records of the
				institution to be maintained in a safe and suitable place as determined by the
				Board (such as a third party provider, a like institution, or the
				Board).
i) These records shall
			 include, at a minimum, the academic records of each former student that are
			 traditionally provided on an academic transcript, such as, but not limited to,
			 courses taken, terms, grades and other such information.
ii) The institution shall make students aware
			 of how to obtain transcripts from either the closed institution and/or new
			 institution permanently retaining the records.
iii) The institution must release any holds
			 on student records before operation is discontinued and the records are
			 transferred