Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 6 - DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT › Division 10 - Commissioner of Higher Education › Chapter 12 - Interstate Reciprocity › Section 6 CSR 10-12.010 - State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This amendment updates the rule to
				  correspond to the new procedures required by the State Authorization
				  Reciprocity Agreement.
(1)
				Definitions.
(A) "Accredited" means holding
				institutional accreditation by name as a U.S.-based institution from an
				accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and whose scope of
				recognition includes distance education.
(B) "Approve" or "Approval" in the context of
				an institutional application to operate under 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) "Authorized" means
				holding a current valid charter, license, or other written document issued by a
				state, the federal government, or a recognized Indian tribe, granting the named
				entity the authority to issue degrees and operate within a state or
				jurisdiction as a postsecondary institution.
(D) "Charter" means a document bearing the
				word Charter issued by proper governmental authority that names a college or
				university as a degree-granting institution authorized to operate under the
				laws of the issuing jurisdiction.
(E) "Clinical" means a supervised field
				experience through which students earn academic credit through observation,
				treatment, and interaction with actual patients.
(F) "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.
(G) "C-RAC
				Guidelines" or "Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC)" refers to
				the Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education Programs
				(Online Learning) for best practices in postsecondary distance education
				developed by leading practitioners of distance education and adopted by the
				C-RAC.
(H) "Credits" means numeric
				descriptors of completion of academic work applicable toward a degree,
				including the Carnegie unit system and competency units.
(I) "Degree" means an award conferred at the
				associate level or higher by an institution as official recognition for the
				successful completion of a program of studies.
(J) "Distance education" means 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. To be eligible for delivery under
				SARA policies, distance education must be offered under the oversight and
				authority of a SARA member state from a facility location in a SARA member
				state.
(K) "Faculty" means a
				professional individual employed by or contracting with an institution
				primarily to teach, conduct research, or provide related professional education
				services.
(L) "Home state" means a
				SARA-member state where the institution holds its legal domicile, state
				authorization, and accreditation. To operate under SARA an institution must
				have a single home state.
(M) "Host
				state" means a member state in which an institution operates under the terms of
				SARA, other than the home state.
(N) "Hybrid" means an educational program or
				course that includes both face-to-face and distance education. Also known by
				the name "blended" and, sometimes, other terms.
(O) "Institution" means a degree-granting,
				postsecondary entity holding recognized accreditation for purposes of
				participation in SARA.
(P)
				"Internship" means a supervised field experience through which students earn
				academic credit and practical experience through training, observation, and
				interaction with employees and customers in an ongoing organizational or
				business setting. The term "internship" may be interchangeable with
				"externship" based on state or institutional definitions.
(Q) "Member state" means any state, district,
				or territory that has joined a SARA agreement through a regional
				compact.
(R) "NC-SARA" is the
				National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, which exists
				to coordinate the SARA work of the regional compacts, member states, and
				participating institutions to maximize the efficiency of the SARA
				initiative.
(S) "Non-degree award"
				means a formal postsecondary award that does not carry the designation of
				associate degree or higher.
(T)
				"Operate" means activities conducted by an institution in support of offering
				distance education degree or non-degree courses or programs in a state,
				including, but not limited to, instruction, marketing, recruiting, tutoring,
				field experiences, and other student support services.
(U) "Physical presence" means a measure by which a
				state defines the status of an educational institution's presence within the
				state. A SARA-participating institution's program meeting one (1) or more of
				the criteria for physical presence must meet the non-SARA requirements to
				operate legally in the state of Missouri.
1.
				Physical presence includes-
A. A physical
				location for groups of more than ten (10) students to receive synchronous or
				asynchronous instruction;
B. A
				requirement for students to meet in a location for instructional purposes more
				than twice per quarter or semester for a total of more than six (6) contact or
				clock hours;
C. Administrative
				office spaces for instructional and non-instructional staff;
D. A physical site on behalf of an
				institution from which prospective students may receive information regarding
				enrollment or students may receive support services;
E. Short courses or seminars that require
				more than twenty (20) contact hours in a six-month period; or
F. A mailing address or phone exchange within
				the state.
2. An
				institution is not considered to have a physical presence and therefore
				eligible for purposes of participation in SARA if it only-
A. Advertises via print, billboard, mail, or
				electronic media;
B. Offers courses
				of programs on military bases and enrollment is restricted to federal employees
				and their family members;
C.
				Maintains a server, router, or similar device in a facility that otherwise
				would not constitute a physical presence;
D. Employs faculty or other academic
				personnel who reside in the state;
E. Holds proctored exams at a Missouri
				location on behalf of the institution;
F. Recruits for a distance education
				program;
G. Participates in a
				consortia agreement to offer academic programs among SARA institutions and
				approved by each participating institution;
H. Has a contractual arrangement with the
				home or host state; or
I. Offers
				students educational field experiences or limited supervised field experiences
				in Missouri. Field experiences originating from campus-based programs are
				considered distance education for the purposes of participation in SARA if they
				place no more than ten (10) students from an academic program simultaneously at
				one (1) clinical or practicum site.
(V) "Portal agency" or "portal entity" means the
				single agency designated by each SARA member state to serve as the interstate
				point of contact for SARA questions, complaints, and other communications. The
				Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development is the portal
				agency for the state of Missouri.
(W) "Regional compact" means the New England Board of
				Higher Education, Midwestern Higher Education Compact, Southern Regional
				Education Board, or Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The
				Midwestern Higher Education Compact is the regional compact to which Missouri
				is a signatory.
(X) "SARA" means
				the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement, which is an agreement among
				member states, districts, and territories that establishes comparable national
				standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education courses
				and programs.
(Y) "State" means
				any state, commonwealth, district, or organized territory of the United
				States.
(Z) "Supervised field
				experience" means a student learning experience under the oversight of a
				supervisor, mentor, faculty member, or other qualified professional, located in
				the host state, who has a direct or indirect reporting responsibility to the
				institution where the student is enrolled, whether or not credit is granted.
				Examples include practica, student teaching, or internships. Independent
				off-campus study by individual students not engaged in a supervised field
				experience does not constitute a physical presence of a postsecondary
				institution in a SARA member state.
(AA) "Unified Agreement" or "Unified State
				Authorization Reciprocity Agreement" means the document adopted by the four
				regional compacts and affirmed by NC-SARA on December 1, 2015. The Unified
				Agreement is the foundational basis for the operation of
				SARA.