New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 5 - POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION › Chapter 100 - PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING › Part 7 - LICENSURE UNDER THE POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION ACT › Section 5.100.7.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
"Accreditation"
means a verified accreditation status with an
				accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education that
				accredits institutions, as a means of assuring quality instruction.
B.
"Career school"
means a
				private post-secondary educational institution offering a formal educational
				curriculum in New Mexico for a fee to members of the general public beyond
				compulsory school age, terminating in a certificate, diploma, associate degree,
				or comparable confirmation of completion of the curriculum.
C.
"College"
or
"university"
means a private post-secondary educational
				institution offering a formal educational curriculum in New Mexico for a fee to
				members of the general public beyond compulsory school age, terminating in a
				baccalaureate degree, master's degree, or doctoral degree or comparable
				confirmation of completion of the curriculum.
D.
"Continuing education"
means
				only brief courses of instruction designed to teach specific skills that may be
				applicable in a work setting but are not sufficient in themselves to be
				considered a program of training for employment. Typically, a student only
				enrolls for one course rather than a sequence of courses. The continuing
				education units must meet the criteria set out by the professional organization
				or authority requiring the continuing education.
E.
"Cooling off period"
means at
				least three work days from the date of agreement or payment or from the date
				that the student first visits the institution, whichever is later.
F.
"Credit hour"
means an
				institution's count of the amount of work represented in the intended learning
				outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement, proof of
				commonly-accepted industry practices or consistent with the federal definition
				of the credit hour.
G.
"Degree"
means any title, designation, mark, abbreviation,
				appellation, or series of letters or words, including "associate",
				"bachelor's", "master's", "doctor's" and their equivalents, which are generally
				taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of a program of
				study designed to be comparable to those provided by institutions accredited by
				agencies recognized by the United States department of education.
H.
"Department"
means the New
				Mexico higher education department or its designated employee.
I.
"Enrollment Agreement"
means
				any agreement, instrument or note executed before a student begins course work
				which creates a binding obligation between the student and the
				institution.
J.
"Exemption"
,or
"Exempt"
means a written
				acknowledgment by the department that an institution, organization, or other
				entity, has met requirements and filed pertinent information as required by the
				department to provide educational services in New Mexico, and is not subject to
				the Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act.
K.
"Institution"
means a career
				school or nonregionally accredited college or university.
L.
"License"
,
"Licensed"
,or
"Licensure"
means a written
				acknowledgment by the department that a career school or nonregionally
				accredited college or university has met the requirements of the department to
				offer a formal educational curriculum within New Mexico.
M.
"Manager"
or
"Managers"
means the chief executive officer, chief operations officer,
				chief financial officer, senior business or finance officer, senior financial
				aid administrator, and senior or chief academic officer of a New Mexico private
				post-secondary educational institution.
N.
"Management plan of action"
means a plan that has been developed, reviewed and implemented by
				managers of the institution which details specific steps the institution will
				commit to taking in order to remediate an identified weakness, shortcoming or
				insufficiency.
O.
"Owner"
or
"Ownership"
means all individuals or entities that have
				any ownership interest in the institution.
P.
"Physical presence"
means the
				ongoing occupation of a physical location in the state, the ongoing maintenance
				of an administrative office to support the provision of higher education
				instruction, or engaging in one or more of the activities detailed in Paragraph
				(1) of Subsection A of
				5.100.7.6
				NMAC.
Q.
"Post-secondary
				educational institution"
or
"post-secondary institution"
means an academic, vocational, technical, business, professional, or other
				school, college, or university or other organization or person offering or
				purporting to offer courses, instruction, training, or education from a
				physical site in New Mexico, through distance education, correspondence or in
				person.
R.
"Private
				post-secondary educational institution"
means a non-publicly funded
				post-secondary educational institution that offers post-secondary education for
				a fee to a member of the general public.
S.
"Prospective student"
means
				a person who demonstrates interest in signing an enrollment agreement with a
				post-secondary educational institution.
T.
"Regional accreditation"
means a verified accreditation status with an accrediting agency recognized by
				the United States department of education that accredits degree granting
				institutions operating in a designated geographic region.
U.
"Registration"
or
"Registered"
means a written acknowledgment by the department that
				a regionally accredited college or university has filed pertinent curriculum
				and enrollment information, as required by the department, and is authorized to
				operate and offer a formal educational curriculum within New Mexico.
V.
"Review Committee"
means a
				committee established by the department pursuant to
				5.100.7.11
				NMAC.
W.
"State
				Authorization"
means a private post-secondary educational institution
				has been deemed by the department to satisfactorily meet criteria, as
				determined by the department, for registration or licensure under the
				Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act. All degree-granting institutions
				seeking state authorization shall be accredited or be seeking appropriate
				external accreditation. State authorization does not serve as an endorsement of
				a particular institution, but confirms that an institution has met the minimum
				criteria set by the department to operate in New Mexico.
X.
"Work day"
means a week day,
				Monday through Friday that is not recognized as a federal holiday.