Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 583 - HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING COMMISSION, OFFICE OF DEGREE AUTHORIZATION › Division 30 - STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR SCHOOLS REQUIRED TO OBTAIN AUTHORIZATION TO OFFER ACADEMIC DEGREES IN OREGON, OR REQUIRED TO ESTABLISH EXEMPTION › Section 583-030-0032 - Review Process for Degrees

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
Effective January 13, 2015:
(1) Review of an application to offer
			 instruction or related services leading to a degree or certificate includes
			 evaluation of the school and its proposed programs in relation to the state
			 academic standards set forth in OAR 583-030-0035, or modified under
			 583-030-0036  for a non-Oregon school that will offer limited resident
			 instruction in Oregon.
(2) Pursuant
			 to OAR 583-030-0036, the Commission at its discretion may employ an abbreviated
			 review procedure with adjusted fee for a non-Oregon school offering limited or
			 restricted instruction in Oregon for an external degree.
(3) Review of free-standing certificate or
			 diploma programs offered by degree-granting schools, or credit-bearing courses
			 offered by schools that do not issue degrees in their own name will generally
			 follow the model for associate degrees.
(4) In the course of evaluation, the
			 Commission's staff will ordinarily inspect the facilities and records of an
			 applicant school and interview officials, employees, or students of the school
			 as necessary to obtain sufficient information. The staff may also interview
			 employers of school graduates and representatives of organizations that appear
			 closely related to the school.
(5)
			 Where competency in a particular academic discipline is essential to an
			 evaluation, the Commission's executive director may seek expert advice in that
			 discipline. However, adequacy of instruction in a discipline will ordinarily be
			 judged by faculty credentials in relation to the standards, by curricular
			 content in comparison with similar programs of established quality, and by
			 educational resources and student performance. Where competency in a particular
			 occupation or profession is needed for an evaluation, the executive director
			 will seek expert advice from the corresponding state licensing board.
(6) The Commission will not review
			 sectarian content of curriculum for degrees with a religious title or
			 significant religious content; the state's only concern will be to ensure that
			 the curriculum has a reasonable structure related to credits awarded.
(7) The review culminates in
			 preparation of findings, including explanation of any failure to satisfy a
			 standard, which are provided to the applicant in a formal report. Approval is
			 not granted until all standards are satisfied. If a standard cannot be
			 satisfied in a reasonable length of time, approval will be denied.
(8) Refusal by the Commission to authorize an
			 applicant school to offer instruction or related services leading to a degree
			 is subject to right of review as provided in ORS
			 348.615 by an action brought for
			 trial without jury in the circuit court of the county in which the school is
			 located. A school or putative school having no physical location in Oregon at
			 which students are served shall bring any such action in the circuit court of
			 Marion County.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
				  348.606
Stats. Implemented: ORS
				  348.603 &
				  348.606