SECTION 4.314. Admission to SARA

All eligible institutions may apply to the Coordinating Board for admission to SARA under the signature of the institution's chief academic officer. Coordinating Board staff will review the application and make a determination to approve or deny the request to participate in SARA. Within the application, an institution shall make assurances that it:

(1) Agrees to abide by the C-RAC Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education.

(2) Agrees to be responsible for the actions of any third-party providers used by the institution to engage in operations under SARA.

(3) Agrees to notify the board of any negative changes to its accreditation status.

(4) Agrees to provide data requested by the board.

(5) Agrees to cooperate with the board in the investigation of any complaints arising from the students its serves in other states through SARA and to abide by investigating authority's resolution of any such complaint.

(6) All complaints must follow the institution's customary resolution procedure prior to being referred to the Coordinating Board. Grade appeals and student conduct appeals will be resolved at the institutional level without further appeal through SARA.

(7) Agrees to notify all students in a course or program that customarily leads to professional licensure, or which a student could reasonably believe leads to such licensure, whether or not the course or program meets requirements for licensure in the state where the student resides. If an institution does not know whether the course or program meets licensure requirements in the student's state of residence, the institution may meet this SARA requirement by informing the student in writing and providing the student the contact information for the appropriate state licensing board(s). An email dedicated solely to this purpose and sent to the student's best known email address meets this requirement.

(8) Agrees, in cases where the institution cannot fully deliver the instruction for which a student has contracted, to provide a reasonable alternative for delivering the instruction or reasonable financial compensation for the education the student did not receive.

(9) Agrees to pay an annual fee to NC-SARA. This fee replaces any state fees that the institution would normally pay to other SARA member states. If an institution offers distance education to students in non-SARA participating states, it must pay required state fees.

(10) If the Coordinating Board's SARA Coordinator denies an institution's application for membership in SARA, a written reason for denial will be provided. The institution may reapply at any time, having corrected any deficiencies, or may appeal the denial within 30 calendar days to the Coordinating Board's SARA Signatory. The Coordinating Board's SARA Signatory will review the appeal and render a final decision. If the SARA Signatory upholds the denial, the institution may appeal to the SREB to determine if the board has met the requirements of SARA, but the SREB cannot overturn the final decision made by the Coordinating Board's SARA Signatory

Source Note: The provisions of this §4.314 adopted to be effective November 25, 2015, 40 TexReg 8204; amended to be effective November 22, 2020, 45 TexReg 8338