STATE AUTHORIZATION
Background
On October 29, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released new “program integrity”
regulations.

If WVC offers distance education to out-of-state students, we must acquire authorization
from the state (other than our own) in which the DE student resides.

Authorization is required for students in states (other than our own) to receive federal
financial aid.
What We Plan to Do”

Each State has different regulations and fee requirements and charges varying amounts
from $0 to $10,000 or more for authorization. Many require annual renewal fees.

Recommendation:WVC is electing to prohibit out-of-state students from enrolling
inDistance Education classes at WVC. Many other colleges are going this same route as we
wait for a State by State legislation on reciprocity (you help me, I’ll help you).

To view a sample cost of compliance see: http://wcet.wiche.edu/wcet/docs/stateapproval/StateAuthorizationCostsofCompliance04-08-11.pdf
Implications for DE and WVC:

If we are not compliant, we will be asked to reimburse federal financial aid funds for
students in the non-compliant states.

Any Title IV student aid disbursed to students inthat State is an institutional liability.
How does this affect WVC’s enrollment?

Summer 2011 – 17 students in 11 states + 1 Military

Fall 2011 – 8 students in 8 states

Spring 2012 – 7 students in 5 states +1 Military

Fall 2012 -5 students in 3 states
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Correspondence or Distance Education?
Background
Because of Title V and federal aid to DE classes, the DOE is now more clearly defining the
differences between correspondence courses and distance education.
Implications for DE and the College
•
If the statutory limitation on the percentage of students (50 percent) who can be enrolled in
correspondence course is exceeded, the college cannot participate in Title IV programs.
•
The college would have to return Title IV funds if: courses do not qualify as
telecommunications courses, arenot principally offered using technology offered in a CMS
and there are not regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors.
Distance Education defined
34 C.F.R. § 602.3 (Definitions)
•
Instruction delivered to students who are separated from the instructor
•
Regular and substantive interaction between students and the instructor
•
May use Internet, one- or two-way transmissions, audio/video conferencing, DVDs or CDROMs
Correspondence Education defined
34 C.F.R. § 602.3 (Definitions)
•
Instructional material provided by mail or electronic transmission (including
examinations) to students who are separated from the instructor
•
Limited interaction between student and instructor and primarily initiated by
students
•
A course that is typically self-paced
Other Types of Courses Defined
Colleges define their web-enhanced and Hybrid classes differently in an effort to explain the way a
class meets to students. State apportionment does not differentiate between hybrid or online
classes. If any portion of a face-to-face class is online, it is considered an online class.
•
Technology-Enhanced: Course is taught both in person, in a classroom and via technology.
The technology-delivered components include teaching and learning activities. Use of
technology does not reduce the time traditionally spent in the face-to-face class.
•
Hybrid/Blended: Course is taught both in person, in a classroom and via technology. The
technology-delivered components include teaching and learning activities and reduces the
time traditionally spent in the face-to-face class. If any of the time students spend in a
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face-to-face class is reduced by technology, the class becomes a Hybrid/Blended class and
will be considereda Distance Education class.
Pre-emptive Solutions

Educate and create guidelines/checklists for instructors

Create guidelines/checklists for determining DE vs. correspondence courses.

CMS has features for participating in discussion boards, chat rooms, and viewing videos, but
instructors do not use orrequire.

Grading is based upon submission of assignments and tests, not on any online
communication/interaction.

Instructors grade assignments and return them online,are available to answer questions,
and periodically send messages to students who are not submitting assignments.

Instructors do not deliver lectures or initiate discussions with students; tutoring and other
instructional resources are provided at the student’s discretion.

Syllabi does not describe any mandatory or regular and substantive interaction between
students and instructors.

Student posts and discussion forums are student driven; grades are not affected if students
do not use the features.

Courses that largely consist of written work completed and submitted by students and
graded by instructors, and/or completion of tests, fit the definition of correspondence
education rather than distance education
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Last Day of Attendance and DE
Background
LDA is the date an institution is expected to use to calculate the amount of Title IV (Financial Aid)
refund to return to the Department of Education when a student withdraws from a program.
Implications for DE and the College:

ED has begun retroactively enforcing this heightened standard that requires documentation of
regular and substantive interaction between the students and faculty, through discussion
board posts, completed assignments, or electronic conversations with faculty.

If an audit that finds that a program lacked sufficient engagement and should be classified
as “correspondence study,” it would make us ineligible to participate in Title IV Programs.
Pre-emptive Solutions
•
Regular Effective Contact for DE must be defined and enforced by our college.
•
LDA (Last Date of Attendance) policy is created and enforced that includes academic
engagement (activity).
•
Instructors save work of the dropped students and document when the activity stopped.
•
College must define “excessive absences” for their DE program and instructors.
ED (Department of Education) position:
•
The LDA in an “academically related activity” requires more than attendance in the student’s
electronic classroom.
•
Meeting “regular and substantive interaction” between students and faculty” requires:
o
Discussion board posts Post and take part in discussion boards
o
Completed assignments
o
Electronic conversations with faculty
Sample Last Day of Attendance Policy
The last day of attendance is not the same as the census state. For example, in Fall 2012 the
census date was 09/10/2012. However, Financial Aid recipients who withdraw completely or reduce
units before or equal to 60% (For Fall, 2012 - November 3, 2012) of the semester, may have
to return a portion of the financial aid funds received. Students who withdraw and do not repay
funds will have an institutional hold placed on future West Valley or Mission College registration
and transcripts. A national hold may be placed and future aid eligibility at any institution will be
denied.
This date for the Spring 2013 semester (60%) is April 11, 2013.
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•
When a student has not participated in discussions or other forms of communication and/or
has not submitted assignments for two consecutive weeks, the instructor will attempt to
contact the student and notify them that they have 5 days to complete the missing work or
be dropped from the course.
•
Give a brief quiz prior to the census date and drop all students who did not take the quiz (or
contact you about it)
•
The instructor will document the student’s work until the point of dropping the student.
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Student Authentication
On Our ANGEL Login Page:
Through the entry of my username and password I affirm that I am the student who
enrolled in this course. Furthermore, I affirm that I understand and agree to follow the
regulations regarding academic integrity and the use of student data as described in the
Student Conduct Code that governs student rights and responsibilities. Failure to abide by
the regulations may result in disciplinary action up to expulsion from the college.
The Law
Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 Regulation Impacting Student Authentication
602.17 Application of standards inreaching an accreditation decision.
Requires institutions that offer distance education or correspondence education to have processes
in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance
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education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in
and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit. The agency meets this
requirement if it –
(1)
Requires institutions to verify the identity of a student who participates in class or
coursework by using, at theoption of the institution, methods such as -A secure login and pass code: ANGEL addresses this
Virtually every community college in California is using a DE Course Management System
(CMS) that meets the first criteria identified above for secure credentialing/login and
password.
(2)
Proctored examinations; and
(3)
New or other technologies and practices that are effective in verifying student identification;
(4)
Makes clear in writing that institutions must use processes that protect student privacy and
notify students of projected additionalstudent charges associated with verification of student
identity, if any, at the time of registration or enrollment.
The revision to section 58003.1 makes it even clearer that DE courses can apply any attendance
procedure that they are eligible to use based on the specific criteria applicable to each procedure.
In spite of the changes noted above, please be aware that other essential requirements and criteria
applicable to the various attendance accounting procedures continue to apply. For example, Title 5
sections 58003.1(b) and (c) relative to counting the student contact hours of active enrollment in
the census-based attendance procedures have not been amended--and as indicated above, speak
of “regularly scheduled” days and hours. Also, Title 5 section 58023 requires that the class
(contact) hour unit for classes be not less than 50 consecutive minutes.
Title 5 sections 58000 and 58030 also continue to require detailed tabulations of all course
enrollment and attendance and appropriate support records. The Actual Hours of Attendance
procedure (Positive Attendance) provided by Title 5 section 58003.1(d) can be used if the course is
irregularly scheduled and all applicable requirements are met. If the DE course cannot meet all of
the criteria for the attendance procedures outlined in section 58003(b), (c) or (d), the course must
be accounted for as an independent study course (i.e., number of units). A complete explanation of
these and other essential attendance accounting and reporting requirements are provided in the
Student Attendance Accounting Manual (Chapters 1 and 3.)
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More information available at:
ASSJC - Ensuring the Appropriate Use of Educational Technology: An Update for Local
Academic Senates
http://asccc.org/sites/default/files/Educational_Technology.pdf
Frequently Asked Questions About Hybrid and Blended Courses
http://www4.uwm.edu/ltc/hybrid/about_hybrid/index.cfm
What is Title IV?
http://www.dpinnell.com/TitleIVAgencies.htm
Is Your Distance Education Course Actually a Correspondence Course?
http://wcetblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/correspondence-definition/
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College’s Administration of the Title IV Programs Final Audit
Report
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/fy2012/a05k0012.pdf
State Authorization – Sample Costs of Compliance Compiled by WCET – the WICHE
Cooperative for Educational Technologies (wcet.wiche.edu)
http://wcet.wiche.edu/wcet/docs/state-approval/StateAuthorizationCostsofCompliance04-08-11.pdf
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