Global Campus to Provide Webinar About Offering Online Programs Outside Arkansas

The Global Campus will host a webinar at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, to get a national perspective on what other higher education institutions are doing to gain approval to offer online programs to people living outside their home states. An overview of the University of Arkansas’ efforts and status to gain such approvals will follow the webinar.

Faculty and administrators are invited to attend the webinar and meeting in Room 410 of the Global Campus, 2 E. Center St., on the downtown Fayetteville square. Those planning to attend should contact Beverly Wade at bewade@uark.edu by Tuesday, Feb. 26, to ensure adequate seating.

The U.S. Department of Education released a regulation in 2010 – which is no longer applicable – that required institutions to document that they have proper approval to serve students in other states. That federal regulation turned a spotlight on individual state regulations, which predate the 2010 federal rule. States with regulations still expect institutions to obtain necessary approvals before advertising or operating in each state, a process which is commonly referred to as “State Authorization.”

Authorization rules vary by state, and they apply to educational offerings regardless of delivery mode (face to face, distance, etc.). Much attention, however, has been focused on online and distance education degree programs, certificate programs, courses, etc.

The one-hour webinar “What Are Institutions Doing (or Not Doing) About State Authorization – Revisited” will present the results of a recent survey of institutional compliance by WCET, UPCEA and the Sloan Consortium, all national organizations with connections to online and distance education. The status of national efforts to implement a national reciprocity agreement will also be discussed.

At the conclusion of the webinar, Kim Bradford, director of compliance and quality assurance with the Global Campus, will provide an overview of the U of A’s compliance status, review the basis for operation in various states, and define the institutional activities within some states that can trigger the need for further action or authorization.

Based on fall 2012 data, the university has approval of the higher education agencies in 47 states to deliver education in those states, with expected approval for the remaining states, as well as some territories, forthcoming.

Maintaining compliance will be an ongoing effort that involves collecting and applying institutional data to the regulatory processes of all 50 states and several territories.

The institutional data, which is gathered each semester, includes enrollment data of U of A students who are physically located in other states and institutional activities, such as recruiting or advertising that target non-Arkansas residents. Some states have as many as three regulatory agencies that must be satisfied in order for an institution to be approved.

In addition, many states require out-of-state institutions that offer online programs leading to professional licensure to seek approval from the appropriate state licensure board, as national licensure does not exist for many professions. While maintaining compliance with each state’s higher education approving agency, additional compliance efforts will include working with the departments that offer certain online professional programs to address the requirements of state licensure boards.