Committee Report | January 2012

Report of

REGENTS ACCES COMMITTEE

To

The Board of Regents

January 10, 2012

Your ACCES Committee held its scheduled meeting on January 9, 2012.  All members were present.  Additional members of the Board attending where:  Chancellor Tisch, Regent Bendit, Regent Bottar, Regent Cashin, Regent Cottrell, Regent Dawson, Regent Jackson,  Regent Phillips, Regent Tallon, and Regent Young.

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

The Committee was updated on the status of legislative and regulatory changes being proposed to enhance the work of the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS).   The Department submitted a revised proposal to the Legislature in October 2011.  This legislation will: expedite student assistance when a school closes; limit students’ loan liability and the TRA’s potential liability by distributing student loan pay-outs throughout the school year rather than at the start of the school; make permanent the procedures for working with schools that are in financial distress so that unnecessary school closures are avoided, students are protected and the viability of TRA is assured; increase fees to reflect the resource needs of the Department; increase license application fee from $250 to $5,000; create Candidacy Schools; allow qualified instructors to obtain a single license so that they could teach at any licensed school; and eliminate the business, trade, and computer school designation, with all schools to be known as licensed private career schools.

In addition, as a result of the bill passing: BPSS systems of operation could be fully modernized; more complaints could be investigated and completed; technical and educational assistance to licensed schools and students could be increased; there could be better data collection and management to oversee schools’ performance; financial viability reviews of schools and monitoring of schools in financial distress could both be enhanced to limit the number of school closures; greater numbers of cases and investigations could be conducted to ensure quality education; the on-line licensure and discipline system could be purchased and implemented; a more streamlined complaint and discipline resolution process could be implemented; and communications with schools, instructors, and students could be enhanced.

The Department continues to advocate for the 2012 legislation discussed above and work toward upgrading our current 25-year-old computer system.

This concludes our report.