The letter focuses on proposals discussed during the Department’s Program Integrity and Institutional Quality negotiated rulemaking sessions. It addresses suggested new compliance requirements for postsecondary distance education courses and programs. The organizations, including WCET, jointly detailed concerns about those proposals and state support for other recommendations discussed in rulemaking.
Our main concerns focus on proposals to:
require attendance-taking for all distance education courses, and,
disallow asynchronous courses in clock-hour programs.
We understand the Department’s goals to protect students as consumers and to safeguard Title IV financial aid expenditures.
For our areas of concern, we suggest alternative pathways to reach the Department’s objectives.
The letter focuses on issues that concern the institutions that are our WCET and SAN members. There is also considerable attention to the impact the proposals will have on our students. The two concerns from the rulemaking proposals are:
Require Attendance-taking for All Distance Education Courses –
Proposed During Rulemaking: Currently, institutions are to determine the “last date of attendance” for a student who withdraws from an institution without notice. For distance education courses, logins do not count. The institution is required to provide evidence of the student’s last date of “academic engagement” (e.g., taking a test, submitting a paper, participating in an online discussion about course content). The Department is concerned that some institutions are not calculating the “last date of attendance” properly or are gaming the calculation for institutional financial gain.
Concerns: Although requested by negotiators, almost no data on the extent of non-compliance instances was presented. The Department posited that this would “simplify” the calculations. With the exception of institutions that are fully online or already are attendance-taking institutions, everyone we contacted has indicated this would be far more work to obtain the same proof of academic engagement as most institutions already successfully provide. Also, the requirement to document a student’s withdrawal after 14 days of no academic engagement has been cited as adding more work and not being friendly to non-traditional students.
Disallow Asynchronous Courses in Clock Hour Programs –
Proposed During Rulemaking: For institutions using the clock-hour method of financial aid distribution, the Department is concerned that many institutions were not properly tracking the time spent by students in asynchronous instructional activities. The Department proposed disallowing asynchronous courses in clock-hour programs. This would NOT have any impact on asynchronous courses in credit hour institutions.
Concerns: The Department noted that some institutions have spent considerable time and money to comply. Punishing them for the non-compliance of others seems unwise.
The Issues We Support, With Some Caveats
Our letter expresses our support for some of the proposals discussed during rulemaking:
Redefining the accreditation thresholds for “substantive change” reviews for distance education programs. A caveat is that the review for institutions that enroll 50% or more of their students at a distance (as they define it) will probably include the great majority of institutions.
Categorizing distance education programs into a “virtual location.” This will mainly help the Department collect data about distance education, but our caveat is our concern about how the Department will interpret that data.
A Call to Action
As advocated in a previous WCET Frontiers blog post, we urged distance education institutions to take action. That blog post includes links to four issue papers that you can use for additional information.
If you have opinions on the proposals highlighted in this letter or our previous one, we urge you to act now.
In a recent webcast, Department personnel asked for stories on the impact of these proposals. They need your real-world insights about the impact the proposals (if implemented) will have on your institution, your programs, and your students. You should:
Review current processes to determine what changes might need to be made should the proposed language be finalized as regulations.
Work with your government relations department to contact your federal and state elected officials.
Tell a story about how a proposal might affect your institution and your students. What is the impact of curtailing reciprocity? Will taking roll in online courses “simplify” your lives? If you are a clock-hour institution, who will be hurt by disallowing asynchronous courses?
Cheryl joined WCET in August of 2015 as the director of the State Authorization Network. She currently serves as the senior director, policy innovations. She directs the overall activities of WCET’s State Authorization Network (SAN), including coordination of staff addressing interstate policy and compliance, along with other ancillary compliance issues. As senior director, Cheryl also serves the overall WCET membership in addressing emerging and special regulatory issues related to digital learning in postsecondary education. She brings extensive experience in education and compliance to the WCET team and is a contributing author for State Authorization of Colleges and Universities, a guidebook for understanding the legal basis for State and Federal compliance for activities of postsecondary institutions.
Cheryl holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Richmond, a master’s degree in criminal justice from Bowling Green State University, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from James Madison University. She is the mother of four kids, all of whom have been instrumental in helping her develop new interests in theatre, hockey, and figure skating. Outside of work, Cheryl enjoys spending time with her family and is an avid fan of movies and TV shows written by Aaron Sorkin.
Russ Poulin is the executive director for WCET. He directs the team’s work in supporting the efforts of postsecondary institutions from all 50 states with a focus on the policy and practice of digital learning. He is a highly sought-after expert and leader regarding policy issues for distance education and on-campus uses of educational technologies. As WICHE vice president for technology-enhanced education, he advises on policy and projects for the regional higher education compact. Russ’s commitment to the field is continually noted, and he was honored to have represented the distance education community on federal negotiated rulemaking committees and subcommittees. Russ has received recognition from the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), the Presidents’ Forum, Excelsior College, and the National University Technology Network (NUTN) for his contributions to postsecondary digital education and educational policy.
Russ received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Denver and holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado. For no discernible reason, Russ also writes movie reviews for WCET members. As a movie enthusiast, Russ is most fascinated with characters and plots that surprise him. In addition, Russ is a recovering trivia guy who is also partial to cats and to his wife, Laurie.
Van joined WCET in 2021 as chief strategy officer where he is responsible for all aspects of WCET’s strategic planning; artificial intelligence research; diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; and assisting the team with policy and research efforts.
Van is a valuable asset to the team, having over 25 years of experience in higher education as a faculty member, academic administrator, state policy maker, and edtech leader. Van holds a PhD in 20th century US history with an emphasis in civil rights from Vanderbilt University, and his commitment to education is evidenced in both his professional and personal successes. Additionally, Van led the creation of the Texas adult degree complete project and the development of the first competency-based bachelor’s degrees at Texas public institutions of higher education during his time on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Van lives outside of Austin, Texas, with his beloved wife Lisa and two cats and, when not working, spends time collecting Lego models and dreaming of the day he can complete his western US camping trip. Van’s favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, and his favorite movie is Dr. Strangelove.
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