Guttman Community College has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). Several U.S. states and territories have entered into a voluntary agreement called the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) that establishes one set of national standards and regulations for offering certain out-of-state activities.
NC-SARA Mission
The National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, in collaboration with the four regional higher education compacts, was established to develop and implement an effective and efficient reciprocal state-level authorization process for postsecondary distance education. Its mission is to provide broad access to postsecondary education opportunities to students across the country, to increase the quality and value of higher learning credentials earned via distance education, and to assure students are well served in a rapidly changing education landscape.
SARA is an agreement among member states, districts, and territories establishing comparable national standards for approving interstate postsecondary distance education courses and programs.
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On September 13, 2016, the New York State Board of Regents adopted new regulations requiring out-of-state institutions of higher education to seek and obtain New York State Education Department (NYSED) approval to offer distance education to New York State residents and to permit the Department to enter into the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). New York State joined SARA on December 9, 2016.
New York State institutions participating in SARA are authorized to conduct distance education activity in other SARA member states under the terms and provisions of SARA. Please refer to the NC-SARA homepage for more information about SARA eligibility, coverage, and procedures. A list of states and institutions participating in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement is available on the NC-Sara directory.
Under NC-SARA (National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements) rules, students have the right to lodge a complaint or grievance if that student’s experience in an online program is not what they anticipate.
Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education
- Online learning is appropriate to the institution’s mission and purposes.
- The institution’s plans for developing, sustaining, and, if appropriate, expanding online learning offerings are integrated into its regular planning and evaluation processes.
- Online learning is incorporated into the institution’s systems of governance and academic oversight.
- Curricula for the institution’s online learning offerings are coherent, cohesive, and comparable in academic rigor to programs offered in traditional instructional formats.
- The institution evaluates the effectiveness of its online learning offerings, including the extent to which the online learning goals are achieved, and uses the results of its evaluations to enhance the attainment of the goals.
- Faculty responsible for delivering the online learning curricula and evaluating the students’ success in achieving the online learning goals are appropriately qualified and effectively supported.
- The institution provides effective student and academic services to support students enrolled in online learning offerings.
- The institution provides sufficient resources to support and, if appropriate, expand its online learning offerings.
- The institution assures the integrity of its online offerings.
Guttman Community College Internal Complaint Procedures
Guttman Community College distance education students based outside of New York State who have a consumer-protection-based complaint regarding a distance education program should first seek to resolve such a complaint within Guttman Community College.
- Students should refer to the Guttman Manual of Students Rights and Responsibilities for the process and procedures related to submitting complaints: Manual of Students’ Rights and Responsibilities – Guttman Community College
- Complaints regarding grades and general student conduct issues are not governed by the distance education complaint process.
- Consumer-protection-based complaints should be made during the semester of occurrence but no later than the last day of the following academic semester. The College will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within fifteen (15) days.
- If the student’s attempt at resolution is unsuccessful, the student may appeal the College’s decision regarding the student’s complaint to the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost (Provost@guttman.cuny.edu) within fifteen (15) days of being informed of the decision.
A decision on the appeal will be issued within sixty (60) days with any proposed remedy, where applicable.
Please note that anonymous complaints will not be addressed through this process.
Requests for Appeal
If the complaint is not resolved satisfactorily by the College, a request for further appeal can be addressed to the City University of New York:
City University of New York
Office of the General Counsel
205 East 42nd Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10017
646-664-9200
ogc@cuny.edu
CUNY Legal Affairs website
Students with complaints that have not been resolved through the College’s internal complaint process may seek advice from the New York State Education Department.
Office of College and University Evaluation
89 Washington Avenue
Room 960 EBA
Albany, NY 12234
Telephone: (518) 474-1551
IHEauthorize@nysed.gov
NYSED complaint procedures webpage
Should a complaint not be resolved through the above-referenced entities, the student may contact the City University of New York’s regional accreditor (Middle States Commission on Higher Education) using the information below.
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
1007 North Orange Street
4th Floor, MB #166
Wilmington, DE 19801
(267) 284-5011
info@msche.org
Additional information on Consumer Protection Complaint Procedures – can be found in Section 4 of the SARA Policy Manual 24.1.
NC-SARA Student Complaint Process
Under NC-SARA rules, students have the right to lodge a complaint or grievance if that student’s experience in an online program is not what they anticipate. Student complaints relating to consumer protection laws offered under the terms and conditions of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) must first be filed with the college to seek resolution. SARA consumer protection provisions require the college, through its SARA State Portal Entity, to investigate and resolve allegations of dishonest or fraudulent activity, including the provision of false or misleading information.
More information can be found here: Student Complaints
Professional Licensure Disclosures
Effective July 1, 2024, federal regulation requires institutions of higher education to make a determination whether a Title IV eligible academic program that leads to professional licensure or certification meets the educational requirements for licensure/certification in the U.S. State where the institution is located and the U.S. States where “distance education” students are located at the time of initial enrollment in the program, as well as U.S. States where the program is advertised as meeting such requirements, and if applicable, the U.S. State where students attest they intend to be licensed/certified.
Guttman Community College does not currently offer any programs that lead directly to professional licensure.