<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Georgia;
panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-autospace:none;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText
{mso-style-priority:1;
mso-style-link:"Body Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-autospace:none;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoNoSpacing, li.MsoNoSpacing, div.MsoNoSpacing
{mso-style-priority:1;
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.BodyTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Body Text Char";
mso-style-priority:1;
mso-style-link:"Body Text";
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Georgia",serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><i><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">SREB-SARA Updates<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">Professional Licensure Project Update</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">NC-SARA launched its Professional Licensure Project last month. NC-SARA’s goal is
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">to bring some efficiency to assist institutions in providing clearer and more accurate disclosures to all students. The data shows that most of the programs leading to licensure among participating
institutions are in five fields: teacher education, nursing, counseling, social work, and psychology. NC-SARA and SREB asked each SARA state to provide general contact information for these five licensure boards, which will be housed and managed centrally
through the NC-SARA website. If you have not provided this information via the google docs spreadsheet that was emailed from SREB on January 22, 2020, please let us know so your state’s information can be uploaded to NC-SARA.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Save the Date</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">S-SARA’s June 2020 RSC Meeting is June 2-3, 2020, at the AC Marriott Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The states due for renewal are Delaware,
District of Columbia, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and South Carolina. This week those SPEs received their 90-day notice for renewal. This event opens Tuesday, June 2<sup>nd</sup> with a brief afternoon meeting for SPEs, followed by the traditional welcome
dinner. Wednesday, June 3<sup>rd</sup> is the formal meeting starting with breakfast, then an all-day meeting culminating around 3 p.m. The logistics memo with formal registration information will follow later.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><i><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">NC-SARA Updates</span></u></i><i><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-right:4.35pt;text-align:justify"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif"> </span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-right:4.35pt;text-align:justify"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">Inaugural Strategic Plan on the Horizon</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-right:4.35pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif">On Friday, February 21, 2020, NC-SARA announced that it is actively developing an inaugural strategic plan to guide the organization’s work over
the next three years. The strategic plan is expected to be released in the coming months. Lori Williams, NC-SARA President, encouraged compacts to keep states in the loop of NC-SARA’s strategic planning. Should you have questions, please direct them to SREB
to be forwarded to NC-SARA. In the meantime, the full announcement for the </span>
<span style="color:#0070C0"><a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnc-sara.org%2Fnews-events%2Fnc-sara-developing-inaugural-strategic-plan&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7C68c8cce5aaf74515d67008d7b70b435e%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=IhN7GHKNRbwRsCRw7YVluQBm8AszJbHbR0G4xRUQNoo%3D&reserved=0"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#0070C0">NC-SARA
Inaugural Strategic Plan</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif"> is posted on NC-SARA’s website.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">National Cost Savings Study Commissioned for 2020</span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">Much like SREB’s
<i>Cost Savings Analysis</i> conducted in 2018, NC-SARA contracted the </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) to conduct a cost savings analysis for institutions
that take part in SARA. NCHEMS began working on this project earlier this month and expects that it will conclude by mid-August 2020. They anticipate having NCHEMS staff present their findings at the September 2020 State Portal Annual Meeting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Webcast: Proposed SARA Manual<i>
</i>Changes for the May 2020 Board Meeting</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">Please join the webcast on
<i>Tuesday, March 17, 2020</i>, for an in-depth discussion of the proposed SARA Manual changes that will go before the NC-SARA Board for consideration on May 6, 2020. These proposed changes include modifications to and clarifications of the SARA Manual. This
webcast is free and open to all, but registration is required at </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fzoom.us%2Fwebinar%2Fregister%2FWN__35EsAwCQBy9t-sk8ksM9A&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7Ce9418b4142e84d70c86108d7ba2acd9d%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=ipZYp3iu4txtYlbeG0WMBRq2JZrRi3r9RRIi1a1k3WM%3D&reserved=0">https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__35EsAwCQBy9t-sk8ksM9A</a>.
If you are unable to join the webcast, it will be recorded and made available on the NC-SARA website.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Press Release:
</span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">New Data Confirms Growing Demand for Distance Education Programs</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">NC-SARA released its fourth annual enrollment report and dataset illustrating continued growing demand for postsecondary distance education opportunities. According to the
<a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnc-sara.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Ffiles%2F2020-02%2F2019_NC-SARA_Data_Report.pdf&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7C988ae54f15fb4f3bc6a408d7bbae8312%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=zm2FJT%2BSFgSg3DIrloXPzNyvPKkk%2FvhUL%2BX84WrYnHI%3D&reserved=0">
report</a>, nearly 1.3 million students were enrolled exclusively in distance education programs at NC-SARA- participating institutions in 2019 – a 5 percent increase over 2018 numbers. Click this
<a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnc-sara.org%2Fnews-events%2Fpress-releases&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7C988ae54f15fb4f3bc6a408d7bbae8312%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=kvjs2tI141ZwZz5LpQFx8Pz8lqMkfoIC8pOVIWunEvs%3D&reserved=0">
LINK</a> to see the full press release on NC-SARA’s website.</span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">WCET SAN Update</span></u></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">U.S. Department of Education Develops a Guidance Portal</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif">The
<a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.federalregister.gov%2Fdocuments%2F2020%2F02%2F26%2F2020-03811%2Fnotice-of-guidance-portal&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7C8968311561c24441654308d7baba290f%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=iZwLvACi0w5kiD0MuC5ZHRK2tBPGLlbu84QXzDmiL3w%3D&reserved=0" title="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/02/26/2020-03811/notice-of-guidance-portal">
Federal Register</a> shared earlier this week that the U.S. Department of Education developed a guidance portal so the public as well as the stakeholders can more easily locate the Department's guidance documents. Note the homepage of the portal below, as well
as the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE).<br>
<br>
<a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.ed.gov%2Fpolicy%2Fgen%2Fguid%2Ftypes-of-guidance-documents.html&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7C8968311561c24441654308d7baba290f%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=v19GMI6v721HxkEsMeglnzNzSqPCsltW5crSlY2Qq4M%3D&reserved=0" title="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/types-of-guidance-documents.html">
U.S. Department of Education's Guidance Homepage</a><br>
<a href="https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.ed.gov%2Fabout%2Foffices%2Flist%2Fovae%2Fresource%2Findex.html&data=01%7C01%7Celisa.jaden%40sreb.org%7C8968311561c24441654308d7baba290f%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=FLmjDjopa82otQS208EktrvvCRSL2LY4varj4gVwoDg%3D&reserved=0" title="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/resource/index.html">
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><a href="ifap.ed.gov">Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">SARA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Southern Regional Education Board<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#0563C2">SARA@sreb.org<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">(404) 875-9211</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>