[S-SARA] SREB SARA News and Updates for February 28, 2020

Fri Feb 28 11:10:12 CST 2020

SREB-SARA Updates

Professional Licensure Project Update
NC-SARA launched its Professional Licensure Project last month. NC-SARA’s goal is 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.

Save the Date
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 2nd with a brief afternoon meeting for SPEs, followed by the traditional welcome dinner. Wednesday, June 3rd 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.

NC-SARA Updates

Inaugural Strategic Plan on the Horizon

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 NC-SARA Inaugural Strategic Plan<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> is posted on NC-SARA’s website.

National Cost Savings Study Commissioned for 2020
Much like SREB’s Cost Savings Analysis conducted in 2018, NC-SARA contracted the 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.

Webcast: Proposed SARA Manual Changes for the May 2020 Board Meeting
Please join the webcast on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 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 https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__35EsAwCQBy9t-sk8ksM9A<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>. If you are unable to join the webcast, it will be recorded and made available on the NC-SARA website.

Press Release: New Data Confirms Growing Demand for Distance Education Programs

NC-SARA released its fourth annual enrollment report and dataset illustrating continued growing demand for postsecondary distance education opportunities. According to the report<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>, 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 LINK<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> to see the full press release on NC-SARA’s website.

WCET SAN Update

U.S. Department of Education Develops a Guidance Portal
The Federal Register<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> 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).

           U.S. Department of Education's Guidance Homepage<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>
           Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)<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>
Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)<ifap.ed.gov>

SARA
Southern Regional Education Board
SARA at sreb.org
(404) 875-9211
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