[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 34, Volume 3]

[Revised as of July 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 34CFR603.24]



[Page 215-217]

 

                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION

 

 CHAPTER VI--OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 

PART 603_SECRETARY'S RECOGNITION PROCEDURES FOR STATE AGENCIES--Table 

of Contents

 

                  Subpart B_Criteria for State Agencies

 

Sec. 603.24  Criteria for State agencies.



    The following are the criteria which the Secretary will utilize in 

designating a State agency as a reliable authority to assess the quality 

of public postsecondary vocational education in its respective State.

    (a) Functional aspects. The functional aspects of the State agency 

must be shown by:

    (1) Its scope of operations. The agency:

    (i) Is statewide in the scope of its operations and is legally 

authorized to approve public postsecondary vocational institutions or 

programs;

    (ii) Clearly sets forth the scope of its objectives and activities, 

both as to kinds and levels of public postsecondary vocational 

institutions or programs covered, and the kinds of operations performed;

    (iii) Delineates the process by which it differentiates among and 

approves programs of varying levels.

    (2) Its organization. The State agency:

    (i) Employs qualified personnel and uses sound procedures to carry 

out its operations in a timely and effective manner;

    (ii) Receives adequate and timely financial support, as shown by its 

appropriations, to carry out its operations;

    (iii) Selects competent and knowledgeable persons, qualified by 

experience and training, and selects such persons in accordance with 

nondiscriminatory practices, (A) to participate on visiting teams, (B) 

to engage in consultative services for the evaluation and approval 

process, and (C) to serve on decision-making bodies.

    (3) Its procedures. The State agency:

    (i) Maintains clear definitions of approval status and has developed 

written procedures for granting, reaffirming, revoking, denying, and 

reinstating approval status;

    (ii) Requires, as an integral part of the approval and reapproval 

process, institutional or program self-analysis and onsite reviews by 

visiting teams, and provides written and consultative guidance to 

institutions or programs and visiting teams.

    (A) Self-analysis shall be a qualitative assessment of the strengths 

and limitations of the instructional program, including the achievement 

of institutional or program objectives, and should involve a 

representative portion of the institution's administrative staff, 

teaching faculty, students, governing body, and other appropriate 

constituencies.

    (B) The visiting team, which includes qualified examiners other than 

agency staff, reviews instructional content, methods and resources, 

administrative management, student services, and facilities. It prepares 

written reports and recommendations for use by the State agency.

    (iii) Reevaluates at reasonable and regularly scheduled intervals 

institutions or programs which it has approved.

    (b) Responsibility and reliability. The responsibility and 

reliability of the State agency will be demonstrated by:

    (1) Its responsiveness to the public interest. The State agency:

    (i) Has an advisory body which provides for representation from 

public employment services and employers, employees, postsecondary 

vocational educators, students, and the general public, including 

minority groups. Among its functions, this structure



[[Page 216]]



provides counsel to the State agency relating to the development of 

standards, operating procedures and policy, and interprets the 

educational needs and manpower projections of the State's public 

postsecondary vocational education system;

    (ii) Demonstrates that the advisory body makes a real and meaningful 

contribution to the approval process;

    (iii) Provides advance public notice of proposed or revised 

standards or regulations through its regular channels of communications, 

supplemented, if necessary, with direct communication to inform 

interested members of the affected community. In addition, it provides 

such persons the opportunity to comment on the standards or regulations 

prior to their adoption;

    (iv) Secures sufficient qualitative information regarding the 

applicant institution or program to enable the institution or program to 

demonstrate that it has an ongoing program of evaluation of outputs 

consistent with its educational goals;

    (v) Encourages experimental and innovative programs to the extent 

that these are conceived and implemented in a manner which ensures the 

quality and integrity of the institution or program;

    (vi) Demonstrates that it approves only those institutions or 

programs which meet its published standards; that its standards, 

policies, and procedures are fairly applied; and that its evaluations 

are conducted and decisions are rendered under conditions that assure an 

impartial and objective judgment;

    (vii) Regularly reviews its standards, policies and procedures in 

order that the evaluative process shall support constructive analysis, 

emphasize factors of critical importance, and reflect the educational 

and training needs of the student;

    (viii) Performs no function that would be inconsistent with the 

formation of an independent judgment of the quality of an educational 

institution or program;

    (ix) Has written procedures for the review of complaints pertaining 

to institutional or program quality as these relate to the agency's 

standards, and demonstrates that such procedures are adequate to provide 

timely treatment of such complaints in a manner fair and equitable to 

the complainant and to the institution or program;

    (x) Annually makes available to the public (A) its policies for 

approval, (B) reports of its operations, and (C) list of institutions or 

programs which it has approved;

    (xi) Requires each approved school or program to report on changes 

instituted to determine continued compliance with standards or 

regulations;

    (xii) Confers regularly with counterpart agencies that have similar 

responsibilities in other and neighboring States about methods and 

techniques that may be used to meet those responsibilities.

    (2) Its assurances that due process is accorded to institutions or 

programs seeking approval. The State agency:

    (i) Provides for adequate discussion during the on-site visit 

between the visiting team and the faculty, administrative staff, 

students, and other appropriate persons;

    (ii) Furnishes as a result of the evaluation visit, a written report 

to the institution or program commenting on areas of strength, areas 

needing improvement, and, when appropriate, suggesting means of 

improvement and including specific areas, if any, where the institution 

or program may not be in compliance with the agency's standards;

    (iii) Provides the chief executive officer of the institution or 

program with opportunity to comment upon the written report and to file 

supplemental materials pertinent to the facts and conclusions in the 

written report of the visiting team before the agency takes action on 

the report;

    (iv) Provides the chief executive officer of the institution with a 

specific statement of reasons for any adverse action, and notice of the 

right to appeal such action before an appeal body designated for that 

purpose;

    (v) Publishes rules of procedure regarding appeals;

    (vi) Continues the approval status of the institution or program 

pending disposition of an appeal;

    (vii) Furnishes the chief executive officer of the institution or 

program with a written decision of the appeal body,



[[Page 217]]



including a statement of its reasons therefor.

    (c) Capacity to foster ethical practices. The State agency must 

demonstrate its capability and willingness to foster ethical practices 

by showing that it:

    (i) Promotes a well-defined set of ethical standards governing 

institutional or programmatic practices, including recruitment, 

advertising, transcripts, fair and equitable student tuition refunds, 

and student placement services;

    (ii) Maintains appropriate review in relation to the ethical 

practices of each approved institution or program.



(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1087-1(b))