Meeting of the Board of Regents | May 2008

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:	Higher Education Committee
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	Renewal of Institutional Accreditation of New York Career Institute
DATE:	April 30, 2008
STRATEGIC GOAL:	Goal 2
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

Should the Board of Regents renew the institutional accreditation of New York Career Institute?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

             

              Required by State regulation.

             

Proposed Handling

 

This question will come before the Higher Education Committee at its May 2008 meeting where it will be voted on and action taken.  It will then come before the full Board at its May 2008 meeting for final action.

 

Procedural History

 

The last accreditation review for New York Career Institute was conducted in April 2002 as part of a transitional review. At that time, NYCI’s term of accreditation was extended for a period of five years. On November 15-16, 2007, a peer review team conducted a visit to the Institute to assess its continued compliance with the accreditation standards for renewal of its institutional accreditation. The Department issued its final report on the application for renewal of institutional accreditation in March 2008. On April 18, 2008, the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation voted to recommend that the Board of Regents renew the institutional accreditation of New York Career Institute with condition, for a period of three years, ending on May 20, 2011, during which time the Institute must come into full compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation, with annual progress reports due each year. Neither the Institute nor the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education appealed that recommendation to the Commissioner.

 

The annual reports that the Institute must submit shall document the Institute’s progress in coming into compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation regarding the following matters cited in the draft report:

 

• faculty governance; faculty credentials and evaluation of faculty
• development and use of program learning goals in curriculum review and revision; updating of the college’s Institutional Effectiveness Plan
• revision and updating of syllabi; development of a procedure for recording and reporting student grades
• organization of senior administrative staff and reporting lines

 

 

Background Information

 

New York Career Institute (NYCI) is a proprietary degree-granting institution, founded in 1941. Its initial single purpose was to offer training in the field of court reporting. The Board of Regents authorized NYCI to offer Associate in Occupational Studies (A.O.S.) degree programs in 1982. The Institute currently offers degree programs in Stenotype Court Reporter, Legal Assistant, and Medical Office Specialist, as well as certificates in Stenotype Hearing Reporter, Stenotype Stenographer, Medical Administrative Assistant and other related areas.

 

Recommendation

 

It is recommended that the Board of Regents renew the institutional accreditation of New York Career Institute with condition, for a period of three years, ending on May 20, 2011, during which time the Institute must come into full compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation, with annual progress reports due each year.

 

Regents with a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest on this application are asked to recuse themselves from participating in the deliberation and decision. 

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

If the Board of Regents grants renewal of institutional accreditation with condition to New York Career Institute, that accreditation will go into effect immediately.  On the basis of that action, the Department will renew the registration of New York Career Institute’s programs.  The Institute must come into full compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation within the three-year period cited above, and must submit annual progress reports each year, as well as annual accreditation data reports.

 

Attachment

Information in Support of Recommendation

 

 

Peer Review Visit.  In preparation for a visit by a peer review team, New York Career Institute prepared a self-study following the requirements for self-studies in the Handbook of Institutional Accreditation.  On November 15-16, 2007, a peer review team visited the Institute.  It examined the self-study and other relevant documents; met with the faculty, students, and the president, chief executive officer, and other administrators; examined the facilities, and academic and administrative resources; and observed several classes. It made 30 recommendations and recommended probationary accreditation for two years.

 

Peer Review Team Recommendation: Probationary accreditation for a period of two years.

 

              The Department transmitted the team’s draft compliance review report to New York Career Institute, providing it 30 days to prepare a written response correcting factual errors and addressing any other aspect of the report.  The draft report, New York Career Institute’s response, and the Department’s preliminary recommendation for accreditation action became the final compliance review report.

 

               Regents Advisory Council Review.  As required by Subpart 4-1, the Department transmitted the final compliance review report, including its preliminary recommendation for accreditation action, for consideration by the Regents Advisory Council on Institutional Accreditation (the Advisory Council is established in §3.12(d) of the Rules of the Board of Regents “to review applications for accreditation and renewal of accreditation pursuant to Part 4 of this Title, and such other matters as the department may ask it to review, and make recommendations to the Regents and the commissioner based on its review”).  The Department’s preliminary recommendation was:

 

Department’s Preliminary Recommendation:  Probationary accreditation for a period of two years.

 

              On April 18, 2008, the Advisory Council met to consider New York Career Institute’s application and to make a recommendation to the Board of Regents on its accreditation.  In a public meeting, it met with representatives of New York Career Institute, the chair of the peer review team, and the staff coordinator of the accreditation review.  Following presentations by New York Career Institute, the team chair, and the staff coordinator; questions; and discussion, on the basis of steps the Institute has taken since receiving the draft report, the Advisory Council voted to amend the Department’s preliminary recommendation and voted instead to recommend the following to the Board of Regents on accreditation action:

 

Regents Advisory Council Recommendation: Accredit with condition for a period of three years, with annual progress reports due each year.

 

             

 

              Commissioner’s Review.  Neither New York Career Institute nor the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education appealed the Advisory Council’s recommendation.  Therefore, pursuant to Subpart 4-1, the Commissioner adopted the Council’s recommendation as his recommendation to the Board of Regents.

 

Commissioner’s Recommendation:  Accredit with condition New York Career Institute for a period of three years ending on May 20, 2011, during which time the Institute must come into full compliance with the standards for institutional accreditation, with annual progress reports due each year.

 

              The attachment to this item sets forth the range of accreditation actions authorized in Subpart 4-1 of the Rules of the Board of Regents.       

Attachment

 

 

Rules of the Board of Regents

 

Subpart 4-1, Voluntary Institutional Accreditation for Title IV Purposes

 

§4-1.2 Definitions.

 

As used in the Subpart:

 

(a) Accreditation means the status of public recognition that the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents grant to an educational institution that meets the standards and requirements prescribed in this Subpart.

 

(b) Accreditation action means accreditation, accreditation with conditions, probationary accreditation, approval of substantive changes in the scope of accreditation, and denial, revocation, or termination of accreditation.

 

(c) Accreditation with conditions means accreditation that requires the institution to take steps to remedy issues raised in a review for accreditation, and provide reports and/or submit to site visits concerning such issues, provided that such issues do not materially affect the institution’s substantial compliance with the standards and requirements for accreditation. 

 

(d) Adverse action or adverse accreditation action means suspension, withdrawal, denial, revocation, or termination of accreditation or preaccreditation.

 

(q) Probationary accreditation means accreditation for a period of time, not to exceed two years, during which the institution shall come into compliance with standards for accreditation through corrective action.