Funding of Off-Campus and Out-of-District Instructional Sites

PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the criteria and requirements for the inclusion of selected off-campus and out-of-district instruction in the Coordinating Board for Higher Education’s appropriation recommendations and for the reimbursement of selected out-ofdistrict instruction as authorized in sections 163.191 and 173.030, RSMo. (1) Definitions. (A) Coordinating board—the Coordinating Board for Higher Education created by the Omnibus State Reorganization Act, Law, 1974 p. 530. (B) Course—Any regularly approved and scheduled instructional activity— 1. For which, upon successful completion, enrolled students are given credit that can be applied to meet the requirements for achieving a degree, certificate or similar academic award; 2. Which is derivative from programs traditionally offered at the certificate or degree level, which is designed to meet career needs of employed persons or persons who intend to enter or reenter employment, and which involves the assessment of student fees; 3. Designed to assist the student in gaining degree or certificate curriculum entry proficiencies in, and only in, the areas of writing skills, speech skills, reading, mathematics and study skills related to the preparation for collegiate-level work. In addition, nontraditional developmental remedial activity may be included if— A. Students are tested and assigned to a remedial program; B. Students are tested for a minimum proficiency standard to exit from the program; C. Students pay a fee for the service; D. A record of the activity is entered on the transcript; and E. The activity is not supplemental student tutoring; or 4. Which allows, if offered to one (1) company for employees of that company, enrollment of students not employed by that company. Student fees may be paid by either the student or a company, but under no circumstances may student fees be waived by the institution. (C) Off-campus instruction—instructional activities conducted by a public four (4)-year college or university that are delivered anywhere other than in the facilities or on the grounds of the institution’s main campus, excluding those activities which are an integral part of— 1. The on-campus instructional programs but which require students to travel from the main campus for special learning experiences as in student teaching, field work and internships; or 2. A coordinating board approved cooperative degree program between two (2) or more four (4)-year colleges or universities which is offered on the campus of one (1) of the participating institutions. (D) Out-of-district instruction—instructional activities of a community junior college as defined in section 163.191(4), RSMo which are delivered at a location beyond the legal boundary of the college’s district. (E) State education institution—an educational institution as defined in section 176.010(5), RSMo. (2) Designation of Areas of Prior Need. (A) The coordinating board, under the provisions of sections 163.191.3. and 173.030(4), RSMo, is authorized to include selected off-campus and out-of-district instruction in its appropriation recommendations and to reimburse selected out-of-district instruction in areas where prior need has been established by the coordinating board. (B) Geographic areas of prior need shall be designated by the coordinating board based on documented and specific needs assessments, the format and methodology of which shall be determined by the coordinating board. As a part of the geographic need designation process, specific educational sites may be designated for the purpose of providing needed educational services. Only under exceptional circumstances will specific educational sites for the delivery of lower division course work be designated within public school districts which are contiguous with an existing public community junior college district. (C) The coordinating board also may designate programmatic areas of prior need which shall be based on documented and specific needs assessments, the format and methodology of which shall be determined by the coordinating board. These programmatic designations are intended to serve specialized training needs of the state which cannot be addressed through a site specific designation. (D) The criteria used by the coordinating board for determining geographic and/or programmatic areas of prior need will include, but are not limited to: 1. Relationship to the coordinating board’s statewide policy goals; 2. Access, including programmatic, geographic, financial and special populations; and 3. Identified manpower, instructional needs or both of the state, region or community or all of them. (3) Provision of Educational Services. (A) The determination of both institutional and instructional activity eligibility for inclusion in the coordinating board’s appropriation recommendation, to receive reimbursement or both under the provisions of this rule shall be made by the coordinating board after prior need has been established under section (2) of this rule. (B) The designation as an eligible institution, off-campus or out-of-district instructional activity or any of these shall be based on a formal proposal submitted to and in a form determined appropriate by the coordinating board. The proposal may be initiated by an interested community organization, an educational institution, a state agency or the coordinating board; however, no proposal shall be accepted which does not show evidence of consultation and cooperation among all of these groups, as appropriate. The proposal should be responsive to the decision criteria listed in subsection (3)(D) of this rule, shall outline specific proposed instructional activities, or courses or both, shall include a letter of agreement as described in subsection (3)(E) of this rule, if applicable, and shall include an initial educational action plan as described in subsection (5)(A) of this rule. (C) Instructional activities must be both a course, as defined in subsection (1)(B) of this rule, and be determined by the coordinating board as satisfying the applicable criteria in subsection (3)(D) of this rule to be eligible under the provisions of this section. (D) The determination of eligibility of an institution or instructional activity shall be based on the following criteria: 1. The institution’s mission statement and strategic plan; 2. Relationship of instructional services to be offered off-campus or out-of-district and those currently offered on the parent campus; 3. Responsiveness of the proposal to identified needs of the area; 4. Distance, commuting time or both between the authorized educational site and the institution’s home campus; 5. Availability of alternative means of delivering the needed service, including, but not limited to, telecommunications; 6. Availability of alternative funding for the instructional service from other sources; 7. Availability and adequacy of existing physical and support service facilities, including libraries, counseling and others as needed or the adequacy of alternative provisions; 8. Commitment that instructional staff shall meet customary institutional hiring, orientation, evaluation and development standards and expectations for instructional personnel. If an instructional activity will involve more than fifty percent (50%) adjunct faculty, the rationale for the use of adjunct faculty shall be documented and approved by the coordinating board; 9. Evidence of an appropriate student assessment plan for the proposed instructional offerings; and 10. Any other criteria previously adopted by the coordinating board pertaining to off-campus or out-of-district instructional delivery, including, but not limited to, new program approval policies and policies on instructional delivery through telecommunications. (E) Letter of Agreement. 1. All institutions engaged in educational activities under the provisions of this rule, at a particular approved educational site, must sign a letter of agreement and the letter of agreement must be approved by the coordinating board in order for those services to be included in appropriation recommendations, funded or both. The letter of agreement shall include: A. A statement of the purposes of the agreement to offer services at the site; B. A listing of the participating institutions; and C. A description of the governance structure of the site and of the delegation of educational and operational responsibilities at the site. 2. Subsequent changes in the letter of agreement concerning institutional participation, administrative structure or both are subject to the approval of the coordinating board. 3. Institutions that have received program-based authorization or those that are the sole educational providers at a specific site are not required to submit a letter of agreement; however, they are required to submit the off-campus or out-of-district proposal as required in subsection (3)(B) of this rule. (4) Reporting Requirements. (A) Appropriation Recommendations for State Educational Institutions. 1. Fiscal resources allocated during the most recently completed fiscal year to the provision of the instructional services authorized under section (3) of this rule shall be reported to the coordinating board as a part of the planned instructional expenditures portion of the institution’s operating budget request and shall be submitted in a form prescribed by the coordinating board. 2. Separate budgetary data as deemed appropriate by the coordinating board shall be submitted by each institution for each instructional activity authorized under section (3) of this rule. (B) Community Junior College Reimbursement. Reimbursement for out-of-district instruction shall be limited to the amount appropriated by the general assembly for each institution. (C) All appropriation recommendations and reimbursements made under the provisions of this rule and sections 163.191.3. and 173.030(4), are subject to the appropriation of funds by the general assembly, termination by concurrent resolution of the general assembly or both. (D) The coordinating board will establish and promulgate specific information and data reporting procedures for authorized off-campus and out-of-district instructional activity. All information submissions made by state educational institutions to the coordinating board shall include separate information on authorized off-campus and out-of-district instructional activities in which the responding institution is active, unless specifically exempted. (5) Evaluation. (A) An educational action plan shall be submitted for all instructional activities authorized under this rule in a format prescribed by the coordinating board. The plan should be cooperatively developed by the institutions offering instructional services at a site and a local citizen advisory group, when appropriate, and shall be approved by all participating institutional governing bodies. In order for instructional activities to be eligible for inclusion in the coordinating board’s appropriation recommendation, reimbursement or both, the coordinating board must have previously approved an educational action plan for those services. (B) The educational action plan shall be evaluated annually by the participating institutions with involvement of a local citizen advisory group and a report on that evaluation shall be submitted to the coordinating board for its approval. Coordinating board approval of the annual evaluation of the action plan is necessary for a site to maintain eligibility under the provisions of this rule. (C) An assessment of the needs which an instructional activity is intended to serve shall be accomplished at least every three (3) years utilizing a method approved by the coordinating board. Continuation of appropriation requests and funding will be predicated on the results of this needs assessment. AUTHORITY: sections 163.191.3. and 173.030(4), RSMo Supp. 1988.* Original rule filed July 18, 1989, effective Oct. 15, 1989. *Original authority: 163.191.3, RSMo 1963, amended 1965, 1967, 1972, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2000 and 173.030(4), RSMo 1963, amended 1988, 1990, 1995.