5979000 Resolution 21-454, Higher Education Licensure Commission Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016

A RESOLUTION

                                                        

21-454

 

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

April 5, 2016        

 

 

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Education Licensure Commission Act of 1976 to clarify requirements for postsecondary educational institutions providing degree-granting or non-degree-granting online programs or courses that are authorized to operate under a reciprocity agreement.

 

 

            RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the "Higher Education Licensure Commission Clarification Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2016".

 

            Sec. 2.  (a)  The District of Columbia seeks to ensure that a wide array of postsecondary learning opportunities are available for our residents. Across the country, at least 7 million students are using online technology to access postsecondary courses. Postsecondary online distance education expands learning opportunities by providing flexible, accessible methods for acquiring new skills and fulfilling degree requirements.

(b) The rapid growth of distance education has brought to the forefront the need to provide a coherent and comprehensive structure that focuses on consumer protection and security while maintaining the unique features of online distances learning. Students in online distance education programs require stronger protections because they are completing their courses and programs outside the visibility of traditional oversight and monitoring structures. Many other states have already taken steps to protect their residents, and the District must move forward to keep up with best practices in postsecondary licensing.

(c) To address this need, the Council passed the Higher Education Licensure Commission Amendment Act of 2015, effective February 27, 2016 (D.C. Law 21-74; to be codified at § 38-1301 et seq.), which provided the Higher Education Licensure Commission (“HELC”) with the authority to license distance education programs and enter into reciprocity agreements with other jurisdictions regarding licensing online distance education programs, which would result in ensuring security and consumer protections while making the process and costs for providing distance education far less involved.

(d) Since then, the HELC has been preparing its application to enter into the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (“SARA”). However, in preparing the application to enter into SARA, the HELC learned that it is statutorily prohibited from complying with the SARA membership requirements because the HELC cannot authorize any educational institution to operate in the District if the institution’s title contains the words “United States, federal, American, national, or civil service, or any other words which might reasonably imply an official connection with the government of the United States, . . . or the government of the District of Columbia[.]” (D.C. Official Code § 38-1309(c-1)).

(e) In order to join SARA, the HELC must agree to abide by SARA policies and procedures, which include not imposing additional regulatory requirements on SARA-approved institutions that want to provide distance education in the District. Therefore, this emergency legislation would provide a waiver from the naming prohibition for any postsecondary educational institutions providing degree-granting or non-degree-granting online instruction to residents of the District through an online presence that is authorized to operate under a reciprocity agreement.

(f) The HELC’s SARA application will be reviewed on June 9, 2016 and must be submitted 6 weeks before that date.  Without this emergency legislation, the HELC’s SARA application will not be accepted because the HELC cannot comply with both its statutory mandate to prohibit the authorization of education institutions with prohibited names to operate in the District, while also upholding SARA’s requirement that the District not impose additional regulatory requirements on SARA-approved institutions.  

 

Sec. 3.  The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Higher Education Licensure Commission Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2016 be adopted after a single reading.

 

Sec. 4.  This resolution shall take effect immediately.