I hope you've had a wonderful summer so far and are ready for campuses to be filled with students again!

I, like many in what I call "compliance‐land," have been getting up each day and opening our email and higher ed news sources braced for potential new regulations for the last few weeks. The ED released their unified agenda of federal regulatory and deregulatory actions a couple weeks ago and... well it was weird. Of the hundreds of pages in proposed regulatory language and justifications, only two issues ‐ Gainful Employment and Financial Responsibility (which goes hand in hand with GE) ‐ were mentioned as being on deck for a final rule release prior to November 1, 2023. After some digging by lobby groups, phone calls from some well‐intentioned lawyers (lol, i know right?) and other higher ed advocacy groups, it sounds like the ED still intends on doing something with the other proposals (including those that will impact state authorizaƟon, professional licensure, and financial value transparency, among others) this fall....

That being said, the ED continues to be understaffed, battling Republican lawmakers regarding student loan forgiveness, trying to manage all of the other student loans, OHHH and affirmative action.

In other news, it's that time of year for me ‐ the time of year that I get an email a parent outside of Colorado wanting to know what state authorization is and does that mean their child can access in‐state tuition rates.

I only get one or two of these a year, but its enough that I wanted to quick, somewhat canned answer that gives 1) a two sentence explanation on what State Authorization is/SARA covers, and 2) CC's the Bursars Office (or appropriate campus) to answer any additional tuition related questions. Again, I get maybe two a year, but it's enough that it always makes me go back and reread the State Authorization website, review the language and see if there is anyway to make it more clear (short of making an FAQ).

But in doing this, it's forced me to create that short response, quick phrasing I can use when explaining to people outside of "the know" what it is, how it impacts the delivery of education, etc. I've used this same snippet in conversations/emails with campus leadership and faculty.

It's also handy to have on hand when trying to explain to friends & family what I do.

Do you have a form email that you use in instances like these? Who else do you have these kinds of conversations with? How do you explain state authorization in two sentences (or less)?

One last thing before we dive in to students returning ‐ don't forget to synch up with your VA folks on campus ‐ let them know if there's been any changes to state licensure requirements in case they need to update the required notifications per Isakson & Roe. It's likely a small population on campus, but a miss in that area can give us many issues.

Have a great week!

Erika

Erika G. Swain
Associate Director for State Authorization
Office of Academic Affairs
University of Colorado System
e: swaine@cu.edu
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Assistant Director for Compliance and Authorization
Office of Data Analytics | Office of Institutional Research
University of Colorado Boulder
e: Erika.Swain@colorado.edu
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o: (303) 735‐8184
c: (518) 637‐9785

“Today I will be a Bulgarian Minister of Education,” Bokonon tells us. “Tomorrow I will be Helen of Troy.” – Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle