State Authorization and Complaint Resolution

Navajo Technical University (NTU) is pleased to share as of June 7, 2017, we’ve been approved by New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). We are the first Tribal University/College to become members of SARA.

Institutions that are members of SARA are authorized to provide online education to students from all SARA member states, currently 43 states and the District of Columbia are members. States and institutions that choose to become members of SARA operate under a set of policies and standards that are overseen by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) and administered by four regional higher education compacts.

SARA is intended to make it easier for students to take online courses in member states regardless of where the students live and the institution is located. As a State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement participant, NTU will comply with the following provisions developed by the Council:

• Online learning is appropriate to the institution’s mission and purposes.
• The institution’s plans for developing, sustaining, and, if appropriate, expanding online learning offerings are integrated into its regular planning and evaluation processes.
• Online learning is incorporated into the institution’s systems of governance and academic oversight.
• Curricula for the institution’s online learning offerings are coherent, cohesive, and comparable in academic rigor to programs offered in traditional instructional formats.
• The institution evaluates the effectiveness of its online learning offerings, including the extent to which the online learning goals are achieved, and uses the results of its evaluations to enhance the attainment of the goals.
• Faculty responsible for delivering the online learning curricula and evaluating the students’ success in achieving the online learning goals are appropriately qualified and effectively supported.
• The institution provides effective student and academic services to support students enrolled in online learning offerings.
• The institution provides sufficient resources to support and, if appropriate, expand its online learning offerings.
• The institution assures the integrity of its online offerings.

For more information about the SARA initiative and the progrees of state and institutional membership, please visit http://nc-sara.org/sara-states-institutions.

Complaint Resolution – If a student would like to discuss a concern or complaint s/he is encouraged to follow NTU’s resolution process as described at our Student E-Learning Policy or Online Student Complaint Procedure if the complaint is not met with satisfaction, a student may file a complaint with the New Mexico Higher Education Department (the SARA Portal Entity for New Mexico). Additional information about the New Mexico Higher Education Department’s complaint process can be found at https://hed.nm.gov/students-parents/nc-sara.