The institution notifies the Commission of changes in accordance with the Commission’s substantive change policy and, when required, seeks approval prior to the initiation of changes.

Compliance Certification Rationale for Judgment of Compliance

Southwest Texas Junior College notifies the Commission on Colleges of all changes in accordance with published policy. The following table outlines all changes submitted to the Commission for notice or approval since the College’s revious reaffirmation of accreditation.

DATE                                                 DESCRIPTION OF CHANGE

Upon the review of notices that should comprise the table above, SWTJC staff has discovered unreported changes. One is the College’s decision to change its Law Enforcement Academy from a Workforce Education program to a credit-bearing program. Another discovery is the failure of SWTJC to report the addition of a number of service area High Schools as Dual Credit sites. The college’s Accreditation Liaison has taken immediate steps to notify the Commission of these changes.

Likewise, in its February meeting the SWTJC Board of Trustees adopted an addition to the SWTJC Policy Manual with regard to notification of Substantive Change. The new policy requires the Vice President of Academic Affairs to create a notification process to be followed by Division Chairs and by staff in the SWTJC Outreach Office when developing each semester’s class schedule. This process, which will include a change to the approval procedures and paperwork used by the SWTJC Curriculum Committee, will create checks intended to ensure timely notification of all substantive changes.

Off-Site Committee Judgment and Commentary: Non-Compliance

Various substantive changes were reported between 2007 and 2015, including the addition of new programs, program closures, and the addition of new instructional sites, the institution determined during its report preparations that two instances of substantive change had not been reported – the change of the Law Enforcement Academy from a workforce program to a credit-bearing program and the addition of several area high schools as dual credit sites. The institution indicates it has taken steps to notify SACSCOC of these changes, however, no letters to indicate that notification was provided.

The development of a policy by the Board of Trustees was stated as an additional action to the Policy Manual to avoid future omissions and ensure timely notification. A copy of this policy was not provided in the institution’s report. Nor was there documentation to indicate the manner in which this policy impacts the processes and paperwork used by the Curriculum Committee.

Institutional Response

Southwest Texas Junior College reported in its Compliance Certification that if had failed to notify the Commission of a change in its Law Enforcement Academy from a Workforce Education program to a semester credit hour program. That was an error. In fact, SWTJC notified the Commission of this change in a letter dated May 13, 2014. The Commission’s response letter of August 12, 2014 acknowledged the change.

Since the completion of the SWTJC Compliance Certification, the college has received approval of a new program. The Aviation Maintenance Level I Certificate program was approved in a letter from SACSCOC President, Dr. Belle Wheelan, on July 27, 2015.

However, the discovery noted in the Compliance Certification of our not having reported a number of Dual Credit sites where students can earn 50% or more of a credential remains accurate. Likewise, a number of Dual Credit sites where students can earn less than 50% but more than 24% of credential were discovered to have been unreported.

The following actions have been taken by SWTJC or are ongoing:

1. The tables describing SWTJC instructional sites sent as part of the “Institutional Summary Form Prepared for Commission Reviews” were sent on March 3, 2015 to the SACSCOC Substantive Change office. A Substantive Change Specialist emailed acknowledgement of receipt on March 4, 2015.
2. On the basis of the tables’ information, the Substantive Change Office updated its database of SWTJC sites, indicating Approved sites and sites where 25-49% of a program is offered. SWTJC received the updated table on June 3, 2015.
3. On June 1, 2015 an EXCEL spreadsheet was sent to the Substantive Change Office outlining the SWTJC sites where 50% or more of a program is offered. The Substantive Change Office acknowledged receipt on June 2, 2015. This is the same table sent to Dr. Mary Kirk as part of the on-site visit preparatory documentation.
4. Prospectuses for six High School Dual Credit sites and the SWTJC Pearsall instructional site are being prepared and will be submitted to SACSCOC before the arrival of the On-Site Committee at SWTJC on October 18, 2015. The prospectus for approval of a new Technical Instructional facilty/site in Eagle Pass, Texas is also in development and will be submitted to the Commission by the deadline required for a Spring, 2016 opening of the facility.
5. As noted in the SWTJC Compliance Certification, the SWTJC Board of Trustees adopted a policy at its February 2015 meeting requiring the Vice President of Academic Affairs to create a notification process to be followed by Division Chairs and by staff in the SWTJC Outreach Office when developing class schedules.
6. The key tool in the notification process mentioned in #5 above is an interactive table prepared by SWTJC Institutional Effectiveness Staff. Designed via SWTJC’s curriculum management system, Colleague, the interactive table will notify users of 25% and 50% thresholds being reached due to changes in course offerings by site. Deans, Division Chairs, Outreach Office Staff, and the Vice President of Academic Affairs will be required to use the interactive table when building future class schedules. When either the 25% or 50% program threshold would be reached by changes in course offerings, the Outreach Office or a Division chair will submit the Substantive Change Verification Form to the Vice President of Academic Affairs so that the appropriate documentation can be submitted to the Substantive Change Office of the Commission if necessary.
7. Because program changes may also be initiated by Faculty, paperwork utilized in the Curriculum Committee approval process contains an item requiring the Vice President of Academic Affairs to review whether proposed change will cause a Substantive Change threshold to be reached.
8. Registrar’s Office and Institutional Effectiveness Staff have developed the means to build a year-long course schedule through the institutional tool named Informer. This will allow long-term forecasting of site offerings and help alert staff to the reaching of the 25% and 50% thresholds.