Board Compliance Perspectives
What would you say to someone who states that the Board regulations are simply another layer of bureaucratic hoops through which to jump? Is there another perspective on compliance?
I have always felt that the regulations from the state board and other agencies simply serve to strengthen our mission and drive us to better serve our students and our communities. Truthfully, if we are not meeting those standards set for us, then we have work to do. We ought to be held to these standards, regardless of how much of a pain those regulations are.
Board rules are in place to protect the consumer, the school, and the general public from unscrupulous operators. They are not additional bureaucratic red tape, but necessary to ensure a quality education for students.
There is no doubt that compliance plays a key role in protecting the student and assuring that they receive the expected educational and instructional experience. However, I would add that compliance plays a key role in protecting and assisting the school as well as being able to provide proof of compliance with existing rules and regulations is of great benefit.
Compliance is to ensure students are protected.
Compliance is necessary as a checks and balance system for a school, to make sure students are getting the education which they paid for with the expected outcome of getting employment in their field of study. Compliance not only protects the students, but the employees.
There is great value in systems that include checks and balances. Compliance with Board standards ensures schools can meet and even exceed quality benchmarks. They also enable the public to trust a third party review by the Board indicates that they can trust that schools have met minimum standards to operate in Ohio.
Compliance with regulations provide the framework to school for best practices in operation, which provide the school with the opportunity to provide the best possible learning environment for the students.
Compliance is a way to safe guard students, schools, and the general public from schools who do not maintain high standards of practice and moral. It only benefits everyone that the Boards regulations be strictly adhered to. This also protects those who are maintaining compliance.
I would say that the rules are a necessary evil. There are too many entities already out there trying to just make money. We have to have guidelines to make sure that both the students and our schools are protected.
While it may appear to some that the board guidleines are just more loops to jump through the reality is these guidelines protect the students, schools and people in the state they are governing. Everyone does not play fair unfortunately there are students that have been taken advantage of and schools that have become unsuspected victum to ruthless tactics. We need these regulations. What if you were the victim of some of the unfair practices or your school, how would your feel and who would you want to help you? Many students may not even know who or how to beign to get help. We must not put our heads in the sand and pretend that everyone running a school governs it in an ethical and fair way.
I would strongly disagree with anyone who states that the Board regulations are another layer of bureaucratic hoops. The number one priority of a State Board is to provide a layer of protection for their citizens/student by ensuring the education delivered has met their regulations and standards.
Compliance is a necessary check and balance system for a school to make sure students are getting a quality education with the expected outcomes. The compliance component is needed to make sure that all people associated with a school are following standards and guidelines. Otherwise, if compliance was not in place, then the potential would exist of an education where outcomes are not met.
The main thing to keep in mind is that the intent of state regulations is to protect that state's residents. In this time of expanding federal and state oversight, it is important to remember that US DoE and states are not the bad guys, and neither are schools that strive to meet state and accreditation guidelines. One of the challenges distance education schools face is staying informed about regulatory changes, meeting requirements, paying fees and having different guidelines for potentially 50 different states (depending on many variables, the number of state approvals required can range from 20% of states or more). This makes it a challenge to ensure sales agents, instructors, business activities, curriculum, etc., meet these many different sets of requirements in addition to accreditation standards. I would like to see schools and regulatory bodies find a way to reduce conflicting and varying requirements. SARA is a very promising start, but will only work for degree schools at first. Through state compacts like SARA, there will likely be a solid reduction in workload for states and schools. I think it is also important that schools gain accreditation. The accreditation and reaccreditation process are an excellent way to ensure schools are focused on taking care of students in an ethical manner while providing high-quality education.
I believe compliance is important; it safeguards the students and employees. Truthfully, who wants to spend hours filling out forms and gathering the necessary supporting documents, but it is in everyone's best interest.
Having traveled to trade shows, I've come across many 'schools' throughout the country that are ruthless in their promotional tactics. It angers me that there are schools out there, that not only are taking away students who deserve a proper education, but also that they are downright fraudulent.
