ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

OCTOBER 28, 1999

In attendance at the Advisory Council meeting on October 28, 1999 were Council Members Anthony Stanziani, Howard Goldsmith, Victor Tosi, Mike Hatten, Vincent Ferrara, Jim Devaney, Ken Shulman, John Austin, Arlene Pedone, Rabbi Barash, and Jean Marie Noel.

The main purpose of this meeting was to begin the process of reviewing and revising the proposed regulations.

Howard Goldsmith reviewed the changes to be brought about by the new legislation. They include but are not limited to the following: elimination of the $299 dollar exemption, elimination of the exemption for instruction limited to those working in the field, four-year curriculum approvals, Bureau funding for enforcement, and the launching of the Bureau website. Other highlights of 1999 include the Partners' Breakfasts, the offering of the TTP, school director peer mentoring, increase in consumer awareness outreach, and the hosting of Advisory Council meetings at various proprietary schools.

The minutes of the August Advisory Council meeting were approved with the following additions from Victor Tosi. The highlights at the last Legislative Task Force included finalizing the draft of reasons to attend a licensed school and determining the Advisory Council's role in bringing unlicensed schools into compliance. Mr. Tosi reminded those in attendance that anyone is welcome to attend these meetings. The WIA act will be signed by the Governor. Nominations have been submitted for local board appointments. These boards will receive 85 percent of the funding. Proprietary schools should be involved in the local boards. Mr. Tosi in his capacity as state director will strongly emphasize the importance of sending students to licensed schools. The mission of the subcommittee on unlicensed schools has been combined with the Legislative Task Force. The amendments to the minutes were submitted in writing by Mr. Tosi and approved by the Council (a copy is attached).

Chuck Delaney of the New York Institute of Photography gave a brief overview of the first meeting of the Office of Higher Education's Task Force on Distance Education. The task force was established to determine how distance education might be regulated in New York State. Mr. Delaney suggested a future brainstorming session to discuss distance education and proprietary schools. Those interested in more information may contact Mr. Delaney at www.nyip.com.

The subcommittee on benchmarking and streamlining will meet on December 9. Anthony Stanziani will chair the committee joined by Arlene Pedone, Rabbi Barash, and Mike Hatten. There are some processes that might be streamlined which would result in quicker approvals. Certain benchmarks need to be established so that schools are able to assess their own success.

Terry Zaleski wanted the Advisory Council to recognize the efforts of those in higher education in the state Legislature including Stephanie Sorrentino, Diana Georgia, Assemblyman Ed Sullivan, and Senator Ken Lavalle. Without their support the bill would have not become law. Howard Goldsmith reminded the Advisory Council that the entire process began with John Demarest of Senator Bruno's office. Mr. Goldsmith also recognized the efforts of Diana Georgia.

Regulations

Some of the proposed changes in regulation are mandated by the new statute; others were made as changes were deemed necessary. The regulations will be presented to the Regents in February with final action anticipated in April. The law is in effect as of August 31. The public information campaign is already in effect.

The changes in Commissioner's Regulations were discussed. The registration fee will be included as part of gross tuition receipts. Definition of the term, "Nationally recognized vendors," is required by the new law. Schools are encouraged to utilize these vendors as a way to get a quicker curriculum approval. A list of these vendors will soon be shown on the Bureau website. Significant educational change has been removed from the enrollment agreement section. It has been found that this rarely applies and has been deleted in an effort to reduce regulatory requirements that are not effective. The language needs to be retained in regulation as it appears in the law, but it will be the Bureau's responsibility to determine if it applies in the event of a refund.

The new licensed school symbol must appear in a school's advertising, promotional material, or letterhead. It was required to be created by September 30 but, its design is subject to revision. The fees for curriculum evaluation have been increased to assist in attracting high quality experts. Nationally recognized vendor curricula will not require outside evaluation. A library of approved curricula needs to be created through the efforts of various sectors of the industry so that curricula might be shared. There is a proposed change for standards of academic standing. The current regulation states 80% attendance and 1.5 GPA at the midpoint of the program. The proposed regulation would change it to 85% attendance or 1.5 GPA. This means that a student would have to be put on probation for one marking period or dismissed if his/her GPA fell below 1.5 at the midpoint or if his/her attendance fell below 85%. Attendance and satisfactory progress will be individual components, rather than combined components. It is felt that is critical to raise the standards.

Directors' licenses move from permanent to full licensing requiring renewal. This follows the requirement of public school teacher certification. This will allow licensure of some directors who might have been rejected in the past as the Bureau now has the ability to evaluate the director during the initial license period. Administrative and educational competence will be considered. A teacher will receive a full four-year license; a permanent license will no longer be issued. Instructional competence will be considered in this licensing. The maximum nonrefundable registration fee has been increased to $150 and is now included as part of gross tuition receipts. Schools may now submit an attestation stating that the school's catalog without approval meets all of the requirements of the Commissioner's Regulations with the provision that disciplinary action may occur if it is found to be noncompliant. New schools will now be assessed on their gross tuition receipts based on operation prior to licensure. This is based on the fact that students of newly licensed schools are protected under the tuition reimbursement account. Documentation of ATB tests has been moved from the school's permanent records (20 years) to the school's administrative records (7 years). The new law has eliminated the Commissioner's ability to grant exemptions to licensing. New assessment requirements have been established for schools that are closing as well as a summary of dates for the tuition reimbursement account payments.

Commissioner Mills spoke to the group citing the efforts of the Bureau, the schools, and key legislators in working together to raise the integrity of the industry.

Public Comment

Concern was expressed over the following regulatory changes/issues:

1. Change in attendance and satisfactory academic progress from "and" to "or" and "80" to "85"
2. Clarification of admission requirements and documentation
3. Licensing symbol
4. Teacher/director licensure; how will the Bureau measure administrative, educational, and instructional competence?
5. Establishment of formal process for denial of a school license
6. The implementation of nationally recognized vendors should not be limited to computer training facilities
7. Further definition of the quarter's evaluation process to decrease diversity among the associates
8. ESL schools seem to have been overlooked in the changes
9. The great number of schools that will need to be licensed and continuing service to the existing schools
10. The move to eliminate unassigned hours in appearance enhancement curriculum

1. Suggestion that schools show their licensing number in their advertising so that a student might verify licensure.
2. John Austin commented that inquiries regarding documentation of entrance requirements are frequently received after seven years. Changing from the twenty-year requirement to seven years could impact some of those students.
3. The Council passed a motion allowing all those individuals who provided public comments to submit their comments in writing to BPSS for inclusion in the meeting minutes.
   [Click here to view written comments]

It was concluded that the following issues will be considered by the Advisory Council subcommittee meeting on regulatory reform to be held on December 13, 1999.

1. Standards for administrative, instructional, and educational competence.
2. Permit/full directors and teachers
3. Inclusion of registration fee in definition of gross tuition
4. Licensing symbol
5. Proposed change from 80% and 1.5 gpa to 85% or 1.5 gpa.

The next Advisory Council meeting will be held on January 11 at The Chubb Institute in New York City.