N.M. Code R. § 5.2.2.8 – General Principles

A. The commission believes that extended learning programs from existing institutions can offer high quality post-secondary educational services to under served communities in an efficient manner. Therefore, communities should collaborate with existing institutions to meet educational needs through extended learning programs. Communities should consider the establishment of a new institution or learning center only after it has been demonstrated that services offered through extended learning programs are not sufficient.
B. As evidence of local support for a new institution, learning center, or campus of an institution or learning center that would be eligible for state support, it must be demonstrated that the community is willing to impose a local tax levy that is appropriate to the nature of the proposed institution, learning center, or campus.
C. The commission believes that learning centers, which contract with institutions to provide services rather than provide those services directly, will be able to respond to rapidly changing educational needs in a community efficiently and effectively. It is anticipated that a learning center would contract with regionally accredited institutions to provide needed educational programs through the learning center for a limited period of time. At the end of the contract, the community based governing board would reassess the contract to determine whether the services called for in the contract were still needed, and if so, whether those services were being provided in an efficient and effective manner. If demand for the program were no longer sufficient, or if services were not being provided efficiently and effectively, then the contract would not be renewed.
D. The commission believes that learning centers can provide a more efficient option for providing access to higher education when extended learning is not sufficient. Therefore, an applicant for a new institution will have to demonstrate that a learning center is inadequate before a proposal to establish that institution will be considered by the commission.
E. It is important to the commission that any programs offered by institutions or through learning centers maintain high standards of quality.
(1) In order to help ensure the quality of programs offered through a learning center, learning centers will only enter into contracts with regionally accredited institutions. In other words, individual programs offered through a learning center need not be accredited, but the providing institution must be regionally accredited. It is also expected that any new institution will be eligible for regional accreditation either directly or through a possible parent campus's accreditation.
(2) Any existing institution that is unable to maintain regional accreditation shall be subject to special review by the commission.
F. Students enrolled in programs through a learning center shall generally be deemed students of the provider institution of the degree or certificate program in which they are enrolled, and any degrees or certificates shall be awarded by that provider institution and the student's permanent records shall be maintained by that provider institution. Records for students not enrolled in programs leading to degrees or certificates, but enrolled in individual courses, shall generally be maintained by the course provider unless the center has specifically contracted with an accredited institution to provide those record keeping services.
G. The commission believes that significant educational need must be demonstrated before a new institution, learning center, or campus can be endorsed. In addition, it is expected that existing institutions, learning centers, or campuses should continue to be able to demonstrate significant educational need within the community.
(1) The following conditions shall be considered evidence of need for the establishment of a new institution, learning center, or campus:
(a) evidence that efforts to use extended learning programs have been made, and that those efforts have been insufficient;
(b) ability to maintain appropriate enrollment levels;
(c) evidence of collaboration with other institutions, government agencies, and/or private sector organizations;
(d) indication from employers in the community that the programs provided will be useful, and evidence that employment opportunities will be available for graduates if the mission of the institution, center, or campus is to prepare students for the workforce.
(2) Existing institutions, learning centers, or branch campuses of institutions or learning centers that can no longer provide the minimum evidence of need required for establishment will be subject to special review by the commission.
H. It is the expectation of the commission that a preliminary plan for creating an institution, learning center, or campus of an existing institution or learning center, shall demonstrate that there is evidence of community need for post-secondary educational services sufficient to justify further detailed planning and analysis needed for state approval or disapproval of the establishment of institution, learning center, or campus. Therefore, all proposals for the establishment of an institution, learning center, or campus must contain a preliminary plan following the guidelines in 5 NMAC 2.2.9 [now 5.2.2.9 NMAC] . If the commission determines that there is sufficient evidence of need, the commission shall accept the preliminary plan, and a detailed plan and survey will be prepared. The detailed plan and survey shall provide information sufficient for the commission to verify that there is significant need for establishing a new post-secondary entity that cannot be met by existing post-secondary institutions, that the community is fully ready and equipped to support the institution or learning center, and that there is a high expectation that the proposed institution or learning center will succeed in its mission at a cost acceptable to the state.
[9/21/84, 11/30/96; Recompiled 10/31/01]