Procedure 2.3.5(p). LTC Substantive Change Reporting


Revised: June 21, 2012; August 8, 2014
Last Reviewed: August 8, 2014
Adopted: August 5, 2014

Procedure Descriptor:

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) defines substantive change as "a significant modification or expansion of the nature or scope of an accredited institution."

Lanier Technical College (LTC) is responsible for compliance with the SACSCOC Substantive Change Policy as a condition of its continued accreditation. Substantive changes may include, but are not limited to, the addition of courses or programs that represent a significant departure — either in content or method of delivery — from those that were offered when the institution was last evaluated, establishing a new site at which students can earn 50% or more of the credits toward a LTC program, and distance education delivery of 50% or more of an educational program.

Additional substantive changes include, but are not limited to, the following:

The LTC Substantive Change Procedure is published in LTC's Policy and Procedure Manual. In addition, the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness shares the procedure and/or changes to the procedure as needed with the college Leadership Team and reviews with college faculty and staff on an annual basis.

LTC must notify SACSCOC of potential or actual substantive change in a timely fashion, and in many cases must receive approval for such change from the Commission before the initiative is implemented. SACSCOC is required by the federal government to monitor its constituents' compliance with the substantive change policy and to grant permission for major changes to occur. In order to ensure LTC's compliance, anyone proposing to change the list of programs offered by LTC or to implement other major initiatives should review the substantive change policy for LTC as well as the relevant portion of the SACSCOC website: http://www.sacscoc.org/SubstantiveChange.asp.

Administrative Responsibility

The President, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Academic Deans, and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development have the fundamental responsibility to be generally aware of SACSCOC's substantive change policy and to inform LTC's SACSCOC Liaison at the earliest point possible of proposals that may be considered a substantive change for the college.

For changes to an existing program, the Academic Dean and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Devvelopment, snd the Program Director must provide the SACSCOC Liaison with a crosswalk form that shows the relationship between the existing and proposed revised curricula. The Institutional Effectiveness Office will use this form to determine the amount of new or changed course content and make a determination of whether the revision constitutes a substantive change and form of notification, if any, should be submitted to SACSCOC. In the event that no notification to SACSCOC is required, the Institutional Effectiveness Office will create and archive a memo to file, recording this internal decision. A copy of the memo will be forwarded to Academic Affairs.

The President or SACSCOC Liaison is responsible for notifying the Commission of any substantive changes. The President must review and sign all substantive change notification letters.

All substantive changes and internal decisisions will be recorded and published on LTC's Substantive Change Log.

SACSCOC Liaison Responsibility

Every SACSCOC member institution has an accreditation liaison whose charge is to ensure compliance with accreditation requirements. Responsibilities include:

Attention to Distance Education

Issues related to distance education that might be considered substantive change tend to be gradual in nature; thus this area requires special monitoring.

In order to ensure distance-education related substantive change is identified and acted upon in a timely way, the College must consistently:

Monitoring is to be done by the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs or other designee of the VP of Academic Affairs.

Procedure and Time of Notification

The SACSCOC policy statement for reporting substantive change, as specified in the Commission's document Substantive Change for Accredited Institutions of the Commission on Colleges, is the fundamental resource for reporting substantive change. The policy statement can be found at the following address: http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/081705/Substantive%20Change%20policy.pdf.

Notification to SACSCOC Liaison of Proposed Changes:

If a change is substantive, SACSCOC must be notified as much as 12 months in advance of implementing the change. LTC must provide written notification of the change to the President of the Commission. Upon becoming aware of a proposed change that may be substantive, the President, Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents, and Academic Deans proposing the change should notify the SACSCOC Liaison utilizing the SACSCOC Checklist.

Late Notification to SACSCOC Liaison:

If it is discovered that a program or site which may be considered a substantive change has been implemented without notifying the Commission, the President, Vice Presidents, Assistant Vice Presidents, or Academic Deans have responsibility to notify the SACSCOC Liaison immediately. It is then the responsibility of the President to notify SACSCOC as provided in the SACSCOC Policy.