Offering programs/courses outside the college’s geographic service region

Purpose:

To provide policy and guidelines for the offering of instructional programs and courses outside the college's geographic service region.

Definitions:

Host community college: the community college having services offered in their service region by Reynolds Community College.

Policy:

The college shall not offer instructional programs and/or courses in other community college service regions without the explicit and prior knowledge and written approval of the community college president serving that particular region and of the president of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (Reynolds).

For credit offerings, the president or designee shall make official contact with the president or designee of the college in the region to be served. Preliminary planning and negotiations shall be arranged by the vice president of academic affairs (VPAA) or designee. The college in whose service area the instruction would be held shall be included in the exploratory discussions at the beginning of the process. No formal commitment of Reynolds services shall be made or assumed until the president or designee of Reynolds has made this official contact, received the appropriate approval in writing, and signed an agreement with the president of the college in the region to be served.

The Community College Workforce Alliance (CCWA) was established to meet the training needs of Richmond-area business and industry and, as such, may provide services within Reynolds’ and John Tyler Community College’s (John Tyler) service region. Services to be offered outside of these two service regions requires written approval of the community college president serving that particular region. Preliminary planning and negotiations shall be arranged by the vice president of CCWA or designee and/or the VPAA or designee. The college in whose service area the instruction would be held shall be included in the exploratory discussions at the beginning of the process. No formal commitment of Reynolds services shall be made or assumed until the president or designee of Reynolds has made this official contact and received the appropriate approval in writing.

Procedures:

When Reynolds receives a request to provide a service in another community college's geographic area, every effort should be made to ensure that the service is delivered to the client. Action may vary from referring the client to the community college in his/her region to offering direct assistance to the client in arranging to have the class or program offered by the community college in the client's region. To ensure that the college provides effective service, the procedures outlined below should be followed:

1. Credit offerings other than distance learning

   1. Non-dual enrollment offerings:

      1. Any agent of the college who receives a request to provide non-dual enrollment instructional services outside the college’s geographic service area should refer the request to the appropriate dean.

      2. The dean will obtain from the requesting agency a written statement that details the specific service(s) desired, the potential market for such service(s), the location where such service(s) will be provided if possible, and information regarding any similar services currently available in the region to be served.

      3. The dean will forward the written request to the VPAA, who will forward the request to the college president or designee.

      4. The college president will make official contact with the president of the community college in the region to be served. When the president receives a response to his/her request, he or she will notify the VPAA, who will notify the dean.

      5. If approved in writing by the president of the community college in the region to be served (host college), the dean will work with the program head providing the services and the requesting agency to arrange the service(s), instructor(s), and location(s) for the requested service(s). The college will operate under the following procedures for financing such courses:

         1. If the student credit hours generated are counted by Reynolds as part of its enrollment, Reynolds will collect the tuition from the students and pay all bills.

         2. If Reynolds faculty and staff provide the instruction and the host community college counts the student credit hours generated in its enrollment, the host college will be responsible for collecting the tuition and reimbursing Reynolds by inter-agency transfer (IAT) for all expenses incurred in delivering the educational service, including the faculty member's salary, supplies, materials, and travel. This arrangement will be made in writing and signed by the appropriate authority at the host college.

      6. The college will adhere to Reynolds Policy No. 4-6, Substantive Change, which delineates when the college must seek approval for new off-campus sites from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

   2. Dual enrollment offerings

      1. Any agent of the college who receives a request to provide dual enrollment instructional services outside the college’s geographic service area should refer the request to the coordinator of dual enrollment.

      2. The coordinator of dual enrollment will obtain from the requesting agency a written statement that details the specific service(s) desired, the potential market for such service(s), the location where such service(s) will be provided if possible, and information regarding any similar services currently available in the region to be served.

      3. The coordinator of dual enrollment will forward the written request to the VPAA, who will forward the request to the college president or designee.

      4. The college president will make official contact with the president of the community college in the region to be served. When the president receives a response to his/her request, he or she will notify the VPAA, who will notify the coordinator of dual enrollment.

      5. The dual enrollment coordinator will handle all actions related to the specific, approved request including, but not limited to, creation of dual enrollment contracts, negotiation of course offerings, and permissions to teach classes outside the college’s service region as described in the remainder of this policy.

      6. Reynolds will collect tuition and fees according to the guidelines of the dual enrollment contract.

      7. The college will adhere to Reynolds Policy No. 4-6, Substantive Change, which delineates when the college must seek approval for new off-campus sites from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

2. Credit offerings delivered through distance learning outside the Shared Services Distance Learning (SSDL) Compact

   1. Requests by other agencies/colleges for Reynolds courses or programs

      Any agent of the college who receives a request to provide credit courses or programs through distance delivery modes outside the college’s geographic service area will refer the request to the dean responsible for the course(s) or program to determine what is required to provide the service to the requesting institution. The dean will forward the request to the VPAA, who will inform the Executive Cabinet of requests. The president will determine if the request is approved or not. The VPAA will communicate the president’s decision, in writing, to the requesting college.

      1. The college will follow the policies and procedures on funding and agreements for such course(s) or programs as established by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) as well as all relevant college policies, including Reynolds Policy No. 4-6, Substantive Change, which delineates when the college must seek approval for new off-campus sites from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

   2. Requests by Reynolds academic schools to initiate program delivery in other service areas

      1. Respective college deans will inform the VPAA of any proposed new programs or expansion of existing programs for delivery in the service area of other colleges.

      2. The VPAA will discuss the proposal with the college president.

      3. The college president or designee will contact the president of the community college in the service area affected and ask permission to promote and offer the program. When the president receives a response to his/her request, he or she will notify the VPAA, who will inform the academic dean as well as the dean of online learning, if appropriate.

      4. The college will follow the policies and procedures on funding and agreements for such course(s) or programs as established by the VCCS as well as all relevant college policies, including Reynolds Policy No. 4-6, Substantive Change, which delineates when the college must seek approval for new off-campus sites from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

3. Non-credit offerings

   Non-credit offerings available through Reynolds are offered through the Community College Workforce Alliance (CCWA). CCWA is a self-sustaining entrepreneurial initiative and a unique partnership between Reynolds and John Tyler. CCWA was established to meet the training needs of Richmond-area business and industry and as such, may provide services in the Reynolds or John Tyler service areas. Services offered outside of these two service regions requires written approval of the community college president serving that particular region. The following outlines CCWA’s process for conducting such training:

   1. Any agent of the college who receives a request to provide non-credit instructional services outside the college geographic service area should refer the request to the vice president of CCWA.

   2. The vice president of CCWA will determine specific requirements from the requesting individual/organization. The vice president of CCWA will contact the chief workforce development officer at the community college in the service area where training was requested, except when the request is from the VCCS system office.

   3. After the initial liaison with the other college involved, if the vice president of CCWA determines that the project may move forward, the vice president of CCWA will brief the presidents of Brightpoint and Reynolds on the proposed project and the initial discussions with his/her workforce development counterpart.

   4. Either or both college president(s) may decide to contact the college president in the service area where training has been requested.

   5. The president(s) will determine the desired level of documentation between the colleges (memorandum of understanding [MOU], letter of agreement [LOA], or email summary) and direct the vice president of CCWA to draft same.

   6. When the presidents have given permission, the vice president of CCWA may draft and process a contract with the customer organization. The contract will be processed in accordance with standard procedures.

   7. The vice president of CCWA will communicate in writing with his/her counterpart as to the status of a contract and reach agreement on a communications plan to keep the college informed as to activities that will be executed through the contract.

4. Agreements

   1. For credit programs, the president of the college or assigned designee of Reynolds, will sign JSRCC Form No. 60-0006, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for Instructional Services Delivered Outside the Reynolds Geographic Service Region, with the president of the college in the region to be served. The vice president of finance and administration will also sign this agreement and the Office of the Vice President of Finance and Administration will be responsible for housing all signed MOA’s.

   2. For non-credit offerings, CCWA uses both letters of agreement (LOA’s) and memoranda of understanding (MOU’s) when developing training agreements with customers.

Other Information:

Reynolds Policy No. 4-6, Substantive Change

JSRCC Form No. 60-0006, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for Instructional Services Delivered Outside the Reynolds Geographic Service Region