MINUTES OF THE COMMISSION ON POSTSECONDARY …



MINUTES OF THE COMMISSION ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

August 2nd, 2017 Meeting

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was held at the Department Employment Training and Rehabilitation conference meeting rooms, in both Carson City, and Las Vegas, Nevada (via video conferencing). Administrator Wuest updated the Commissioners that we no longer have a Chairperson or a Vice-Chairperson due to the appointments expiring for Chair Fraylick and Vice Chair Lynch. Both Commissioners decided to not renew their position on the board. Advice was requested from Deputy Attorney General, Robert Whitney regarding the proper procedure for opening the meeting and staying in compliance with Open Meeting Laws. Whitney replied that any member can open the meeting. The meeting was then called to order by Commissioner North at approximately 9:04 a.m.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

None

Administrator Wuest certified compliance with the Open Meeting Law. Deputy Attorney General asked if the agenda was posted in compliance. Administrator Wuest confirmed the agenda was posted ten days prior. Administrator Wuest took roll call and confirmed a quorum was present.

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT

Commissioner Clark

Commissioner Frederick

Commissioner Greiner

Commissioner North

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT (Excused)

STAFF IN ATTENDANCE

Ms. Kelly Wuest, Administrator

Robert Whitney, Deputy Attorney General

Ms. Maricris Wu, Education Specialist

Ms. Susan Beckett, Administrative Assistant III

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE

Chris Tidmarsh – West Coast Dealing School

Aunson Wang – BDG Dental Academy

Ryan Heroy – BDG Academy

Deborah Brown – BDG Academy

Alexander Kim – CEG Dealer School

Ricardo DeSouza

Faye Patton – Academy of Healthcare Prep

Cami Lewis – Tech Impact

Heather O’Reilly

Andrew Rozell – iteach Nevada

DiannHuber – iteach Nevada

Michele Kenyon – Academy of Healthcare Prep

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Motion to adopt a flexible agenda as per Staff Deputy Attorney General Robert Whitney suggested.

Discussion: None

Motion: Motion to approve a flexible agenda.

By: Commissioner Frederick

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Results: Unanimous.

Election of Officers

Discussion: Administrator Wuest provided an update that Commissioners Fralick and Lynch have decided not to renew their positions and resign their posts at the end of the term of service, June 30, 2017. In addition, changes to the NRS 394 have altered the composition of the board effective July 1, 2017. These changes eliminated the representative of the Department of Education while adding a non-voting member appointed by the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR). Due to the loss of Chair Fralick and Vice Chair Lynch from the Commission, the Commission must hold a new election to file the officer positions.

Motion: Commissioner North opened the floor for nominations.

Commissioner North called for nominations for Chair of the Commission on Postsecondary Education. Commissioner Frederick nominated Commissioner North be considered as Chair for the Nevada Commission on Postsecondary Education.

Deputy Attorney General Robert Whitney asked Commissioner North if the nomination was acceptable to her. Commissioner North responded, yes I accept.

Second: Commissioner Clark

Results: Unanimous

Chairperson North called for nominations for Vice Chair of the Commission on Postsecondary Education. Commissioner Frederick nominated Commissioner Clark be considered as Vice Chair for the Nevada Commission on Postsecondary Education.

Deputy Attorney General Robert Whitney asked Commissioner Clark if the nomination was acceptable to him. Commissioner Clark responded, yes I accept.

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Results: Unanimous

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion: To approve the minutes of May 3, 2017 meeting.

By: Commissioner Greiner

Second: Commissioner Clark

Results: Unanimous.

ADOPTION OF 2018 MEETING DATES

Motion: To approve the 2018 Proposed Meeting Schedule as submitted by Administrator Kelly Wuest.

Discussion: None

By: Commissioner Greiner

Second: Commissioner Frederick

Results: Unanimous.

AB 484 BILL PASSAGE

Administrator Wuest gave an update on Assembly Bill 484 which was passed in the 2017 legislative session and became effective on July 1, 2017. The bill moved the Commission on Postsecondary Education under the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR), Employment Security Division (ESD). The Commission Administrator position remains intact to perform the duties as outlined in NRS 394 and NAC 394 and reports to the Administrator of the Employment Security Division. The bill revises the composition of the Commission to include six voting members and one non-voting employee of the DETR appointed by the Director of DETR with the Commission representative from the Department of Education being eliminated. Currently, commission staff are working with several DETR units included financial, IT and human resources to take over/coordinate those functions which will eventually allow CPE staff additional time to focus on the Commission business.

ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

Administrator Kelly Wuest gave the Administrators report:

1. Legislative Update

AB 484 – This bill revised NRS 394 with the result of placing the Commission under the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation. There is a specific agenda item to discuss the changes.

SB440 – This bill would have expanded the Alcohol Beverage Awareness Cards to all counties in 2018. The bill died in committee.

2. Closure Updates

ITT Technical Institute – The Commission is still accepting student claims for refunds with approximately $140,000 submitted so far. Students have until September 8, 2017 to file a claim.

ITT Records: The trustee of the bankruptcy removed all student records from Nevada to GRM a private data storage company in Indiana. I have received the box content logs and have identified 640 boxes that may contain student transcript records. Per the bankruptcy order, each state administrator must travel to Indianapolis to review requested items prior to March 2018. There are fees related to room usage for review purposes, accessing each box, restocking each box or shipping the pertinent records. Based on the fee schedule, the cost to retrieve the documents will be approximately $8,100 plus the travel expenses. If I am able to determine any boxes to not include transcripts, the cost will be reduced. Any boxes remaining at GRM will be destroyed in April as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. The Commission will be able to transfer up to $10,000 from the student indemnification account to cover expenses related to retrieving the records.

Records from 2001 to closure have been converted to electronic form by Parchment, a transcript retrieval service. Parchment currently has possession of these student records from the 33 campus locations arranged by the bankruptcy trustee. Parchment has indicated they intend to provide CPE with all transcripts files once they are given permission by the bankruptcy trustee but now are indicating there may be a fee for the transfer. In the meantime, students attending since 2001 can request records from Parchment for a $15.00 fee.

Morrison University/Anthem College Transcripts – CPE was able to participate in the DETR intern program this summer. We had two interns, Jordon and Brayden who worked for eight weeks on retrieving student transcripts from the Anthem and Morrison files. With the exception of 15 difficult boxes of extremely old records, all transcripts have been identified and Susan will be scanning each document into a permanent file.

Other Closures

New Millennium – closed and received transcripts

Petra Nia - closed and received transcripts

Nova Southeastern – Closed and transcripts reverted to main campus

Cornerstone Esthetics – Closed and awaiting transcripts

Teach Out

The Iron Yard – Last class to finish 9/17

Le Cordon Blue – Last class to finish 8/17

Sanford Brown – Last class to finish 11/17

3. Budget – With the passage of AB 484, the Commission’s budget increased to include the DETR cost allocation for IT, Human Resources, financial and other administrative areas. The Commission was granted the budget to replace all the agency computers with both laptop replacements occurring in FY 18, the remaining desk top units in FY 19 and upgrading all software in FY 18. Staff have met with DETR’s IT unit to evaluate what steps needed to occur update the systems and any cost saving that can occur by using available DETR recourses. The remaining budget categories remained stable.

4. Staff Training – The Educational Specialist was able to attend National Association of State Administrators and Supervisors of Private Schools (NASAPS) Spring Conference from April 3 -5 in Lexington, KY on a scholarship from NASASPS. She attended training on state private school on regulatory oversight, gainful employments, accreditation standards, and the U.S. Department of Education initiatives.

The VA Education Specialist and the Administrator attended VA training for State Approving Agencies and Educational Liaison Representatives in Phoenix AZ on July 12-13, 2017. The training focused on VA computer systems, compliance surveys, reporting and various approvals. This is first training for the West Region in several years and was offered at no cost to attendees.

5. ACICS Update

The U.S. Department of Education has extending some of the critical dates of compliance for new accreditation after several accrediting bodies communicated to DOE that they were unable to meet the deadlines imposed. The final deadline to complete the process has not been extended at this time. ACICS has filed several legal motions which have been denied by the courts.

With the passage of AB 484 – the definition of “accreditation” has been revised to allow for the direct recognition by the U.S. Department of Education. This change protects schools impacted by future occurrence of accrediting bodies losing recognition and allows the currently impacted school to maintain operations or devise teach out plans as appropriate.

The following schools are impacted by the ACICS decision:

Art Institute

Brightwood College

Everest College

Southern States

Le Cordon Bleu – not impacted due to teach out

Sanford Brown – not impacted due to teach out

6. Quarterly Report - With 37 schools unreported, total enrollment for the April 1 – June 30, 2017 quarter stands at 5,814 students. An updated count will be provided at the meeting. Updated Total of 6,946 new student enrollments.

|April - June 2017 |April - June 2016 |April - June 2015 |April - June 2014 |April - June 2013 |

|5,814 |5,340 |6,614 |3,778 |6,793 |

7. CPE Quarterly Activities – April - June 2017

|CPE Activity |Number of |CPE Activity |Number of Applications |

| |Applications | |Processed |

| |Processed | | |

|License Renewals |15 |Agent Permits |69 |

|Experiential License |2 |VA Compliance Visits/Other Visits |13 |

|Agent Schools |0 |VA Program Approvals |445 |

|Distance Education Exemptions |9 |SARA Notifications |3 |

|License Evaluations |17 | | |

8. CPE Student Complaints: April - June 2017

|School Name |Date Filed |Issues/Allegations |Findings |Status |

|Resolved Complaints |

|American Institute of |5/25/17 |Failure to provide training |Student was excluded from educational experience due |Required school to |

|Locksmithing | | |to several altercations with director and staff. |refund all tuition |

| | | |School failed to follow student code of conduct. |paid on behalf of |

| | | | |the student to BVR |

| | |facility condition |Facility was not well maintained and required | |

| | | |extensive cleaning. | |

| | | | | |

| | | |New instructor was determined to be qualified to | |

| | |Unqualified instructor |teach basic locksmith course. | |

APPLICANTS FOR FULL TERM LICENSURE

Tech Impact

Testified: Cami Lewis, Community Manager with Tech Impact acts as the site director. Ms. Lewis gave a brief description of the program. Commissioner Greiner asked about advertising. Ms. Lewis indicated that advertising was done via social media.

Discussion: None.

Motion: Full term licensure is recommended for Tech Impact.

By: Commissioner Clark

Second: Commissioner Frederick

Result: Unanimous.

West Coast Dealing School

Testified: Chris Tidmarsh – Owner and head instructor. Mr. Tidmarsh gave a brief description of the program and then updated commission on goals and employment outcomes.

Discussion: None

Motion: Full term licensure is recommended for West Coast Dealing School.

By: Commissioner Frederick

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Result: Unanimous

CEG Dealing School

Testified: Alexander Kim – Owner, Director and Instructor of the school. Mr. Kim gave a brief description of the program and then updated the Commission on outcomes. Commissioner Clark asked about the nine findings and what the steps the school is taking to correct the findings. Mr. Kim responded that he is currently in the process of hiring three instructors and one intern. Greiner asked how the added instructors will correct the administration issues. Clark clarified the issue and ask how the Commission can be assured that you will handle the administrative duties of the Director. Commissioner Clark asked about the fees and if any were late. Administrator Wuest updated the Commission that one was late however, the late fee was paid. Mr. Kim responded that he will dedicate his efforts towards the administration of the school.

Discussion: None

Motion: Provisional licensure issued to CEG Dealer School be extended for nine months.

By: Commissioner Greiner

Second: Commissioner Frederick

Result: Unanimous

Academy of Healthcare Prep

Testified: Faye Patton – Founder and administrative, program coordinator and Michelle Kenyon. Ms. Patton gave a brief description of the program and then updated the Commission on the school issues. Commissioner Clark asked if they were in violation due to ownership. Staff responded that a change of ownership application has not been submitted to the Commission. The Commission discussed the summary of findings from the provisional audit. Commissioner Frederick asked the Administrator to update everyone on the process of the CPE Workshops. Administrator Wuest complied by reviewing the process for new licensure applicants and provided a brief update on the way the workshops are taught. Ms. Kenyon updated the Commission that the school has had three sessions and updated the commission on the ongoing courses. A total of ten students have completed training at the time of the meeting.

Discussion: None

Motion: Provisional licensure issued to Academy of Healthcare Prep be extended for nine months.

By: Commissioner Clark

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Result: Unanimous

INITIAL PROVISIONAL LICENSURE

BDG Academy

Testified: Ryan Heroy provided a PowerPoint presentation (attached to the minutes), along with Aunson Wang and Deborah Brown, School Director who were present to answer questions. Commissioner Greiner asked about marketing experience and the advertising plan which Mr. Heroy explained. Commissioner Clark asked about the position salaries and whether the amount listed is full time pay or a portion. Mr. Heroy elaborated on details of the staffing breakdowns. Commissioner Frederick asked about the orthodontics program. Ms. Brown replied the BDG orthodontic students are required to have two years’ experience as a dental assistant or be a graduate of our school. Commissioner Clark asked if the facility contingency or bond contingency have been fulfilled? Maricris Wu, Commission Staff, responded both have been satisfied.

Discussion: None

Motion: That a 12-month provisional license be granted to the BDG Academy to offer the Dental Assisting and Introduction to Orthodontic programs.

By: Commissioner Clark

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Result: Unanimous

Iteach NEVADA

Testified: Dr. Diann Huber and Andrew Rozell gave a brief description of the programs and provided an overview of their operations in various states. Commissioner Clark asked how long have you been operating in the State of Nevada. Dr. Diann Huber responded since May 2017.

Discussion: None

Motion: That a 12-month provisional license be granted to Iteach NEVADA to offer their Alternate Route to Teachers Licensure programs in Elementary Education, Secondary Education with emphasis in Biological Science, English, Mathematics, Physical Science, Social Studies and the Special K-12 All Level Physical Education programs contingent on securing surety in the amount of $181,000.00, personnel information and facility information.

By: Commissioner Frederick

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Result: Unanimous

Motion to Close Meeting for Personnel Hearing

By: Commissioner Greiner

Second: Commissioner Fredrick

Result: Unanimous

THE MEETING WAS CLOSED AT 10:43 am CLOSE MEETING (sign was posted on door, hall was cleared and door was closed and remained closed until meeting was reopened.)

APPLICATION FOR CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT

Brightwood College (Ricardo Gomez DeSouza)

Closed session to consider the character, misconduct, competence or health of a person – action will be taken in open session

Motion: To reopen meeting

By: Commissioner Frederick

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Result: Unanimous

OPEN MEETING – The meeting was reopened at 10:58am

Motion: Mr. DeSouza be permitted to retain his position with Brightwood College.

By: Commissioner Greiner

Second: Commissioner Clark

Result: Unanimous

Deputy Attorney General recommended the vote be done by individual roll call.

Motion: Mr. DeSouza be permitted to retain his position with Brightwood College.

By: Commissioner Frederick

Second: Commissioner Greiner

Result: Unanimous – a roll call vote was also taken: Commissioner Clark approve, Commissioner Greiner approve, Commissioner Frederick approve, Commissioner North approve

COMMISSION COMMENTS

None.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Deputy Attorney General Robert Whitney thanked Ann Lynch and Sharon Fralick for their service with the Commission.

ADJOURNMENT

Adjourned the meeting at approximately 11:02 am.

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