N.M. Admin. Code § 5.100.7.7

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 21, November 5, 2024

Section 5.100.7.7 - DEFINITIONS

A."Accreditation" means a verified accreditation status with an accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education that accredits institutions, as a means of assuring quality instruction.

B."Career school" means a private post-secondary educational institution offering a formal educational curriculum in New Mexico for a fee to members of the general public beyond compulsory school age, terminating in a certificate, diploma, associate degree, or comparable confirmation of completion of the curriculum.

C."College" or "university" means a private post-secondary educational institution offering a formal educational curriculum in New Mexico for a fee to members of the general public beyond compulsory school age, terminating in a baccalaureate degree, master's degree, or doctoral degree or comparable confirmation of completion of the curriculum.

D."Continuing education" means only brief courses of instruction designed to teach specific skills that may be applicable in a work setting but are not sufficient in themselves to be considered a program of training for employment. Typically, a student only enrolls for one course rather than a sequence of courses. The continuing education units must meet the criteria set out by the professional organization or authority requiring the continuing education.

E."Cooling off period" means at least three work days from the date of agreement or payment or from the date that the student first visits the institution, whichever is later.

F."Credit hour" means an institution's count of the amount of work represented in the intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement, proof of commonly-accepted industry practices or consistent with the federal definition of the credit hour.

G."Degree" means any title, designation, mark, abbreviation, appellation, or series of letters or words, including "associate", "bachelor's", "master's", "doctor's" and their equivalents, which are generally taken to signify satisfactory completion of the requirements of a program of study designed to be comparable to those provided by institutions accredited by agencies recognized by the United States department of education.

H."Department" means the New Mexico higher education department or its designated employee.

I."Enrollment Agreement" means any agreement, instrument or note executed before a student begins course work which creates a binding obligation between the student and the institution.

J."Exemption",or "Exempt" means a written acknowledgment by the department that an institution, organization, or other entity, has met requirements and filed pertinent information as required by the department to provide educational services in New Mexico, and is not subject to the Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act.

K."Institution" means a career school or nonregionally accredited college or university.

L."License", "Licensed",or "Licensure" means a written acknowledgment by the department that a career school or nonregionally accredited college or university has met the requirements of the department to offer a formal educational curriculum within New Mexico.

M."Manager" or "Managers" means the chief executive officer, chief operations officer, chief financial officer, senior business or finance officer, senior financial aid administrator, and senior or chief academic officer of a New Mexico private post-secondary educational institution.

N."Management plan of action" means a plan that has been developed, reviewed and implemented by managers of the institution which details specific steps the institution will commit to taking in order to remediate an identified weakness, shortcoming or insufficiency.

O."Owner" or "Ownership" means all individuals or entities that have any ownership interest in the institution.

P."Physical presence" means the ongoing occupation of a physical location in the state, the ongoing maintenance of an administrative office to support the provision of higher education instruction, or engaging in one or more of the activities detailed in Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of 5.100.7.6 NMAC.

Q."Post-secondary educational institution" or "post-secondary institution" means an academic, vocational, technical, business, professional, or other school, college, or university or other organization or person offering or purporting to offer courses, instruction, training, or education from a physical site in New Mexico, through distance education, correspondence or in person.

R."Private post-secondary educational institution" means a non-publicly funded post-secondary educational institution that offers post-secondary education for a fee to a member of the general public.

S. "Prospective student" means a person who demonstrates interest in signing an enrollment agreement with a post-secondary educational institution.

T."Regional accreditation" means a verified accreditation status with an accrediting agency recognized by the United States department of education that accredits degree granting institutions operating in a designated geographic region.

U."Registration" or "Registered" means a written acknowledgment by the department that a regionally accredited college or university has filed pertinent curriculum and enrollment information, as required by the department, and is authorized to operate and offer a formal educational curriculum within New Mexico.

V."Review Committee" means a committee established by the department pursuant to 5.100.7.11 NMAC.

W."State Authorization" means a private post-secondary educational institution has been deemed by the department to satisfactorily meet criteria, as determined by the department, for registration or licensure under the Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act. All degree-granting institutions seeking state authorization shall be accredited or be seeking appropriate external accreditation. State authorization does not serve as an endorsement of a particular institution, but confirms that an institution has met the minimum criteria set by the department to operate in New Mexico.

X."Work day" means a week day, Monday through Friday that is not recognized as a federal holiday.

N.M. Admin. Code § 5.100.7.7

Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXVIII, Issue 24, December 26, 2017, eff. 12/26/2017, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 23, December 11, 2018, eff. 12/11/2018, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXI, Issue 24, December 29, 2020, eff. 12/29/2020