Distance Learning

Pro-Literacy/New Readers Press ESL Curriculum

State Authorization and SARA

The MHEC State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (M-SARA) is an interstate compact that addresses institutional need for state authorization between member states. On a national level, SARA oversight occurs through the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). The national council works with the regional compacts (MHEC, NEBHE, SREB, & WICHE) to administer SARA agreements for their member states.

Illinois passed the Illinois Distance Learning Act, Public Act 098-0792, in 2014, paving the way for Illinois’ participation in SARA. Illinois became a SARA state in July, 2015, through the Midwest Higher Education Compact (MHEC). The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) is the authorizing agency for higher education in Illinois and is the lead/portal agency for Illinois participation in SARA.

The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) is approving SARA applications for Illinois community colleges. Any other Illinois institution will seek approval through the IBHE SARA process.

Community colleges will pay an annual fee to NC-SARA for participation after ICCB approval. The rates are:

$2,000 annually, institutions under 2,500 FTE
$4,000 annually, institutions between 2,500 & 10,000 FTE
$6,000 annually, institutions 10,000 and above FTE

Community College Application Process
Download the Unified SARA Agreement and the NC-SARA Application.

Read the M-SARA Agreement.
Complete pages 1 – 5, attesting to agreement with the specific items of SARA participation.
Gather copies of your ICCB Recognition Certificate and HLC Accreditation.
The names provided as the principal and secondary SARA contacts on page 4 are who will receive information from NC-SARA on payment and final approval.
Read the C-RAC Interregional Guidelines for the Evaluation of Distance Education.
Evaluate online courses or programs that lead to professional licensure that would require student notification for SARA students. Develop an internal process to be used to identify and notify those students in advance of coursework. (NC-SARA Application Item 10). See this NC-SARA posting regarding licensure for additional information
Read the IBHE Administrative Rules, 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1033, covering Illinois institutions participating in SARA (beginning page 6042).
Add a link to ICCB’s student complaint page to your college’s student complaint page, with information letting SARA students know they can contact ICCB for complaints following completion of the college complaint process.

To submit a community college application, email the below information to the ICCB SARA contact at the bottom of this page.

Pages 1 – 5 of the completed NC-SARA application.
Copies of your ICCB Recognition Certificate and HLC Accreditation.
A statement of agreement to abide by the IBHE Administrative Rules covering Illinois institutions participating in SARA.
The link to your college’s student complaint page with updated information to include how out-of-state distance education students can file complaints in their home state and through ICCB.
The link to your college’s professional licensure page with information on the states for which your programs meet their licensure requirements, do not meet their licensure requirements, or if it is unknown if they meet their licensure requirements.

Applications will be reviewed within 10 business days and colleges will be notified by email of approval/disapproval or receive a phone/email request for follow-up information.

ICCB will transmit approvals to IBHE, who will then transmit final approval to NC-SARA. NC-SARA will then communicate final approval with the college and how to complete the payment process.

Application Renewals
SARA participation is an annual process. Institutions will follow the process above annually to reaffirm participation and pay the NC-SARA fee. Colleges will be notified by NC-SARA 90 days prior to the need for renewal.

Student Complaints
Out-of-state students taking distance learning courses who have a complaint can contact ICCB for a review of the complaint. Students should follow the directions on ICCB’s student complaints page. ICCB staff will review the complaints and provide guidance to the student.

ICCB SARA Contact
Application submissions, information requests and questions should be addressed to:

Jeff Newell
Deputy Director, Strategic Initiatives
jeff.newell@illinois.gov
217.558.2066

List of Illinois Institutions
A list of approved, participating Illinois institutions can be found on the NC-SARA site at https://nc-sara.org/directory.

Advisory Council

Public Act 91-0830 provides for governance of Adult Education and Family Literacy (AEFL) by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), stating the agency “shall establish an advisory council consisting of all categories of eligible providers; agency partners, such as the State Board of Education, the Department of Human Services, the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Secretary of State Literacy Program; and other stakeholders to identify, deliberate, and make recommendations to the State Board on adult education policy and priorities.”

Membership – FY 2022, FY 2021

Minutes

Adult Education Equity Survey

Equity Survey

Adult Education Advisory Council Recommendations
Curriculum & Instruction Recommendations:

WIOA

The Draft 2020 WIOA Unified State Plan

Welcome to the ICCB’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) web page. On this page we will post links to important documents such as the WIOA law, proposed rules, critical sites, and archived copies of the new WIOA newsletter, which will go out via email every other week with important updates and links. Information reference in the newsletters will be linked to this page.

What is WIOA?

WIOA is the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. WIOA retains many of the functions and structures of WIA, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and incorporates certain new components, including expanded partnerships and greater coordination and alignment between education and workforce entities.

WIOA Authorization Website

WIOA comprises four primary core partners and twelve required partners:

Title I – Workforce (adult, youth, & dislocated workers) [DCEO]
Title II – Adult Education [ICCB]
Title III – Wagner Peyser [IDES]
Title IV – Vocational Rehabilitation [DHS]

WIOA: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

Full Text and WIOA Resources

Proposed Rules, First Round:

ICCB Comments on the Notice for Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for WIOA:

ICCB WIOA Newsletters:

Illinois Works Together Newsletters can be found here.

LWIA Contact List Now Available

The Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) keeps a listing with the contact information for key individuals affiliated with each of the LWIAs and LWIBs.

The purpose of the list is to serve as the official list of contacts for each local workforce investment area’s Chief Elected Official(s), LWIB Chair, LWIB Staff, WIA Program Services Administrator and DCEO Office of Employment & Training Staff.

To access this contact list, click here.

WIOA Implementation Task Advisory Groups (TAGs)

In Illinois, several local level Task Advisory Groups have been established to provide a local perspective on issues related to the implementation of the Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The seven groups follow:

Governance
Planning
Policy
Operations
Performance
Technology
Youth

Each group has two primary tasks:

To make recommendations to State policymakers in specific areas identified for each group, and
To identify significant requirements of the WIOA for which Illinois will provide specific comments in conjunction with Federal rulemaking.

The current membership from the community college system, members of Adult Education (AE) and Career & Technical Education (CTE) administration and staff, as well as ICCB staff, of each TAG follows and will be updated as needed:

1. Governance

Joanne Kantner, AE – Kishwaukee College
Peggy Heinrich, AE – Elgin Community College
Jean Kartje, CTE – College of DuPage
Karen Hunter Anderson – ICCB
Jennifer Foster – ICCB
Lavon Nelson – ICCB

2. Planning

Tawanna Nickens, AE – Parkland College
Val Harris, AE – Lewis & Clark Community College
Ali O’Brien, CTE – College of Lake County
Jennifer Foster – ICCB
Lavon Nelson – ICCB

3. Policy

Rocki Wilkerson, AE – Decatur Public Schools
David Wu, AE – Pui Tak, Chicago
Michael Boyd, CTE – Kankakee Community College
Jennifer Foster – ICCB
Brian Durham – ICCB
Lavon Nelson – ICCB

4. Operations

Glenda Nicke, AE – Black Hawk College
Lisa Atkins, AE – Southwestern Illinois College
Dave Kietzmann, CTE – Danville Area Community College
Lavon Nelson – ICCB
Marilyn Schmidt – ICCB

5. Performance

Dan Deasy, AE – College of DuPage
Bob Fittin, AE – Greater West Township Project
David Beer, CTE – Waubonsee Community College
Nathan Wilson – ICCB
Jay Brooks – ICCB

6. Technology

Randy Fletcher, CTE – Joliet Junior College
Jeff Newell – ICCB
Todd Jorns – ICCB

7. Youth

Val Harris, AE – Lewis & Clark Community College
Wendy Howerter, CTE – Lincoln Land Community College
Amanda Corso – ICCB
Ben McDaniel – ICCB

Funding Opportunities

Funding

Early School Leaver Transition Program

Allocations and Appropriations & Supporting Technical Data Appendix

View the Annual Data

Fiscal Year 2022

FY 2022 Adult Education and Literacy Awards

FY 2022 Early School Leaver Transition Program (ESLTP) Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity

Fiscal Year 2020

FY 2020 Adult Education and Literacy Additional Federal Basic Allocations

Area Plans

According to 105 ILCS 405/2-4, the Area Planning Council shall provide for the development and coordination of adult education programs in an Area Planning Council Region. The Plan has broad purposes including: identifying services currently being offered to the identified population, producing a plan for continuing services, identifying gaps in services, identifying reasons for these gaps and as a planning tool to identify ways to service the identified service gaps.