Substantive Changes
Updates and announcements
- The Substantive Change Policy and Procedures was revised by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees on June 13, 2024.
- The revised version is now available. It is effective immediately. A redline version is available noting all changes with select accompanying comments and explanations of the changes.
- Click your browser’s reload or refresh button to access the most recent version of the policy; ensure you have the updated version by confirming the revision date — June 2024 — printed on the final page of the policy.
- The Substantive Change Cover Sheet is no longer required. We now collect or confirm this information via the Institutional Portal submission process.
- Substantive Change FAQs: We’re rebuilding the FAQ webpage with more timely questions and answers. Watch for new content over the coming weeks.
- Substantive Change Workshop: SACSCOC is offering its one-day, in-person, substantive change workshop:
- Monday, September 16, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn., and
- Friday, November 8, 2024, in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
- For additional information – — including learning objectives, intended audience, and registration links as they are available — visit the Substantive Change Workshop webpage.
- The federal Prison Education Program (PEP) creates substantive change obligations for SACSCOC institutions.
- Refer to the Substantive Change Policy and Procedures, revised in June 2024, for explanations and guidance. Note the PEP substantive change information in policy was revised after initially published in March 2023.SACSCOC PEP webinars are available for review on-demand:Publicly available support materials from multiple sources have been assembled for your reference.
- The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has created a Prison Education Program Question and Answers webpage.
- Reminders:
- Substantive changes cannot be submitted by email to the President or to staff members.
Upcoming dates and deadlines
Note: All Substantive Change submissions must be made using the institutional portal.
- July 1, 2024: Deadline to submit substantive changes to be implemented January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, requiring notification or requiring approval by the Executive Council of the SACSCOC Board of Trustees. Refer to the Substantive Change Policy and Procedures for guidance for a specific substantive change type.
- September 1, 2024: Deadline to submit substantive changes requiring approval by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees in December 2024. Carefully review the Substantive Change Policy and Procedures to determine if a substantive change type or the institution’s status (viz., sanction) requires Board review at a regularly scheduled biannual meeting or if the change can be reviewed by the Executive Council of the Board: different deadlines apply. See also “Board review pathways” and “Off-campus Instructional Site Approval” by extensive review in the substantive change policy
Substantive change policy and related policies
Webinars
Upcoming webinars:
- Next planned webinar:
Updated Prison Education Program (PEP) Submissions and Processes
Date + time: To be determined; the date, time, and registration link will be available here when settled
This webinar will cover the PEP changes in the June 2024 revision of the Substantive Change Policy and Procedures.
On-demand webinars :
- Good Practices for Substantive Change Submissions – Part 1 [Zoom] and handout [PDF]. (Recorded October 20, 2022)
- Good Practices for Substantive Change Submissions – Part 2 [Zoom] and handout [PDF]. (Recorded November 10, 2022)
- Implementing a Prison Education Program: Synthesizing Policy and Practice [Zoom] and handout [PDF]. (Recorded October 14, 2023; courtesy of Virginia Regional Accreditation Symposium)
- New Substantive Change Policy Video [Vimeo] and handout [PDF] (Recorded at the SACSCOC Annual Meeting, December 2020)
- Off-campus Instructional Site Approvals [Vimeo] and handout [PDF]. This webinar covers the approval criteria and process — including the new extensive review and limited review pathways — for off-campus instructional sites / additional locations. (Recorded June 4, 2021)
- Preparing an Off-campus Instructional Site Prospectus for Approval by Extensive Review [Zoom] and handout [PDF]. This webinar provides guidance for preparing an extensive review (versus a limited review) prospectus for new off-campus instructional sites / additional locations. (Recorded January 20, 2022)
- Prison Education Program (PEP): Follow-up + Update [Zoom] and handout [PDF]. This webinar shares lessons learned from the first PEP prospectuses reviewed by SACSCOC. Emphasis is on knowing and avoiding obstacles to a successful review. (Recorded January 17, 2024)
- Prison Education Program (PEP): New Policy Requirements [Zoom] and handout [PDF].This webinar addresses new policy requirements and the implementation procedures for the Prison Education Program incorporated into the SACSCOC substantive change policy and procedures in March 2023. (Recorded April 6, 2023)
- Substantive Change Policy and Procedures Revision – June 2024 [Zoom] and handout [PDF]. This webinar summarizes the June 2024 revisions to the Substantive Change Policy and Procedures. (Recorded June 20, 2024
- Substantive Change Restriction [Vimeo] and handout [PDF]. This webinar covers the new Substantive Change Restriction status that creates additional or different substantive change requirements for institutions meeting defined criteria. (Recorded June 18, 2021)
- Understanding the SACSCOC Substantive Change Policy: Off-campus Instructional Sites [YouTube] and handout [PDF]. (Recording courtesy Tennessee Accreditation Network; recorded April 29, 2022.) You’ll learn what constitutes an off-campus instructional site (OCIS) / additional location, what sites require approval (versus notification or no action), requirements and process for approvals by extensive review and by limited review, and when and how a teach-out plan should be submitted.
Documents and Templates