[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 26, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23316-23317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10033]



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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and 
Integrity (NACIQI) Meeting

AGENCY: National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and 
Integrity, Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Announcement of requests from the public to make oral comments 
concerning the ten (10) accrediting agencies and one (1) Federal 
institution scheduled for review.

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ADDRESSES: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary 
Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 8060, Washington, DC 20006.
SUMMARY: This notice invites the public to make oral comments 
concerning the agencies/institution scheduled for review at the 
NACIQI's June 8-10, 2011 meeting. This notice is required under Section 
10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and Section 
114(d)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NACIQI meeting will be held on June 8-
10, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m., at the Holiday Inn 
and Suites, Commonwealth Ballroom, 625 First Street, Alexandria, 
Virginia 22314.
    Changes to the Agenda: Since the publication of the March 9, 2011 
Federal Register notice (76 FR 12947), the Department and the NACIQI 
Chairman changed the order of the scheduled activities. On June 8 and 
the morning of June 9, 2011, the agenda will now include ten (10) 
accrediting agencies that submitted petitions for the renewal of 
recognition and the review of one (1) Federal institution that 
submitted an application for degree-granting authority. (The agencies 
and the Federal institution scheduled for review are listed below.)
    At approximately 4:00 p.m. on June 8, 2011, the NACIQI will hold an 
administrative session to conduct the members' annual required ethics 
training. The training session will not be open to the public. During 
the afternoon of June 9 and on June 10, 2011, the NACIQI will hear 
presentations and public comments on issues related to the 
reauthorization of the HEA. Following public comments on each, the 
NACIQI will then begin development of recommendations for the 
Committee's report to the Secretary on the reauthorization of the HEA.
    The following agencies/institution are scheduled for review during 
the June 8 and June 9 agency review portion of the June 2011 NACIQI 
meeting:

Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies

Petitions for Renewal of Recognition

    1. Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
    2. Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools.
    3. Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges.
    4. Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.
    5. American Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal 
Education and Admission to the Bar.
    6. American Osteopathic Association, Commission on Osteopathic 
College Accreditation.
    7. American Psychological Association, Committee on Accreditation.
    8. Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological 
Schools.
    9. Council on Occupational Education.
    10. Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, 
Accreditation Commission.


    Note: Teacher Education Accreditation Council, Accreditation 
Committee, was listed in the Federal Register notice (76 FR 12947) 
published March 9, 2011; however, the agency will not be reviewed at 
this meeting.


Federal Agency Seeking Degree-Granting Authority

    Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama 
(request to award a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Military Strategy).
    Under 10 U.S.C., Section 9134, in order for the U.S. Air Force's 
Air University to offer a new degree program, the Secretary of the U.S. 
Department of Education must have approved the degree in accordance 
with the Federal Policy Governing the Granting of Academic Degrees by 
Federal Agencies and Institutions (approved by a letter, dated December 
23, 1954, from the Director, Bureau of the Budget, to the Secretary, 
Health, Education, and Welfare). Under the policy, the Secretary is 
required to establish a review committee to advise the Secretary 
concerning any proposal to authorize the granting of degrees by a 
Federal agency. After considering the criteria established by the 
policy, the review committee forwards its report concerning a Federal 
agency's proposed degree-granting authority to the Secretary, who then 
forwards the committee's report and the Secretary's recommendation to 
the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense. The 
Secretary uses the NACIQI as the review committee required for this 
purpose.
    Instructions for Making a Third-Party Oral Comment Concerning the 
Agencies Scheduled for Review: There are two methods the public may use 
to make a third-party oral comment of three to five minutes concerning 
one of the agencies scheduled for review on June 8 and June 9, 2011.
    Method One: Submit a request by e-mail in advance of the meeting to 
make a third-party oral presentation. All individuals or groups 
submitting an advance request in accordance with this notice will be 
afforded an opportunity to speak for a minimum of three minutes each. 
Each request must concern the recognition of a single agency or 
institution tentatively scheduled in this notice for review, must be 
received no later than thirty days after the date of publication of 
this notice, and must be sent to [email protected] with the 
subject line ``Oral Comment Request re: (Agency/Institution Name.'' 
Your request (no more than one page maximum) must include:
    1. The name, title, affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, 
telephone and facsimile numbers, and Web site (if any) of the person/
group requesting to speak; and,
    2. A brief summary of the principal points to be made during the 
oral presentation.
    Please do not send material directly to NACIQI members.
    Method Two: Register on June 8 or June 9, 2011, for an oral 
presentation opportunity during the NACIQI's deliberations concerning a 
particular agency or institution scheduled for review. The requestor 
should provide his or her name, title, affiliation, mailing address, e-
mail address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and Web site (if any). A 
total of up to fifteen minutes during each agency's/institution's 
review will be allotted for commenters who register on June 8 or June 
9, 2011. Individuals or groups that register on June 8 or June 9, 2011, 
will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis. If selected, each 
commenter may speak from three to five minutes, depending on the number 
of individuals or groups who signed up the day of the meeting. The 
Committee may engage the commenter in discussion afterwards. If a 
person or group requests to make comments in advance, they cannot also 
register for an oral presentation opportunity on the meeting day.
    Members of the public will be eligible to make third-party oral 
comments

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concerning the agencies scheduled for review only in accordance with 
these instructions. The oral comments made will become part of the 
official record and will be considered by the Department and NACIQI in 
their deliberations. Individuals and groups making oral presentations 
concerning scheduled agencies/institution may not distribute written 
materials at the meeting.
    Oral comments about agencies seeking continued recognition must 
relate to the Criteria for the Recognition of Accrediting Agencies, 
which are available at: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.
    Comments concerning the Air University's degree-granting authority 
request must relate to the criteria used to evaluate the institution. 
Those criteria may be obtained by submitting a request to: 
[email protected] with the subject line listed as ``Request for 
Degree-Granting Authority Criteria.''
    Written Comments: This notice invites third-party oral testimony 
about the agencies scheduled for review, not written comment. The 
Federal Register notice that requested written comments on the agencies 
scheduled for review was published in the Federal Register on March 9, 
2011 (76 FR 12946). The NACIQI will receive and consider only written 
comments that were submitted as specified in the above referenced 
Federal Register notice.
    Written and Oral Comments Concerning Reauthorization of the HEA: A 
separate Federal Register notice will be published that contains 
instructions for providing written or oral comments about 
reauthorization of the HEA.
    NACIQI's Statutory Authority an Functions: The NACIQI is 
established under Section 114 of the Higher Education Act (HEA), as 
amended, 20 U. S. C. 1011C. The NACIQI advises the Secretary of 
Education about:
--The establishment and enforcement of the Criteria for Recognition of 
accrediting agencies or associations under Subpart 2, Part H, Title IV, 
HEA, as amended;
--The recognition of specific accrediting agencies or associations, or 
a specific State approval agency;
--The preparation and publication of the list of nationally recognized 
accrediting agencies and associations;
--The eligibility and certification process for institutions of higher 
education under Title IV, HEA;
--The relationship between: (1) Accreditation of institutions of higher 
education and the certification and eligibility of such institutions, 
and (2) State licensing responsibilities with respect to such 
institutions; and,
--Any other advisory functions relating to accreditation and 
institutional eligibility that the Secretary may prescribe.
    Access to Records of the Meeting: The Department will post the 
official report of the meeting on the NACIQI Web site shortly after the 
meeting. Pursuant to the FACA, the public may also inspect the 
materials at 1990 K Street, NW., Washington, DC, by e-mailing 
[email protected] or by calling (202) 219-7067 to schedule an 
appointment.
    Reasonable Accommodations: Individuals who will need accommodations 
for a disability in order to attend the June 8-10, 2011 meeting (i.e., 
interpreter services, assistive listening devices, and/or materials in 
alternative format), should contact Department staff by telephone: 
(202) 219-7011; or, e-mail: [email protected], no later than May 
15, 2011. We will attempt to meet requests after this date, but we 
cannot guarantee the availability of the requested accommodation. The 
meeting site is accessible.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Melissa Lewis, Executive 
Director, NACIQI, U.S. Department of Education, Room 8060, 1990 K 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20006, telephone: (202) 219-7009; e-mail: 
[email protected]. Individuals who use a telecommunications device 
for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-
800-877-8339, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, 
Monday through Friday.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free 
Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the 
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System 
at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys . At this site you can view this document, 
as well as all other documents of this Department published in the 
Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
this site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at http://www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

Eduardo M. Ochoa,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-10033 Filed 4-25-11; 8:45 am]
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