PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed action:
Amendment of section 3.50(c) of Title 8 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Education Law, sections 207 (not subdivided), 210 (not subdivided), 214 (not subdivided), 215 (not subdivided), 305(1) and (2), and 6306(5-b)
Subject:
Honorary associate degrees.
Purpose:
To establish the list of honorary associate degrees that community colleges and other New York degree-granting institutions may award.
Text of proposed rule:
Subdivision (c) of § 3.50 of the Rules of the Board of Regents is amended by the addition of a new paragraph (3), effective August 21, 2008, as follows:
(3) Associate Degrees:
Associate of Civil Law (A.C.L.)
Associate of Commercial Science (A.C.S.)
Associate of Divinity (A.D.)
Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.)
Associate of Hebrew Letters (A.H.Litt.)
Associate of Humane Letters (A.H.L.)
Associate of Jewish Theology (A.J.T.)
Associate of Laws (LL.A.)
Associate of Letters (A.Litt.)
Associate of Music (A.Mus.)
Associate of Pedagogy (A.Pd.)
Associate of Sacred Theology (A.S.T.)
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Anne Marie Koschnick, Legal Assistant, Office of Counsel, Education Department, State Education Bldg., Rm. 148, Albany, NY 12234, (518) 473-8296, e-mail: legal@mail.nysed.gov
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education — P16, Education Department, 2M West Wing, Education Bldg., 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-3862, e-mail: p16education@mail.nysed.gov
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement
1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Section 207 of the Education Law grants general rule-making authority to the Board of Regents to carry into effect the laws and policies of the State relating to education.
Section 210 of the Education Law grants to the Board of Regents the authority to register domestic and foreign institutions in terms of New York standards.
Section 214 of the Education Law provides that higher educational institutions that are incorporated in New York State shall be members of The University of the State of New York.
Section 215 of the Education Law authorizes the Commissioner of Education to visit, examine, and inspect schools or institutions under the educational supervision of the State and require reports from such schools.
Subdivision (1) of section 305 of the Education Law empowers the Commissioner of Education to enforce all laws relating to the educational system of the State and execute all educational policies determined by the Board of Regents.
Subdivision (2) of section 305 of the Education Law authorizes the Commissioner of Education to have general supervision over all schools and institutions subject to the Education Law.
Subdivision 5-b of section 6306 of the Education Law authorizes the board of trustees of community colleges to award honorary associate degrees subject to the approval of the Board of Regents.
2. LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:
The proposed amendment carries out the legislative objectives of the above-referenced statutes by listing the honorary degree titles that community colleges and other New York degree-granting institutions may award.
3. NEEDS AND BENEFITS:
Chapter 324 of the Laws of 2006 amended § 6306 of the Education Law by adding subdivision 5-b: “Subject to the approval of the board of regents, the board of trustees shall have the authority to award honorary associate degrees.”
The honorary degree titles available for use by New York degree-granting institutions are those listed in § 3.50(c) of the Rules of the Board of Regents, presently consisting of only master's degree and doctoral titles. An amendment is needed to list the honorary associate degree titles that may be used. It is proposed to list 13 such titles, consistent with those already authorized for honorary master's and doctoral degrees.
By implementing § 6306(5-b) of the Education Law by identifying the associate degree titles available for use, this amendment would benefit community colleges. Those titles also could be awarded by the SUNY and CUNY Boards of Trustees, by independent colleges that seek amendment of their charters to authorize their use, or by any New York degree granting institution meeting the requirements of ‘3.48 of the Rules of the Board of Regents: (1) holding an absolute charter or the equivalent, (2) conferring baccalaureate or higher degrees, and (3) holding institutional accreditation by a Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agency.
The State University of New York polled its community colleges and advised the Department that they preferred to use Associate of Humane Letters (A.H.L.) and Associate of Letters (A.Litt.) as honorary degrees. CUNY did not disagree. (CUNY community colleges do not have separate boards of trustees and the CUNY Board of Trustees is authorized to award any honorary degree listed in § 3.50(c). Recognizing that other New York higher education institutions might be interested in awarding honorary associate degrees, the Department proposes to include the titles requested by SUNY and go well beyond them.
4. COSTS:
(a) Costs to State government. This amendment will not impose any additional costs on State government.
(b) Costs to local government. None.
(c) Costs to private regulated parties. The proposed amendment will not impose any additional costs on private regulated parties.
(d) Costs to the regulatory agency. The proposed amendment will not impose additional costs on the State Education Department.
5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:
The proposed amendment does not impose any program, service, duty, or responsibility on local governments.
6. PAPERWORK:
The proposed amendment does not impose additional paperwork.
7. DUPLICATION:
The proposed amendment does not duplicate any existing State or federal requirements.
8. ALTERNATIVES:
There are no viable alternatives to the proposed amendment, and none were considered.
9. FEDERAL STANDARDS:
There are no federal standards related to honorary degrees.
10. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:
The proposed amendment merely established authorized associate honorary degrees that may be conferred by New York degree-granting institutions, and does not impose any compliance requirements or costs.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The proposed amendment adds a list of honorary associate degree titles to the registered honorary degree titles available for use by New York degree-granting institutions, and will not impose any adverse economic impact, reporting, recordkeeping or any other compliance requirements on small businesses or local governments. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it does not affect small businesses or local governments, no further steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and one has not been prepared.
Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
1. TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF RURAL AREAS:
The proposed amendment will apply to colleges and universities authorized to award degrees in New York State, including such institutions located in the State's 44 rural counties with fewer than 200,000 inhabitants and 71 towns in urban counties with a population density of 150 per square mile or less. There are 269 degree-granting institutions in the State, including 64 campuses and community colleges in the State University of New York, 19 senior and community colleges of The City University of New York (CUNY), 146 independent colleges and universities, and 39 proprietary colleges. Excluding CUNY's 19 campuses leaves 250 degree-granting institutions, of which 62 (24.8 percent) are located in rural areas.
2. REPORTING, RECORDKEEPING AND OTHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
The purpose of the proposed amendment is to prescribe a list of honorary associate degrees to the list of registered honorary degree titles that degree-granting institutions may award. The proposed amendment merely expands the list of registered honorary degree titles which degree-granting institutions may confer to include honorary associate degrees, and will not impose any reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements on degree-granting institutions. No professional services will be needed to comply with the proposed amendment.
3. COSTS:
The proposed amendment will not impose any initial capital costs or annual costs to comply with the amendment on degree-granting institutions, including those located in rural areas. The proposed amendment merely expands the list of registered honorary degree titles which degree-granting institutions may confer, to include honorary associate degrees.
4. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
The proposed amendment merely expands the list of registered honorary degree titles which degree-granting institutions may confer to include honorary associate degrees, and will not impose any reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements, or costs, on degree-granting institutions. The proposed amendment makes no exception for degree-granting institutions that are located in rural areas. Section 3.50 of the Rules of the Board of Regents lists the degree titles that are available for use by degree-granting institutions, Statewide, including those located in rural areas. Consequently, the State Education Department believes that the prescribed list of registered honorary associate degrees also must apply uniformly State-wide to all such institutions, including those located in rural areas and that it would be inappropriate to establish different standards for eligible institutions located in rural areas.
5. RURAL AREA PARTICPATION:
The State University of New York polled its community colleges, including those located in rural areas, and advised the State Education Department that they preferred to use Associate of Humane Letters (A.H.L.) and Associate of Letters (A.Litt.) as honorary degrees. Recognizing that other New York higher education institutions might be interested in awarding honorary associate degrees, the Department proposes to include the titles requested by SUNY and go well beyond them.
Job Impact Statement
The proposed amendment adds a list of honorary associate degree titles to the registered honorary degree titles available for use by New York degree-granting institutions, and will not have an adverse impact on jobs or employment opportunities. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it will have no impact on jobs and employment opportunities, no further steps were needed to ascertain these facts and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement was not required and one was not prepared.
