To help strengthen the postsecondary institutional accountability triad among the (1) Department of Education (Department), (2) States, and (3) Accrediting Agencies, the Accreditation Group (AG) has reinstated its former State Liaison roles.
The State Liaison team within the Accreditation Group is composed of five currently assigned Accreditation Group analysts and has the following responsibilities:
- Provide technical guidance to state officials on the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended (HEA) and Department regulations in 34 CFR §§ 602 and 603;
- Participate in meetings and conferences designed to promote and advance dialogue with state higher educational organizations regarding state and federal statutory and regulatory requirements governing authorization, licensure, and accreditation of Title IV institutions;
- Respond to routine correspondence, and phone inquiries from state officials, and coordinate with the appropriate staff analyst or Department office;
- Identify higher education issues that needed to be brought to the attention of the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education and initiate public forums for discussion and dialogue among members of the higher education community;
- Create and maintain a directory which lists each state’s key higher education staff (including SHEEOS), and state licensure officers along with their contact information;
- Work closely with state officials and accrediting agencies on school closures regarding the following:
- Adequacy of teach-out plans and teach-out agreements;
- Confer with state officials and accrediting agencies regarding the status of institutions included in teach-out plans and agreements;
- As a courtesy, obtain information from state officials regarding student records and where student records are stored for the closed institution.
State Assignments
Charity Helton (Charity.Helton@ed.gov): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia
Mike Stein (Michael.Stein@ed.gov): Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts
Stephanie McKissic (Stephanie.Mckissic@ed.gov): Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico
Nicole S. Harris (Nicole.S.Harris@ed.gov): New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota
LG Corder (LG.Corder@ed.gov): Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia
U.S Territories
Charity Helton (Charity.Helton@ed.gov): U.S Virgin Islands, Republic of Marshall Islands.
Mike Stein (Michael.Stein@ed.gov): American Samoa, Guam
Stephanie McKissic (Stephanie.Mckissic@ed.gov): Puerto Rico
Nicole S. Harris (Nicole.S.Harris@ed.gov): Northern Mariana Islands
LG Corder (LG.Corder@ed.gov): Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau