Presidents’ Forum Meets to Discuss SARA Implementation

Presidents’ Forum Meets to Discuss SARA Implementation

By Mike Lesczinski, Excelsior Life News Staff and Raven Short, Excelsior Life News Staff Intern

Beginning today in Indianapolis, The President’s Forum and the Council of State Governments, will meet to discuss the steps to establish the State Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), announced on April 11 by the Commission on the Regulation of Postsecondary Distance Education led by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley.

Excelsior College, which founded the Presidents’ Forum, has worked with the Council of State Governments to develop SARA under a Lumina Foundation grant. Paul Shiffman, executive director of the Presidents’ Forum participated as a member of the Riley commission.

SARA intends to make state authorization more efficient, more uniform in regard to necessary and reasonable standards of practice that span states, and more effective in dealing with quality and integrity issues.

State team members comprised of policymakers and higher education leadership attending the symposium will explore, discuss and identify steps a state would need to take to participate in reciprocity, including anticipated state by state regulatory and statutory revisions that may be necessary to achieve the objectives of SARA.

The Presidents’ Forum, established in 2004, remains a leading advocate on issues of importance to online higher education. The Forum contends interstate reciprocity in recognition of institutional authorizations would broaden access to accredited online degree programs, ensure strong consumer protection and reduce barriers to student access and has pursued an agreement through a  grant from Lumina Foundation.

Within the past few years, the Forum met with state regulators on changes to the Title IV rules which would have sharply curbed access to high quality, accredited online college education.

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Flagler Forum speaker to address Washington's 'Colossal Mess'

September 15, 2011

The Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy continues with a presentation on Oct. 6 from former Scripps Howard News Service editor and writer Dan K. Thomasson. A 47-year veteran of Washington reporting, Thomasson will talk on "The 'Colossal Mess' in Washington."

Thomasson has appeared on "Face the Nation," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," "Washington Week in Review" and C-Span as a commentator and reporter on national affairs. He is a retired vice president of the E. W. Scripps Co. and retired editor of Scripps Howard News Service. He writes a twice-weekly column syndicated by Scripps Howard.

During the 60s and 70s, Thomasson was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the nation's top investigative reporters, having covered every major scandal from Bobby Baker to Chappaquiddick to Watergate. He covered three presidential campaigns and every political convention from 1960 to 2004. In 1975, he authored a groundbreaking national exposé of fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid.

Thomasson has brought his long and decorated career in investigative reporting into the educational arena, having held positions at colleges and universities across the country. He has been editor-in-residence at West Point, Rhode Island University, William and Mary, Ohio University and the University of Hawaii. He was a presidential fellow at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and a media fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford. He is also a member of the White House Correspondent's Association, the Gridiron Club of Washington (president 1992) and the National Press Club. He was named to the Washington Journalism Hall of Fame in 1993.

For more than 30 years, the Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy has invited nationally recognized journalists and commentators to St. Augustine to discuss issues of importance in regional, state and federal government.

All forums take place in the Flagler College Auditorium, 14 Granada St., at 7 p.m. Forums are free and open to the public, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters are provided. Call (904) 819-6400 or visit www.flagler.edu/our-community for more information.

The next Flagler Forum will be:

Nov. 3 - Margaret Talev, White House Correspondent, Bloomberg - "Hitting the Ceiling: The Economy and the 2012 Election"

View the original article here

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Flagler Forum speaker to address Washington's 'Colossal Mess'

September 15, 2011

The Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy continues with a presentation on Oct. 6 from former Scripps Howard News Service editor and writer Dan K. Thomasson. A 47-year veteran of Washington reporting, Thomasson will talk on "The 'Colossal Mess' in Washington."

Thomasson has appeared on "Face the Nation," "Good Morning America," "The Today Show," "Washington Week in Review" and C-Span as a commentator and reporter on national affairs. He is a retired vice president of the E. W. Scripps Co. and retired editor of Scripps Howard News Service. He writes a twice-weekly column syndicated by Scripps Howard.

During the 60s and 70s, Thomasson was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the nation's top investigative reporters, having covered every major scandal from Bobby Baker to Chappaquiddick to Watergate. He covered three presidential campaigns and every political convention from 1960 to 2004. In 1975, he authored a groundbreaking national exposé of fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid.

Thomasson has brought his long and decorated career in investigative reporting into the educational arena, having held positions at colleges and universities across the country. He has been editor-in-residence at West Point, Rhode Island University, William and Mary, Ohio University and the University of Hawaii. He was a presidential fellow at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and a media fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford. He is also a member of the White House Correspondent's Association, the Gridiron Club of Washington (president 1992) and the National Press Club. He was named to the Washington Journalism Hall of Fame in 1993.

For more than 30 years, the Flagler College Forum on Government and Public Policy has invited nationally recognized journalists and commentators to St. Augustine to discuss issues of importance in regional, state and federal government.

All forums take place in the Flagler College Auditorium, 14 Granada St., at 7 p.m. Forums are free and open to the public, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters are provided. Call (904) 819-6400 or visit www.flagler.edu/our-community for more information.

The next Flagler Forum will be:

Nov. 3 - Margaret Talev, White House Correspondent, Bloomberg - "Hitting the Ceiling: The Economy and the 2012 Election"

View the original article here

Read More