Section 1030.20  Definitions

Unless otherwise stated, all definitions apply to all terms used in this Part in conjunction with both the 1945 Act and the 1961 Act.

"The 1945 Act" means the Private College Act [110 ILCS 1005].

"The 1961 Act" means the Academic Degree Act [110 ILCS 1010].

"Asynchronous" means instruction in which the teacher and students do not meet at the same time. On-line instruction is more likely to be asynchronous, allowing students to access and participate in the course when they choose to do so.

"Authorization to Grant Degrees" means the letter from the Board giving an institution authorization to grant specific degrees under the 1961 Act.

"Authorization to Operate" means the letter from the Board authorizing an institution to operate under the 1961 Act.

"Board" means the Board of Higher Education. In those cases in which the term is used to refer to prior approval or lack of prior approval for either an institution or a degree program, the term "Board" shall mean either the Board of Higher Education or one of the two previous administrative agencies that administered higher education in Illinois (the Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction), as appropriate.

"Certificate of Approval" means the letter from the Board giving an institution approval to operate under the 1945 Act.

"Change Request" means a written proposal to modify an approved degree program.  A modification is a change to any of the following: degrees offered; degree title; reclassification of instructional programs code (CIP code); and the admission, retention, or graduation requirements of the approved program.

"Degree" means any designation, appellation, series of letters or words, or other symbol that signifies or purports to signify that the recipient has satisfactorily completed an organized academic program of study beyond the secondary school level. For the purposes of this Part, an "organized academic program of study beyond the secondary school level" shall be defined as:

Any academic program, regardless of duration, that offers any designation, appellation, series of letters or words or other symbol known as or labeled as an associate degree, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, a doctor's degree, a professional degree or a certificate of advanced study; or

Any academic program of more than 12 months in duration, except for a program that is devoted entirely to religion or theology, or a program offered by any institution operating under the authority of the Private Business and Vocational Schools Act [105 ILCS 425].

"Degree program" means the standard required course of study, or its equivalent, leading to a degree.

"Home campus" is also known as "in-region".  Both "home campus" and "in-region" are defined as the approval region within which an institution's original operating authority was granted.

"Illinois Proprietary Institution" means an institution described in Section 1030.10(a) and (b) that is not otherwise exempted in Section 1030.10(c) and meets the following criteria:

Private corporation, limited liability company, or other entity that is initially incorporated or organized in this State, if required by law; and

Maintains a place of business within the State; and

Holds a current certificate of good standing from the Secretary of State, if required by law to file with the State; and

Is investor-owned and/or organized for profit. 

Illinois proprietary institutions do not include public institutions authorized under the domestic laws of this State, private not-for-profit institutions permitted to be exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code (26 USC 501(c)(3)), or religious institutions that have not applied for recognition of tax-exempt status but have filed as a not-for-profit entity with the Illinois Secretary of State. 

"Institution Size" is determined by applying the formula for the calculation of FTE students (using fall student headcounts) developed by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to the data reported by the institution to IPEDS, which is the U.S. Department of Education postsecondary data collection program.

"Letter of Intent" means the Notice of Intent form provided by the Board and completed by the institution that is seeking operating authority, as provided in Section 1030.30(b).

"New degree program" means one or more of the following:

A degree program offered at a different educational level from a degree program already approved at a given institution.

A degree program in a different six-digit CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs taxonomy developed by the National Center for Educational Statistics and used in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) code from that already authorized.

A new professional or specialist degree or certificate.

"New geographic location" is also known as "out-of-region".  Both "new geographic location" and "out-of-region" are those sites located outside of the region within which an institution's original operating authority was granted.

"Notice of Intent" means the form provided by the Board and completed by the institution that is seeking authority to award one or more degrees as provided in Section 1030.60(b).

"Out of State Institution" means an institution described in Section 1030.10(a) or (b) that is not otherwise exempted in Section 1030.10(c) and meets one of the following:

Public institution authorized under domestic laws other than the laws of this State; or

Private corporation, limited liability company, or other entity that is initially incorporated or organized under domestic laws other than the laws of this State, if required, and initially operated outside the State; or

Not-for-profit corporation, limited liability company, or other entity that maintains its primary place of business or home office outside this State.  

"Region" refers to a geographical area within which an institution may operate a unit of instruction and is not limited to the site within the region where the institution initially applied.  A region consists of one or more coterminous community college districts.  The community college districts are also property taxing districts established as provided in 110 ILCS 805/Art. III. The ten regions, described by community college district and community college district numbers, are as follows (see also Illustration A):

"North Suburban Region (1)" consists of the Lake County (532), Oakton (535), and William R. Harper (512) community college districts;

"Fox Valley Region (2)" consists of the Elgin (509), Kishwaukee (523), McHenry (528), Rock Valley (511), and Waubonsee (516) community college districts;

"West Suburban Region (3)" consists of the DuPage (502), Morton (527), and Triton (504) community college districts;

"Western Region (4)" consists of the Black Hawk (503), Carl Sandburg (518), Highland (519), John Wood (539), Sauk Valley (506), and Spoon River (534) community college districts;

"Central Region (5)" consists of the Heartland (540), Illinois Central District (514), Illinois Valley (513), and Lincoln Land (526) community college districts;

"South Metro Region (6)" consists of the Joliet (525), Kankakee (520), Moraine Valley (524), Prairie State (515), and South Suburban (510) community college districts;

"Prairie Region (7)" consists of the Danville (507), Lake Land (517), Parkland (505), and Richland (537) community college districts;

"Southwestern Region (8)" consists of the Illinois Eastern (529), Kaskaskia (501), Lewis and Clark (536), and Southwestern Illinois (522) community college districts;

"Southern Region (9)" consists of the John A. Logan (530), Rend Lake (521), Shawnee (531), and Southeastern (533) community college districts; and

"Chicago Region (10)" consists of the City Colleges of Chicago (508) community college district.

"Synchronous" means instruction in which the teacher and students are required to meet at the same time or the students are required to meet at the same time. In face to face instruction, this means that everyone is in the same room at the same time. In on-line instruction, synchronous instruction occurs through the use of technologies such as chat, two-way video conferencing or audio conferencing.

(Source:  Amended at 33 Ill. Reg. 12397, effective August 21, 2009)