{"id":4986,"date":"2020-10-05T12:17:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T16:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/?page_id=4986"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:49:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:49:33","slug":"state-authorization-for-distance-education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/state-authorization-for-distance-education\/","title":{"rendered":"State Authorization for Distance Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>State Authorization<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"149\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map-300x149.png\" alt=\"Map of the United States showing coverage for the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. All states and territories are covered except California and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.\" class=\"wp-image-4987\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map-300x149.png 300w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map-105x52.png 105w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map-317x157.png 317w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map-423x210.png 423w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map-634x314.png 634w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/sara-states-map.png 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h4 class=\"kt-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_c2415e-2a\"><b>State Authorization for Distance Education<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The University of Maine is a member of NC-SARA, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA oversees reciprocity agreements which facilitate the UMaine student\u2019s participation in distance education, and on-site experiences outside the State of Maine, such as <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">internships, externships, practicums, field experiences, and clinical experiences<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h4 class=\"kt-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_fa05a5-60\"><b>Professional Licensure Disclosure Statement&nbsp;<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The University of Maine cannot confirm that its courses or degree programs meet the requirements for professional licensure outside of the State of Maine. The University of Maine strongly encourages prospective and current students to contact the appropriate or applicable licensing board(s) in states in which they may wish to pursue licensure, prior to beginning any program of study.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consistent with new federal requirements, UMaine is collaborating with professionals from each of the UMS campuses to develop more adequate ways in which to disclose to students whether our professional licensure-related courses and degree programs meet the requirements for professional licensure in the states where students reside. This disclosure mechanism will be available in late Fall, 2020. Until then, inquiries regarding the applicability of licensure programs to the states in which our distance students reside may be directed to <\/span><a href=\"mailto:amanda.cupps@maine.edu\"><b>amanda.cupps@maine.edu<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h4 class=\"kt-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading4986_7d45ef-a6\"><b>Authorization for Out-of-State Experiences in California<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">State laws require permission for out-of-state students to participate in on-site educational experiences.&nbsp; With the exception of California, all states are covered under the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement. Students seeking to complete an internship, externship, practicum, field experience, research experience, or clinical experience in California must first obtain state authorization.&nbsp; Such authorization is managed through the University of Maine System.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">UMaine must petition California\u2019s state Department of Education to request a waiver for each student participating in an out-of-state internship, externship, practicum, field experience, research experience, or clinical experience in California. Please email <\/span><a href=\"mailto:amanda.cupps@maine.edu\"><b>amanda.cupps@maine.edu<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to obtain the required form for forwarding to the UMS state authorization staff person. NOTE: prior authorization can take 8-12 weeks. Plan ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>SARA State Student Complaint Process<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students with complaints about a distance education experience must first follow the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Administrative Student Appeals Policy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for filing complaints, found in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/studentlife\/student-handbook\/\"><b>University of Maine&#8217;s Student Handbook<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (page 57).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SARA consumer protection provisions require colleges and universities to investigate and resolve allegations of dishonest or fraudulent activity by a provider, including the provision of false or misleading information. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Examples of types of student complaints that may be brought to a SARA portal entity include, but are not limited to, complaints regarding accuracy of job placement data, tuition or fee information, accreditation, whether a program meets professional licensing requirements, or course transfer information. Grade appeals and student conduct appeals are not allowed under SARA.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After following UMaine&#8217;s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Administrative Student Appeals Policy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, students participating in a distance education experience may seek further action through the following Maine Department of Education process:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/doe\/sites\/maine.gov.doe\/files\/inline-files\/sara-complaint-form.pdf\"><b>State of Maine Complaint Form<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. This form should be used by any current student or former student enrolled in a distance education degree program or are participating in an on-site experience outside the State of Maine (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">internships, externships, practicums, field experiences, and clinical experiences)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, who seek to file a complaint against a degree-granting institution approved to operate under the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students should exhaust the formal complaint process of the host institution.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students should file a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/doe\/highered\/sara\/sara-complaint-form.pdf\"><b>complaint<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> through SARA that includes documentation that the student has exhausted the formal complaint process at host post-secondary institution.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Maine DOE reviews the complaint and supporting documents. The Maine DOE may request further documentation from the participating SARA institution mentioned in the complaint.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maine DOE determines if the resolution of the host institution is acceptable. If so, the complaint process is concluded and previous resolution is sustained. If the previous resolution is found not acceptable by the Maine DOE, then the complaint will be further investigated until resolved.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students receive a final disposition letter from the Maine DOE.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amanda Cupps<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b><i>NC-SARA Representative<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:amanda.cupps@maine.edu\"><b><i>amanda.cupps@maine.edu<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"272\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/NC-SARA-logo-272x300.png\" alt=\"NC-SARA crest indicating this is an approved institution\" class=\"wp-image-4988\" style=\"width:110px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/NC-SARA-logo-272x300.png 272w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/NC-SARA-logo-105x116.png 105w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/NC-SARA-logo-317x349.png 317w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/NC-SARA-logo-423x466.png 423w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2020\/10\/NC-SARA-logo.png 465w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,272px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State Authorization State Authorization for Distance Education The University of Maine is a member of NC-SARA, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA oversees reciprocity agreements which facilitate the UMaine student\u2019s participation in distance education, and on-site experiences outside the State of Maine, such as internships, externships, practicums, field experiences, and clinical experiences.&nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1695,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4986","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","archive_9_5":"","portrait_3x4":"","image_16_9":"","image_15_7":"","image_25_7":"","3col-image_16_9":"","3col-image_15_7":"","3col-image_full":"","4col-image_16_9":"","4col-image_15_7":"","4col-image_full":"","6col-image_16_9":"","6col-image_15_7":"","6col-image_full":"","8col-image_16_9":"","8col-image_15_7":"","8col-image_full":"","9col-image_16_9":"","9col-image_15_7":"","9col-image_full":"","12col-image_16_9":"","12col-image_15_7":"","12col-image_full":"","post-thumbnail":"","gform-image-choice-sm":"","gform-image-choice-md":"","gform-image-choice-lg":"","umaps-featured-image":"","umaps-icon-size":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>State Authorization State Authorization for Distance Education The University of Maine is a member of NC-SARA, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA oversees reciprocity agreements which facilitate the UMaine student\u2019s participation in distance education, and on-site experiences outside the State of Maine, such as internships, externships, practicums, field experiences, and clinical experiences.&nbsp; Professional Licensure Disclosure Statement&nbsp; The University of Maine cannot confirm that its courses or degree programs meet the requirements for professional licensure outside of the State of Maine. The University of Maine strongly encourages prospective and current students to contact the appropriate or applicable licensing&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"","author_info_v2":{"name":"","url":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/blog\/author\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/blog\/author\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4986"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9940,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4986\/revisions\/9940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/provost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}