The institution notifies the Commission of changes in accordance with the Commission’s substantive change policy and, when required, seeks approval prior to the initiation of changes.

Southwest Texas Junior College notifies the Commission on Colleges of all changes in accordance with published policy. The following table outlines all changes submitted to the Commission for notice or approval since the College’s previous reaffirmation of accreditation.

DATE                                                                                                                   DESCRIPTION OF CHANGE

Upon the review of notices that should comprise the table above, SWTJC staff has discovered unreported changes. One is the College’s decision to change its Law Enforcement Academy from a Workforce Education program to a credit-bearing program. Another discovery is the failure of SWTJC to report the addition of a number of service area High Schools as Dual Credit sites. The college’s Accreditation Liaison has taken immediate steps to notify the Commission of these changes.

Likewise, in its February meeting the SWTJC Board of Trustees adopted an addition to the SWTJC Policy Manual with regard to notification of Substantive Change. The new policy requires the Vice President of Academic Affairs to create a notification process to be followed by Division Chairs and by staff in the SWTJC Outreach Office when developing each semester’s class schedule. This process, which will include a change to the approval procedures and paperwork used by the SWTJC Curriculum Committee, will create checks intended to ensure timely notification of all substantive changes.