The institution provides instruction for all course work required for at least one degree program at each level at which it awards degrees. If the institution does not provide instruction for all such course work and (1) makes arrangements for some instruction to be provided by other accredited institutions or entities through contracts or consortia or (2) uses some other alternative approach to meeting this requirement, the alternative approach must be approved by the Commission on Colleges.  In both cases, the institution demonstrates that it controls all aspects of its educational program. (See Commission policy “Core Requirement 2.7.4: Documenting an Alternate Approach.”)

Compliance Certification Rationale for Judgment of Compliance

Southwest Texas Junior College provides all instruction for course work necessary for all degrees and certificates. Course requirements are recorded in the Catalog and course offerings are published each semester in the course schedule. Both documents are available on the College website.

On occasion, a student may choose an elective course for which SWTJC does not provide instruction. In those cases, the student may arrange to take the course through the Virtual College of Texas (VCT). The VCT is a State-wide consortium of two-year colleges designed to allow “Host” institutions to transcript courses offered by “Provider” institutions. Students are actually enrolled in “Host” colleges, which are responsible for the quality of instruction and providing all related services.

For example, at this writing SWTJC is not able to offer Physics, which a student may wish to take as an elective or to satisfy a Science requirement. In this event SWTJC, as the “Host” college, contracts with a VCT “Provider” college to make the course available to the student online. The SWTJC Vice President of Academic Affairs confirms the unavailability of the course at SWTJC, reviews the credentials of the “Provider” college’s assigned faculty member, validates the accuracy of the “Provider” course number and title, reviews the course syllabus, and allows or disallows the course via SWTJC documentation. This process is followed for all student requests to enroll in a VCT course.

In a 2007 Memorandum from SACSCO President, Dr. Belle Wheelan, SWTJC was confirmed as an approved institution to participate in the Virtual College of Texas.

Off-Site Committee Judgment and Commentary: Non-Compliance

The College provides its College Catalog, which lists program requirements for each academic degree and certificate offered by the institution. In addition, the institution provides evidence that it participates in the state-wide Virtual College of Texas (VCT) consortium and that its participation in VCT was approved by SACSCOC in 2007. Although the institution provides its institution Catalog listing its academic program requirements and its Fall 2014 Course Schedule, there is not enough evidence to show that the College delivers instruction for all coursework for at least one degree program offered at the associate degree level (the only level for which the institution offers degrees).

Institutional Response

Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC) provides all instruction for course work necessary for all degrees and certificates. Therefore, the college complies with the requirement of Core Requirement 2.7.4 to provide all instruction for at least one degree program. To demonstrate, the following table lists the courses for an actual SWTJC student. The student, SWTJC identification number 0165532, was awarded the Associate of Applied Science degree in Wildlife Management on May 10, 2014. An SWTJC faculty member is listed adjacent to each course.

To view the degree plan requirements for this student’s program, please click here for the Catalog listing. To review the student’s transcript, please click here.

Please note that because the student began the program in 2011, the governing Catalog contains a degree plan of 66 semester credit hours. Due to a Texas legislative mandate requiring Associate degree programs to have a 60 semester hour limit, the current SWTJC catalog degree plan for the A.A.S. in Wildlife Management requires 60 semester credit hours.

Please also note that the student completed AGRI 2317, Intro to Agricultural Economics, in the Spring 2014 semester. This course was substituted for AGRI 2303, Agricultural Construction, listed in the Catalog for the Fall semester of the second year.