THECB SARA contact asks institutions to confirm disaster‑recovery policies as application updates roll out

Cam Mayotte, director of academic and health affairs and the Texas State Portal Entity contact for the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), briefed the committee on recent SARA administrative items and a request for documentation. Mayotte said roughly 156 Texas institutions participate in SARA and the 07/01/2025 application form is the required version for upcoming renewals; staff will not accept earlier versions for renewals due in the next several months. He asked each participating institution to be ready to provide a link or documentation for its catastrophic events policy and disaster recovery procedures under application requirement 14. Mayotte said some institutions include academic "teach-out" and tuition-reimbursement protections in their disaster plans while others focus on natural disasters such as tornadoes and floods; the SPE is collecting examples to assess common practices and potential areas for guidance or training. Mayotte said NC-SARA staff reported 100% participation in the annual data upload for the most recent reporting cycle and that the regional steering committees are reviewing policy modification proposals that could be voted on at the October NC-SARA board meeting. If approved, some policy changes could take effect as early as January 2026; others may have delayed implementation to give states time to prepare. Mayotte invited institutions to send feedback on application or reporting processes and offered to pass questions to NC-SARA staff. He also said he is willing to report back after the October board meeting about any adopted policy modifications and effective dates.