Who is the State Authorization Network, "SAN"?

Since 2011, SAN, a network of WCET, has been the leader for guidance and support for navigating regulatory compliance for out-of-state activities of post-secondary institutions.

What is a Statement of Work?

The Statement of Work is a description of SAN's focus areas and projects we plan to undertake to meet the needs of members in the upcoming academic year. The Statement of Work also reinforces the benefits for SAN members that we and WCET strive to provide. 

View the current list of SAN institution and agency members.

SAN Membership fee is discounted if at least one institution or entity within the SAN individual or SAN group membership has separately joined WCET, SAN's parent organization. See option charts below.

• Coordinators are responsible for sharing information with the other institutions/organizations within their membership.
• Coordinators are responsible for sharing the SAN website login with institution contacts.
• Memberships held by more than one institution must designate a single point of contact for the invoice; management of the division of the payment will be the responsibility of the institutions involved.

SAN Annual Fee with separately held WCET Membership (WCET+SAN Benefits)

OR

SAN Annual Fee with No WCET Membership

*Organizations, State Agencies or Portal Entities may choose from the larger memberships if they wish to include institutions.  Office-only memberships for state agencies and portal entities, no fee if the office is not also a WCET member.

Renewals - For SAN 2026-2027(July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027)

• Step 1:  Coordinators will consult with all member institutions/organizations to update contact information and institutions/organizations that are part of your membership.
• Step 2:  If there are changes, ONE COORDINATOR will advise Leigha Wade, lwade@wiche.edu by April 30, 2026.
• Step 3:  If there are no changes received, the membership will automatically be renewed, and the invoice will be sent on May 15, 2026.
• Deadline for changes:  May 15, 2026, with payment due by July 1, 2026.
• SAN Membership Coordinator may request an early invoice by contacting Leigha Wade, lwade@wiche.edu, by April 30, 2026.

New Memberships - Please see the Join SAN information on the Membership page.

SAN Coordinators.  

• Each SAN membership appoints one to three SAN Coordinators, depending on the number of institutions within the membership, to manage the membership. Our members may be organizations, state systems, consortiums of colleges, or individual institutions.
• SAN Coordinators must supply contact information about the institutions or entities that are part of their membership including: institution/entity name, contact person with email, FTE range, WCET membership status, and SARA participation status.
• Coordinators are expected to share SAN member information with institutions/entities within their membership.

Activities reserved solely for the SAN Coordinators:

• Monthly Calls. Compliance and membership updates and guests sharing timely information.
• SAN Coordinators' Community in wcetMIX. An email distribution tool providing announcements and information.
• Annual Coordinators' Meeting. An in-person meeting with special guests and resources.  All resources developed will be posted on the SAN website for access by all SAN members.
• Website Access. Coordinators will receive a personal login to the password protected SAN website which can be shared with institution/entity contacts within their membership.

Benefits for all staff members at SAN /participating institutions/entity. Everyone employed by a SAN participant (including coordinators) may take part in the activities listed below.

• SAN Website. Includes public facing and member-only content.  New and updated content regularly added.
• Open Forum. Monthly 60-minute member-only opportunity for all members to discuss the topic of the month and engage in Q&A. Additional discussion time may be provided as needed. The event is not recorded.
• eNewsletter.  Monthly summary and updates of news, resources, and events.
• SAN Network Community in wcetMIX. A member discussion board and avenue for member alerts.
• Compliance Training. SAN provides virtual and in-person compliance training. 
• Reciprocity Support. Updates on the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (SARA) including steps that institutions can take to manage participation in SARA and stay apprised of prospective policy changes.
• Examine State Requirements.  Assists with examining state requirements outside of reciprocity policy.
• Emerging Federal Regulations. Track the development of Department of Education regulations and other administrative agencies on relevant issues.
• Comprehensive Compliance Insights. Stay informed and provide guidance to help institutions on issues related to state authorization, and other emerging areas that relate to interstate distance education and digital technologies. 
• SAN Advisory Group. Panel of SAN members who make recommendations on programmatic issues of interest to the membership at-large.
• Special Interest Teams.  Small working groups perform research and provide deliverables on issue areas that benefit the network.

Focus Areas. SAN will share information, provide research, and develop training on the following issues that members identified:

Federal and State Policy and Advocacy

• Provide analysis, direction to comment, and implementation strategies to address Federal rulemaking and Federal guidance.
• Professional Licensure     
  • Developing contacts and facilitation collaboration with the program accreditors and licensing boards.
  • Guiding members on collaboration strategies with the institution stakeholders.
• Reciprocity - Provide review, direction to comment, and implementation strategies related to the SARA Policy Modification Process developments.
• State Institutional Approval Policy – inform members on state changes and seek collaboration with state regulators to direct institutions.

Training 

• Revise and release SAN Foundations Online Asynchronous course.
• Develop and release a self-paced course focused on state-to-state institutional approval.
• Develop and release a self-paced course focused on using the SAN website.
• Develop and release an asynchronous course for professional licensure.
• Host at least one Virtual Advanced Topics Workshop addressing relevant topics.
• Host a topical webinar series on institution stakeholder compliance coordination. 

Research and Resources

• Creation of new member-only resources addressing relevant topics such as: accreditation, foundational principles, professional licensure, global compliance, and how to engage with senior leaders.
• In addition to SAN’s commitment to its own self-compliance with the digital accessibility requirements of our various resources, we’ll create resources such as checklists, webinars, and papers to educate and train our members on the development of compliant power point presentations, video audio description, and pdf resource documents.

Membership Networking

• Expand and facilitate opportunities for member engagement, such as, but not limited to, monthly Open Forum, Special Interest teams, and periodic Hot topic roundtables
• Showcase member best practices and innovative processes to manage compliance through the SANsational Awards and other opportunities to address members.
• Facilitating engagement with other membership organizations relevant to other institutional stakeholders, such as NASFAA, AACRAO, and AIR.

Links:

SAN website: https://wcetSAN.wiche.edu

SAN email:  san-info@wiche.edu

WCET blog with updates and recommendations: https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/

wcetMIX for discussion board and email lists:  https://mix.wiche.edu/home/

SAN Team

Cheryl Dowd - Senior Director, State Authorizations Network & WCET Policy Innovations; cdowd@wiche.edu; (303)541-0210

Kathryn Kerensky – Director, Digital Learning Policy & Compliance; kkerensky@wiche.edu ; (303)541-0290

Leigha Wade - Administrative Assistant; lwade@wiche.edu; (303)541-0211