AICCU SAN Consortium

The AICCU SAN Consortium allows participating institutions to access resources in State Authorization Network (SAN) at a massively discounted price. As we continue to work toward bringing the state into an interstate reciprocity agreement for distance education, AICCU sought to identify opportunities member institutions to lower costs and time spent on research and paperwork associated with state authorization.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is the State Authorization Network?

SAN provides important interstate compliance support for institutions to manage federal compliance, compliment institutional state approvals through reciprocity, as well as continuing to support institutions attaining state institutional approval through traditional individual state by state process. SAN is part of the WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies (WCET).

 

Okay, sounds useful? What is the AICCU SAN Consortium?

AICCU joined SAN as a consortium, which allows member institutions to join under the AICCU umbrella at a discounted price but still access everything that SAN offers. The cost to each institution depends on the number of members in the consortium, splitting the cost among them. The more institutions join, the lower the cost per institution. The cost of a large consortium joining SAN is $8,000.

 

Sounds event better. How much does my institution save by joining the AICCU SAN Consortium over just joining SAN as an individual institution?

To join SAN as an individual institution, it would cost $4,000 annually, plus an additional cost to be part of WCET--$1,650 for institutions with less than 5,000 student FTE or $3,600 for institutions with 5,000 or more student FTE. So, either $5,650 or $9,250, per year.

As noted above, the cost to being part of the AICCU SAN Consortium depends on the number of institutions renew in July of each year (plus a bit more for AICCU to handle logistics). For 2022-23, the cost per institution was $400. Institutions joining after the renewal deadline simply pay the established amount.

 

Wow! That’s a significant cost savings for my institution!

Yes. Yes, it is.

 

In addition to accessing the resources in SAN, what else do membership in SAN provide?

Institutions will be able to access training modules, exclusive communications with SAN staff and AICCU SAN coordinators, and quarterly meetings with other members of the consortium.

• Communication Tool wcetMIX - The platform for membership communication is called wcetMIX. Through emails, you will receive timely notices and opportunities for discussions among the members through this tool.
• SAN Newcomers Experience - Mix Community - This feature is a gamified tour of the SAN website, to more closely review the resources available to SAN members and provide some basics about state authorization.

 

Wait, you mentioned SAN coordinators. What’s that?

Coordinators play an important role in SAN as the managers of the membership. Coordinators participate in the monthly coordinator call on the fourth Tuesday of each month and the annual SAN Coordinator Meeting, which usually takes place in person. Additionally, coordinators manage the annual invoice, institutional contacts within the consortium membership, lead the quarterly meeting with other consortium members, and share the consortium’s general username and password for the SAN website.

A consortium of this size has three coordinators. For the AICCU consortium, they are AICCU staff, Michele Starkey with Mount Saint Mary’s University, and Katie Hoffman with the University of San Francisco. We are eternally grateful to Michele and Katie for sharing their time, energy, and expertise in these roles and working closely with AICCU.

 

Okay, you sold me. How can I sign up my institution to be part of the AICCU SAN Consortium?

Please contact Tom Vu, AICCU vice president for policy, if you’d like to join or if you have additional questions! AICCU will send an invoice to your designated contact for this and connect you with Katie and Michele.