Reporting Guidelines

Cross Checking of Data

Cross-check edits described below (except where otherwise noted) will be run by the institutions. Student programs and program levels on all relevant data files will be checked against the institutional information data file.

Headcount and Admissions Cross Checks
Students coded as enrolled in the fall term on the fall cohort data files must also be included on the fall headcount data file.

Headcount and Course Enrollment Cross Checks
Students on the fall headcount data file should have at least one fall record with the same social security number on the annual course enrollment data file.

Census Date

A census date is a day when a specified count is made. In this application, it is the time during an academic term when a count of enrolled students is made for reporting. By definition, a census date must be arbitrary to some extent and must reflect the anticipated use of the statistics resulting from its application

For SCHEV headcount and admissions reporting purposes, the census date must meet the following criteria:

• The chosen census date should provide the most representative picture of the number of students throughout the term.

• For semester terms, the census date shall be no sooner than the end of the fourteenth calendar day from the beginning of the term.

• For quarter terms, the census date shall be no sooner than the end of the tenth calendar day from the beginning of the term.

• For non-standard terms, courses, and summer sessions which are not a standard semester or quarter in length, the census date shall be no sooner than the end of the class session that represents the completion of fifteen percent of the class days.

• The chosen census date should be used consistently for all data and reports collected by SCHEV.

For various terms, especially the fall term, it is important to develop statistics on headcount and admissions as soon as possible. For admissions and headcount data and reports, November 1 shall be established as the last date for application of the census date guideline for the fall term. Similarly, April 1 and August 15 shall be established as the last date for application of the census date guidelines for spring and summer terms respectively. Students registering for courses beginning after the above dates will not be reflected in the headcount data file, but may be included in the annual course enrollment data file prepared at the end of the term.

The November 1 census date will be used in calculating students' age for the SCHEV B5 and other reports.

Enrollment Reporting Procedures

Registrations Reported Only Under Special Circumstances

• Students who are registered only in audit status.

  Students who are registered only in audit status should not be reported on headcount data files, admissions data files, and survey reports. All classes taken for audit should be reported on course enrollment data files; however, credit hours generated for audit activity are not counted in FTE  calculations. Students registered for audit under the Senior Citizens Act should be included on the course enrollment file and flagged as senior citizens.

• Employees registered at the employing institution when the employee's tuition is waived by the institution.

  An employee of an institution who is enrolled as a student should not be counted as enrolled on fall headcount data files and survey reports unless there is a specific payment or loan obligation for at least one course. Those courses/credit hours for which tuition and fees are waived in full by the institution should be included on course enrollment data files, but credit hours generated will not be included in FTE calculations.

• Students who withdraw from class prior to the census date.

  A student who withdraws from all classes for degree credit prior to the census date may not be counted in the institution's course enrollment or fall headcount data files.

  All course registrations withdrawn prior to the census date should be excluded from course enrollment and fall enrollment data files and should not be included in determining a student's full-time or part-time status.

Enrollments in Courses Taught by Virginia Institutions Outside Virginia's Borders

Registrations in courses conducted by members of the institution's faculty, whether full-time or part-time, at locations outside the Commonwealth's borders, should be included in all data files.

Registrations in courses conducted by faculty not employed by the institution (as in foreign study programs) should not be included in fall headcount or course enrollment data files.

Establishment of Off-Campus Sites

The Appropriation Act of 2002-04. The 2002 General Assembly revisited Section 4-5.05c of the Appropriation Act, the section dealing with off-campus instructional sites. For the second time since its addition in 1988, language in this section of the Act was revised:

OFF-CAMPUS SITES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION: No public college or university shall plan for any off-campus location without first referring the matter to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for information, consideration, and recommendation to the Governor and General Assembly. No public college or university shall establish or employ faculty or staff at an off-campus location without prior approval of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, unless the General Assembly has provided specific approval and appropriation identifying the additional off-campus activities. For the colleges of the Virginia Community College System, the State Board of Community Colleges shall be responsible for approving off-campus locations. Activities governed by this requirement are those at any locations not contiguous to the main campus of the institution, including locations outside Virginia, where credit or noncredit offerings are provided and for which full-time or part-time faculty of staff are employed.

Distinction Between On-Campus and Off-Campus

For state-supported institutions, on-campus is defined as the main campus of the institution or approved additional campus sites. The following exceptions are recognized as on-campus:

• Rental Facilities: Rental facilities, including those at little or no cost, may be included in the definition of on-campus if they represent an approved substitute for a permanent facility. For each biennium, substitute facilities must be identified and agreed upon by SCHEV, the State Department of Planning and Budget, and the Division of Engineering and Buildings on a building-by-building basis. If permanent facilities are available at an approved campus site, all rental facilities not physically located on or adjacent to the campus site shall be considered off-campus.

• Specialized Clinical Facilities: Clinically related courses taught in clinical facilities not physically located on-campus shall be considered on-campus except where extensive teaching hospital or >clinical facilities already exist on the campus site. For example, a nursing course taught at a County or General Hospital would be considered on-campus; an English or Mathematics course taught at that site would be off-campus.

• Other Specialized Facilities: Other types of specialized facilities may be identified that could not be cost-justifiable for on-campus construction because of their uniqueness or requirement for specialized equipment. Examples are physical education facilities, police academies, or coal mines. A distinction must be made between a facility requiring that all instruction be conducted there and a facility or site that is used as a field experience location. A field experience course is always on-campus because it is primarily or partially campus-based and uses only field experiences to augment classroom instruction, such as a biology or mining engineering class with scheduled field trips or extended field experiences. Any specialized facilities must be approved by SCHEV.

Telecommunications-based and correspondence courses are considered off-campus courses for funding purposes and should be coded as off-campus in data files. Courses offered by newspaper or other media are to be reported as off-campus enrollments, unless approved in advance by SCHEV as an on-campus offering.

Degree Credit vs. Non-Degree Credit - Instructional Activities

The traditional distinction between credit and non-credit activities in institutions of higher education has become indistinct because course offerings can serve multiple purposes. The primary intent of the institution in offering the course determines its classification. Although the classifications are derived from the academic policies of an institution, they clearly have fiscal implications.

Activities will be classified as one of the following:

• Activities conducted for credit and applicable toward the requirements of an academic degree program.

• Activities conducted for credit but not applicable toward the requirements of an academic degree program.

• Activities not conducted for credit.

Degree Credit

All courses designed and offered by institutions of higher education as part of an award program beyond a secondary school diploma program will be considered as degree credit offerings. Non-degree students also may register for these courses, but the primary intent of the institution is to provide the courses as part of post-secondary degree programs, or certificates or diplomas less than the associate degree level and up to two years in duration. Also included as credit offerings are remedial courses, since they support degree, certificate, or diploma program requirements, and courses offered as part of a post-doctoral award program even though no formal certification of completion may be provided. All other courses, whether recognized as receiving institutional credit or not, are to be designated as non-degree credit courses and reported accordingly (public institutions only).

Only activities conducted for credit that is applicable toward a degree program shall be included on course enrollment and fall headcount data files. Audit activity in degree-credit courses should be included on course enrollment data files; however, credit hours generated will not be included in FTE calculations.

Reporting Headcount by Racial/Ethnic Status

Please note that race/ethnicity categories will change upon the release of the Office of Management and Budget's final decision on the current proposal for new federal standards.

The categories used to categorize students by racial/ethnic status are those used by the Office for Civil Rights. These categories are used to describe groups to which individuals belong, to which they belong in the eyes of the community, or with which they identify. The categories do not denote scientific definitions of anthropological origins. A person may be counted in only one group. The groups used to categorize all students are:

Approved Academic Degree Programs

The Institutional Information file should contain all approved degree programs, along with their CIP codes. Approval of degree programs for public institutions is coordinated between the Academic Programs section of the Council of Higher Education and the institutional Academic Vice Presidents (or equivalents). Approval of program levels for private institutions is coordinated between the Academic Programs section of the Council of Higher Education and the institutional Academic Vice-Presidents (or equivalents).

All SCHEV databases which contain program or discipline information will be edited against approved programs and program levels in the institutional information file.

In-State Location Domicile Codes

Out-of-State Location Domicile Codes