2023 Tennessee Code
Title 49 - EDUCATION (§§ 49-1-NEW — 49-50-1703)
Chapter 7 - POSTSECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION GENERALLY (§§ 49-7-NEW — 49-7-3003)
Part 20 - POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1974 (§§ 49-7-2001 — 49-7-2023)
Section 49-7-2016 - Discontinuation of activities or operations of postsecondary educational institution

• (a) If a postsecondary educational institution engaged in activities or operating in this state proposes to discontinue its activities or operations in this state, then the owner or chief administrative officer, by whatever title designated, of the institution shall file with the commission the original, or legible true copies, of all academic records of the institution as specified by the commission.

• (b) The academic records must include, at a minimum, the transcripts or certificates in a format that is customarily required by postsecondary educational institutions when considering students for transfer or advanced study, or by other third parties, such as employers.

• (c) If it appears to the commission that the academic records of an institution that is discontinuing its activities or operations are in danger of being destroyed, secreted, mislaid, or otherwise made unavailable, then the commission may seize and take possession of the records, on its own motion, and with or without order of a court.

• (d) The commission shall maintain, or cause to be maintained, a permanent file of the transcripts or certificates provided by subsection (b) that come into its possession.

• (e) As an alternative to the deposit of the records with the commission, the institution may propose a plan to the commission for permanent retention of the records. The plan must be put into effect if it is approved by the commission.

• (f) When a postsecondary educational institution engaged in activities or operations in this state proposes to discontinue its activities or operations in this state, the institution shall create a teach-out plan that is acceptable to the commission, by which the institution's educational obligations to its students may be fulfilled, and shall provide any material requested by the commission, such as the institution's current catalog, student list, and unearned tuition data.

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1044, s 26, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 790, s 4, eff. 4/20/2018.

Acts 1961, ch. 112, § 19; 1974, ch. 781, § 18; T.C.A., § 49-3918; Acts 1992, ch. 1026, § 7.