Section 13.04 - Contingency Planning for Closure and Notification to the Public(1)Contingency Planning for Closure. All contingency closure plans required by the Commissioner from an Institution shall be submitted by the Institution to Department staff in a format prescribed by the Department. While the development of contingency closure plans is typically an iterative process, all complete contingency closure plans must, in addition to any elements required by M.G.L. c. 69, § 31B, include the development of transfer and articulation agreements for students, provide a comprehensive budget which shows the existence and commitment of sufficient resources to sustain the Institution's educational offerings through closure, and consider the broader impacts of closure on the Institution's key constituencies, including faculty, staff, and the host community.(a) An Institution required to submit a contingency closure plan to the Department must also, as part of its risk mitigation plan submission, include the following:1. A Student Deposit Refund Plan that assures the refund of any deposits made by students in anticipation of enrolling or continuing their enrollment at the Institution, in the event that the Institution closes before students have received the entirety of the educational services for which their deposits were to be applied; and2. A Student Records Maintenance Plan to cover the cost of protecting and maintaining all Student Records from at least the past 60 years, including ensuring that Student Records are in a digitized, accessible, indexed, searchable, and readily convertible, portable format. The plan must encompass all Student Records held by the Institution, including those from other, closed Institutions for which the Institution serves as custodian.(b)Bond Requirements. An Institution that does not demonstrate sufficient, documented resources in its Student Deposit Refund Plan and Student Records Maintenance Plan to meet the costs of making the required refunds and maintaining the Student Records must, as required by M.G.L. c. 69, § 31B(3), include the furnishing of a bond with surety or a letter of credit sufficient to meet the costs of so refunding and maintaining. The bond or letter of credit must be maintained for a period of no less than 18 months, issued by a bank as defined in M.G.L. c 167, § 1 or an insurance company as defined in M.G.L. c. 175, § 1, payable to the Board, in which the Commonwealth is designated as the beneficiary where required. The bond or letter of credit shall be procured only from entities legally authorized to conduct business in the Commonwealth.1. The amount of the bond or letter of credit shall be calculated by the Institution using a formula determined by the Department and based on criteria that may include: average net revenue from student tuition and fee charges; average net revenue from room and board charges to students; current and projected enrollment; enrollment trends, including the average number of currently enrolled and anticipated new students and the required admissions deposit for new students; and the estimated cost of formatting, scanning, and placing Student Records held by the institution with a Department-approved repository. The Department must approve the Institution's calculation.2. The surety on any bond or letter of credit may cancel the bond upon giving no less than 60 days' notice in writing to the Department and thereafter shall be relieved of the liability for any breach of condition occurring after the effective date of the cancellation. If the surety is cancelled, the Institution shall procure new surety no less than 30 days prior to the effective cancellation date.3. Any funds received from a collection on a bond or letter of credit shall be held in trust by the Department for the benefit of enrolled or deposited students of an Institution and the preservation and maintenance of an Institution's Student Records.(2)Notification. An Institution required to post public notification based on a determination made by the Commissioner under 610 CMR 13.03(2)(b)2. shall inform enrolled students, accepted students, pending applicants, faculty, staff, and other relevant stakeholders, including the chief executive officer of the host community, the elected state representative and senator in the legislative district where the Institution is located, the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, and the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, that the Department has determined the Institution's financial stability is sufficiently uncertain such that the Department cannot confirm that the Institution will be able to sustain operations or substantially fulfill its obligations to enrolled and admitted students for both the current and the subsequent academic year. The communications shall be made in a manner, format, and timing acceptable to the Department. The Institution shall also include clear and conspicuous notice in any promotional materials aimed at recruiting or retaining students. Should the Institution decline to inform stakeholders that it is at risk, the Commissioner may issue a public notification to that same effect.(3) The Department shall maintain a public list of Institutions currently required to issue notifications pursuant to 610 CMR 13.04.(4) Institutions required to submit contingency closure plans to the Department continue to be subject to the requirements set forth in 610 CMR 13.03(2) and (3), either until a determination is made by the Department that the concerns identified have been satisfactorily resolved, such that the Institution has sufficiently mitigated the Risk of Imminent Closure or until the Institution is closed.Adopted by Mass Register Issue 1411, eff. 2/21/2020.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1482, eff. 11/11/2022.