New! NC-SARA Institution Welcome Kit Available

We are excited to share the SARA Institution Welcome Kit with you! The Welcome Kit is a compilation of NC-SARA resources available to institutions and includes some of the benefits and responsibilities of SARA participants. It includes resources such as:

  • Who to contact for what?
  • Complying with SARA policy
  • Paying NC-SARA annual participation fees and billing
  • Making administrative changes
  • Learning more about SARA and state authorization

These resources may be in addition to what SARA State Portal Entities (SPE) and/or regional compact SARA staff may provide.

Our hope is that this Welcome Kit helps institutions learn about SARA and assists with fulfilling the very important role institutions play as a SARA participant.

Reminder – Institution Late Fees: Resume pre-Covid Processes October 1, 2023

A reminder that beginning on October 1, 2023, NC-SARA will resume the standard practice of charging late fees to institutions, as outlined in the SARA policy manual.

In March 2020, NC-SARA implemented several activities to accommodate the impact of COVID-19 on participating institutions and member states, including waiving late fees for payments received by U.S. Mail and specific delays in approval and processing of institutional applications.

Considering the end of the COVID-19 related emergency declaration, NC-SARA will resume the charging of late fees and granting less leniency for delays in approval and processing of institutional applications beginning on October 1, 2023. Our hope is that by communicating this in advance, it allows sufficient time to inform institutions of the return to these pre-pandemic practices.

SARA Policy Regarding Late Fees

References to institutional late fees can be found in the following sections of the SARA Policy Manual:

  • 3.7(b)(5) renewals (page 36)
  • 3.7(c) grace period (page 37)
  • 3.7(d) institution participation deadline extension (page 38)
  • 3.7(e) new institution participation deadline extension (page 38)

Additional Resources:
Quick Start Guide
A quick start guide has been created on this topic and is publicly available on the SARA Learning Station portion of the NC-SARA website.

Administrative Forms for Extensions
There are two administrative forms (both available on the NC-SARA website) to be used for extensions:

  1. (AF1) New Institution Participation Deadline Extension
  2. (AF2) Renewing SARA Institution Participation Extension

Please note that the SARA State Portal Entity (SPE) will provide rationale in the administrative form if they think a late fee should be waived for an institution.

Next Steps
NC-SARA will be working with the SARA community, SARA State Portal Entities (SPEs) and Regional compact partners closely as we resume this. Please contact info@nc-sara.org with any questions you might have.

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