Sierra Nevada University
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University of Nevada, Reno

Students are still responsible for their outstanding debt to SNU.

Students needing to pay their balance in full can go to the SNU Student Account Suite.

Instructions

• Any account balance prior to fall 2021 may already have been sent to collections. Please reach out to studentacct@sierranevad.edu for account information and for making payment arrangements.
• Federal aid is no longer available for debt owed to SNU.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the accrediting body for SNU and UNR, defines a teach-out as “a written plan that provides for the equitable treatment of students if an institution of higher education ceases to operate or ceases instruction … before all students have completed their program of study.”

Yes, you must enroll at UNR no later than Fall 2022 in order to be considered part of the teach-out. Some students have indicated that they want to get an early start by taking Summer 2022 classes at UNR. As long as you met all admission requirements you may elect to do so.

You must be continuously enrolled and in good standing to remain eligible for the teach-out. If you need to take some time off you must follow the UNR undergraduate or graduate, which ever is applicable, Leave of Absence policy. We will work with you to help you finish your degree upon your return, but your path to degree completion may require some modification depending on where we are with the SNU institutional teach-out. For example, if you are at the Incline Village campus you may be required to transfer to the UNR Reno campus to finish your degree.

Yes, there is a teach-out alternative other than remaining in Incline Village or transferring to the UNR main campus to complete your degree.

The University of Nevada, Reno and Sierra Nevada University have worked with Western Governors University (WGU) to provide you an alternative to completing your studies in WGU accredited degree programs. This does not replace or eliminate your current option to complete your degree at the Incline Village or at UNR main campus, rather it gives you a third option.

For more information about transferring into WGU Nevada, visit the Sierra Nevada University / WGU Transfer Page, which provides relevant transfer pathways. WGU is accredited, online, and competency-based, therefore they have a wide variety of ways to provide academic credit for your previous experiences and course work to help you complete your program.

If you are interested in this alternative, please connect with a WGU Enrollment Counselor today to help ease the transfer of credit steps from SNU to WGU. The phone number is (1) 866-225-5948, and select the college choice in which you are interested in transferring into. The colleges include Teachers College, College of Business, College of Information Technology, and the College of Health Professions.

If you have already elected to enroll in UNR but choose to enroll at WGU instead, you will need to unenroll from UNR by reaching out to your Professional Advisor.

Students are still responsible for their outstanding debt to SNU.

Yes, you can still transfer to UNR, or another institution, if:

• You still owe money to SNU;
• Your loan has been sent to ECSI;
• You don’t make a payment plan with ECSI;
• Your loan went to collection.

Yes, UNR will apply your SNU institutional scholarships and tuition discounts. For example, if SNU offered you four years of a merit scholarship and two years remain when you transition to UNR, UNR will honor that scholarship for the remaining two years of the commitment, assuming that you meet all scholarship requirements (for example: remaining in good standing, GPA requirements, and full-time continuous enrollment). If your SNU institutional scholarships exceed your total estimated Cost of Attendance, you will not receive a check or credit for the remaining portion. Colleges use Cost of Attendance to determine how much financial aid you’re eligible for. The total aid that students receive cannot exceed their total cost of attendance.

Yes, UNR will deliver the classes you need to complete your degree programs in the same geographies as they are currently offered – the Incline Village, Reno, or Henderson campuses, or online (for the currently offered online degree programs). The location of the Reno and Henderson campus may change, but will remain within Reno and Henderson.

Not all degree programs can be taught-out on the UNR Reno campus. Please see the SNU degree program and Interdisciplinary track equivalent and reasonably equivalent UNR degree program tables to determine if your current SNU degree program can be delivered from the UNR campus in Reno.

• If your degree program can be taught out on the UNR Reno campus you may elect to transfer to the UNR Reno campus, however your remaining degree requirements must be completed from courses currently offered on the UNR Reno campus. UNR will still apply a liberal course articulation policy to the credits you have taken at SNU. If you elect to transfer to the UNR Reno campus you cannot return to the Incline Village campus as part of the teach-out.
• If your SNU degree program is one that cannot be taught out on the UNR Reno campus you must remain at the Incline Village campus to complete your degree.
• MFA graduate students must complete their degree at the Incline Village campus.
• The only available locations for the undergraduate BA in Education degree program and the graduate M.A.T. and M.Ed. teacher education degree programs are Reno, Henderson, or online (if your degree program was originally offered solely online at SNU).

If your SNU degree program cannot be taught on the UNR Reno campus but you still wish to transfer to the UNR Reno campus you will have to declare an existing UNR degree program that is offered at the Reno campus.

Many of your courses will be the same, or nearly the same. In instances where UNR already has an equivalent course (e.g. UNR Math 181: Calculus I and SNU Math 130: Calculus I), the UNR course will prevail. Where UNR has a reasonably equivalent course (e.g. UNR ANTH 105: Introduction to World Archaeology and SNU ANTH 210: The Birth of Civilization), the UNR course will prevail. If a course is considered equivalent or reasonably equivalent, it means that for the teach-out, the class will be taught essentially as it was at SNU prior to the acquisition. In instances where UNR has no equivalent or reasonably equivalent course to match an SNU course, UNR will create new courses for the teach-out.

Yes. Current SNU students will have the option of completing their current SNU degree program or an equivalent program at the SNU campus or may choose to complete a UNR program at the UNR campus.

The University of Nevada, Reno will NOT be the custodian of historic SNU student records and will not be able to provide official transcripts from SNU.

• Through June 7, 2023 students can order their official transcripts by emailing registrar@sierranevada.edu. For identification purposes, please provide two of the following: SNU student ID number, last four of social security number or birth date. Please provide a mailing address.
• Effective June 8, 2023, the State of Nevada Commission on Postsecondary Education Transcripts (cpe.nv.gov) becomes the state repository for all student records. Students can order official transcripts by mailing the Transcript Request form along with a $5.00 money order or cashier’s check payable to the “State of Nevada Treasurer”.

Yes, your transcript will list the specifics of the SNU degree program or track that you selected. For example, it would show Interdisciplinary Studies: Outdoor Adventure Leadership and Journalism and it would include a letter that explains the acquisition of SNU by UNR.

The following table aligns your SNU degree program with the UNR teach-out equivalent or reasonably equivalent degree program. “Customized” indicates that you can customize an emphasis to align with your original SNU degree program. Emphasis is used generally here to refer to minors, specializations, tracks, etc. All customized “emphases” must be approved by your UNR advisor.

¹These degree programs can only be taught-out at the Incline Village campus.

²The teacher education degree programs are available for teach-out in Reno, Henderson, or online, depending on the program.

³Interdisciplinary (INTD) is only available to be taught-out on at the Incline Village campus.

UNR first evaluated the degree designation (e.g. Bachelors of Art, Bachelors of Science, Masters of Fine Art, etc.). If UNR had the same degree, the degree was considered equivalent. Next, UNR evaluated the program (e.g. English, Art, Biology, Interdisciplinary Studies):

• If UNR had the degree but not the program, UNR designated a reasonably equivalent program within the same degree (e.g. the UNR BSBA in General Business with a minor in Entrepreneurship and SNU BSBA in Entrepreneurship).
• If UNR did not have the degree or program, but had an emphasis within a degree program that was equivalent, it was designated as reasonably equivalent (e.g. UNR BA in English with an emphasis in writing and SNU BFA in Creative Writing).
• The SNU programs regulated by the State of Nevada Department of Education and that support teacher endorsement, licensure, or certification were adopted as-is and new degree programs were created at UNR for the sole purpose of teaching out students in these degree programs.

SNU INTD can only be taught out at the Incline Village campus. SNU INTD is supported by tracks. UNR INTD is supported by minors. The table below outlines the mapping of SNU INTD tracks to UNR Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) minors. A customized minor is a coherent, customized set of courses developed in consultation with and approved by your academic advisor. All customized minors must be approved by your UNR advisor.

This depends on your program and your decision to remain on-ground at the SNU Incline Village campus through the teach-out.

• SNU online programs will continue to follow the SNU program requirements and can only be taught-out online.
• For the programs that can only be taught-out at the Incline Village campus you will follow the SNU program requirements. (See the table in the FAQ "What will my UNR degree be?")
• For programs that can be taught out either at the Incline Village campus or at the UNR main campus the answer depends. If you remain on the Incline Village campus you will follow the SNU program requirements. If you elect to finish your degree on the UNR main campus in Reno you will follow the UNR program requirements. We will still apply a very liberal articulation of your SNU classes, but all remaining classes to fulfill your degree will be based upon the UNR course requirements for that major or minor.
• The Elementary Education, BA can only be taught out at the Reno or Henderson extension locations.
• If you elect to change your undergraduate major you will be bound by the UNR program catalog year of your new major, its catalog year requirements, and you must finish your UNR degree on the main campus in Reno. We will still apply a very liberal articulation of your SNU classes, but we cannot guarantee that all of your SNU classes will count towards your new UNR major.

You may elect to change your undergraduate major (i.e. degree program), but you cannot remain on the Incline Village campus and you will have to transfer to a location where UNR supports that degree program. In most cases, this will likely be the Reno campus. UNR will still apply a liberal course articulation policy to the credits you have taken at SNU, but you will be bound by the UNR degree program requirements for the new degree, including, for example, any foreign language requirement. If you elect to declare a new degree program, you will no longer be considered a SNU teach-out student.

Graduate degree programs are very specific and transfer of course work and other requirements is limited. If you elect to pursue a graduate degree program at UNR that differs from your current SNU graduate degree program, you will be subject to regular UNR graduate student transfer requirements.

Although all courses after the acquisition will be considered UNR courses and have UNR prefixes, numbers, and titles, the content in most cases will be the same or nearly the same.

The standard undergraduate degree program at SNU for full-time, continuously enrolled undergraduate students is 4 years (or 8 semesters). The last period for SNU undergraduate enrollment was Spring 2022, meaning that the shortest duration a student could be enrolled prior to the acquisition was 1 semester, or half a year. The teach-out for full-time, continuously enrolled undergraduate students will last for 3.5 years (or 7 semesters), thus ending with the conclusion of the Fall 2025 semester. Full-time, continuous enrollment for most undergraduate degree programs does not require or include summer enrollment. Post-acquisition, your advisor will map out your time to degree completion.

Both of SNU’s MFA degree programs (Creative Writing and Interdisciplinary Arts) are four full semesters and five residency periods, or 2.5 years. The last SNU MFA enrollment period was January 2022/Spring 2022, thus these students would have completed the first residency and first full semester prior to the acquisition date. The teach-out for full-time, continuously enrolled MFA students will be two years, or three full semesters and four residencies. Full-time, continuous enrollment for the MFA degree programs does not require summer enrollment.

This depends on your graduate degree program (i.e. M.A.T. or M.Ed. and any specialization you may have elected) and its initial time to degree completion based upon a full-time, continuously enrolled student. The time to degree completion for the M.A.T. and M.Ed. programs assume full-year enrollment. Both programs also include many part-time students, who are working full-time in the Nevada K-12 system, and many of the courses are utilized by all degree programs.

As a result, the teach-out period for the graduate teaching degree programs will be double what it would be for a full-time, continuously enrolled year-round student, which equates to three years to ensure the teach-out accommodates part-time students. To reiterate, the totality of the graduate TED teach-out is three years, so student have until June 30, 2025 (or the end of that summer session – whichever comes first).

Because of the various specializations within these degree programs, please work with your advisor post-acquisition to map out your time to degree completion.

The courses you take from UNR for the teach-out will be identical or nearly identical to those offered at SNU. All courses post-acquisition will be considered UNR courses and have UNR prefixes, numbers, and titles, the content will be the same or nearly the same. Because graduate courses are so specific, many of them are being created at UNR to align with your SNU graduate degree requirements.

If circumstances dictate a break in enrollment, UNR will work to reasonably accommodate all students in good academic standing. If you find yourself in this position, you must immediately schedule an appointment with your UNR advisor to develop a plan. In addition, you must comply with UNR’s undergraduate or graduate student leave of absence policy. Students who leave UNR without an approved leave of absence must undergo formal readmission to the University, to include submission of a new application, application fee, and any necessary transcripts, and they may not be eligible for the teach-out.