Pine Technical College
Policy and Procedure
Policy Number: 220 REV 1 Date: 3/13/02 Revision Date: 2/27/06
Division/Department: Academic Affairs and Human Resources
Authors: Mary Jo Mettler, VPAA and Carol Abell, Director of Human Resources
Subject: FACULTY CREDENTIALING FOR TEMPORARY FACULTY
Authorities: MnSCU Policy 3.32 College Faculty Credentials, MSCF Contract Article
2
Purpose: Academic credentials and relevant work experience of faculty at Pine Technical College (PTC), among many other factors, indicate the quality of course work and the effectiveness of pedagogical methods. The purpose of this policy, as stated in MnSCU Board Policy 3.32, is to “assure that qualified individuals perform faculty work in the Minnesota colleges through system-established faculty minimum qualifications…”
Definitions:
Credential Field: Credential Field means a defined area of knowledge and skill that is specifically related to a program, service or academic discipline, and for which system-established minimum qualifications are created under MnSCU Board Policy 3.32.
Minimum Qualifications: Minimum qualifications mean system-established minimum requirements used to evaluate the credentials of an individual considered for college faculty work. The minimum qualifications shall include educational requirements and teaching and learning competency requirements; they may also include related occupational experience, state and/or national industry licensure/certification, and other requirements as appropriate for each credential field.
College Faculty Credentialing: College Faculty Credentialing means the process for evaluating an individual’s education and experience in accordance with system-established minimum qualifications for individuals teaching credit-based courses and for counselors and librarians.
Temporary Faculty: Individuals assigned full-time or part-time to teach credit-based courses or to work as counselors or librarians on a temporary basis as defined in the MSCF collective bargaining agreement.
Adjunct Faculty: Individuals assigned to teach credit-based courses totaling fewer than five (5) credits in a term for to perform an equivalent amount of non-teaching work as defined in the MSCF collective bargaining agreement.
External Instructors: Individuals not holding faculty positions as defined in the MSCF collective bargaining agreement who are assigned to teach college credit-based courses (e.g. high school teachers teaching PSEO concurrent enrollment courses, administrators, and other college employees).
Policy: All College Faculty teaching credit-based courses and counselors and
librarians will meet the College Faculty Credentialing requirements as established
by MnSCU Board Policy 3.32 and Procedure 3.32.1. The Office of the Chancellor
shall complete the credentialing process for unlimited faculty positions.
The Pine Technical College Human Resources Department, in consultation with
the Academic Affairs Department, will manage the credentialing process for
temporary-full time (TFT) faculty, temporary part-time (TPT) faculty, adjunct
faculty, and external instructors including high school teachers teaching
PSEO concurrent enrollment courses.
TFT Faculty shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications for the credential field aligned with the position assigned, with the exception of the teaching and learning requirement referenced in Part 5, Subpart B of procedure 3.32.1.
TPT, Adjunct, and External Instructors, including high school teachers teaching PSEO concurrent enrollment courses shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications except as allowed under the exception conditions outlined in the procedures section of this policy.
The minimum educational requirement for career, technical and professional credential fields shall be based on established industry standards and accepted higher education standards. In accordance with MnSCU Board procedure 3.32.1:
Program Academic Award Faculty Educational Requirement
1. Associate in Arts or Science (AA/AS) degree 1. Master’s Degree
(transfer degree)
2. Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree or diploma 2. Assoc. Degree (AA,
AS, AAS);
baccalaureate degree preferred
3. Certificate 3. Two years of related education
and training culminating in a
diploma or an Assoc. Degree
4. Certificate or Diploma/career-laddered program structure 4. Academic Credential
at a level
that accommodates all academic
awards offered in the specific
program area throughout the
system
5. Counselors and Librarians 5. A Master’s Degree in-field
The occupational experience requirement for career, technical, and professional credential fields shall be two full-time years (or equivalent) of verified related paid work experience in the specific credential field; more than two full-time years (or equivalent) may be required for a particular field. In order to assure recent occupational experience in the field, one year of this work experience shall be within the five years immediately preceding the date of application for the credential field. The recency requirement shall be waived if the individual has two years of successful full-time (or equivalent) post-secondary teaching experience in the credential field within the past five years.
State and/or national industry licensure/certification requirement required
or considered essential for practice in the industry directly related to the
credential field shall be incorporated into the minimum qualifications (Examples:
RN License for Practical Nursing; Master Electrician’s License for Construction
Electrician).
Program Accreditation Requirement - Standards for faculty credentials established
by state or national program accreditation bodies may be incorporated into
the minimum qualifications.
Procedure:
1. TFT, TPT, Adjunct and External Instructors shall complete an online credentialing application to be reviewed by the PTC Human Resources Department. The application process will require submission of official college transcripts, employment verifications of related occupational experience, state and/or national industry licensure/certification and any other requirements outlined in the system-established minimum qualifications.
2. The PTC Human Resources Department shall maintain appropriate credentialing documentation on TFT, TPT, Adjunct, and External Instructors assigned to teach credit-based college courses and for faculty assigned to perform work as counselors and librarians.
3. Faculty will receive official notification of the credentialing decision. As noted in the policy section above, TFT faculty must meet system-established minimum qualifications, without exception. The college may assign a TPT, Adjunct or External Instructor, without meeting system-established minimum qualifications, ONLY if one of the following exception conditions applies:
Emergency staffing situations:
*Illness, accident, or death of a faculty member during the term, resulting
in the
faculty member being unable to finish teaching the course;
*A failed search for a faculty position, if the position has been advertised
at least
twice;
*Resignation of a faculty member immediately prior to the start of a term;
*Addition of course sections immediately prior to the start of a term; or
*Immediate deployment in the armed services
An individual may be hired for no more than two consecutive semesters under
this exception.
Pending Credentials: Individuals who are close to meeting the minimum qualifications may be hired for no more than two consecutive semesters under this exception.
Special Expertise: An individual with special expertise may be hired to teach
specialized courses. There is no time limit on this exception.
Renowned qualifications: An individual who has achieved exceptional status or recognition may be hired to teach appropriate courses in the field of recognition. There is no time limit on this exception.
Emerging Fields: An exception may be made where the program area is so new that the educational preparation requirements and the occupational experience requirements are not yet clearly defined. This exception shall terminate when the system minimum qualifications are established.
4. Faculty appointments under the exception conditions will be requested by the VPAA/Dean, reviewed by the Director of Human Resources and forwarded to the President for final approval prior to an offer of employment being made.
5. Documentation of “exception” appointments and the applicable time limits will be maintained and monitored by the Human Resources Department.
Responsibilities and Dissemination:
Vice President of Academic Affairs and Director of Human Resources will insure
distribution and implementation of this policy.
Revision Reviewed by Leadership Team: 4/03/06
Revision Reviewed by Faculty Shared Governance Council: 4/11/06
Original Approved Date: 03/13/02
Approved by: __________________________________ Date: ______________
Robert L. Musgrove, Ph. D., President