Department Expectations: Faculty

(Application for Registration of a New Program - Task 4)

• The faculty assigned to the proposed program have the professional expertise, college teaching and administrative experiences appropriate to their assignments.
• The faculty have the documented expertise, including the advanced study and licensure appropriate to the field, to teach effectively each course to which they are assigned in appropriate depth and breadth, and to conduct other faculty responsibilities set forth in the standards.
  • The information listed in the Faculty charts (earned degrees and disciplines, certifications, experience, scholarly contributions, etc.) indicate that the program faculty have the needed expertise and background to teach the assigned courses.
• Faculty members teaching at the certificate, associate degree, and baccalaureate levels hold at least a master's degree in an appropriate field and have the background for in-depth teaching, curriculum development, and program evaluation responsibilities.
  • Certain occupational specializations may merit demonstration of competence alternative to a master’s degree.  In all institutions, faculty with master degrees and beyond, and with substantial collective experience in college teaching and academic administration should be strongly predominant.
• A least one faculty member teaching in each curriculum at the baccalaureate level must hold an earned doctorate in the discipline of the major of the proposed program.
• Faculty members teaching at the graduate level must hold earned doctorates or other terminal degrees in their specialty areas, except as indicated below.
• Faculty members teaching at the graduate level without an earned doctorate or other terminal degree have significant, widely recognized special competence in the field in which they teach.
  • This is demonstrated through national or international publications, research recognized in the field and other contributions to the advancement of knowledge, professional practice or quality of life. The burden of proof is on the institution to demonstrate the special competence of such individuals.
• Faculty resumes/curricula vitae (if requested) list the following:
  • Education
  • Other credentials (e.g., licenses or certifications)
  • Teaching and administrative experience
  • Publications
  • Service
  • Memberships in professional or academic organizations
• The faculty are clearly responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating curricular design; ongoing quality assurance; and advising.
  • This can be demonstrated through the answer to Task 2, Item 3 d:
    • Describe the role of faculty in the program’s design.
• The number of full-and part-time faculty members is sufficient to assure the consistent attainment of program objectives with respect to breadth and depth of instruction, timely offering of all courses needed to complete the program within the appropriate period of time, and effective conduct of other academic responsibilities.
• There is a sufficient and appropriate number of ongoing full-time faculty members to assure continuity of leadership and stability in the proposed program, including the following responsibilities:
  • development, implementation, evaluation and improvement of curricula,
  • ongoing assurance of the integrity of credit,
  • quality of teaching and learning,
  • advising; and
  • appropriate allocation and use of services and resources.
• Any exception to the maintenance of a well-qualified core of ongoing full-time faculty in each program area is thoroughly documented in terms of high qualitative learning outcomes for students as well as the unique nature of the field.
  • This can be demonstrated through graduation rates, placement rates and/or other outcomes that meet or exceed rates at comparable institutions.
• For proposed programs whose faculty have yet to be hired, provide a description of the required academic credentials and experience.
  • Position description or announcement may also be submitted.
• Class size and the methods of instruction are consistently conducive to effective learning.  The size of each class is such as to assure prompt, continual, and substantive feedback on student performance during the course and to assure ongoing faculty accessibility to students in the course.
• Class size is such that the instructor, or a well-qualified member of the instructional team for the course, has knowledge of each student’s strengths and weaknesses in the course and interacts with the student to strengthen performance.
• Faculty workloads are consistent with student skill levels and their assessed needs for instructional support, feedback, and mentoring.
• Faculty workloads permit sufficient time to participate in academic governance, advising, research, professional development, and other designated responsibilities.
• Faculty workloads provide sufficient time for course preparations and for frequent, timely and careful assessments of students’ progress, including the development of writing and analytical skills.
  • Total teaching loads, including overload assignments, take into account the effect of class size and total student load on quality of instruction.
  • Normally, full-time faculty have a teaching load of no more than three separate course preparations per semester.