System Procedures
Chapter 3 - Educational Policies
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Procedure 3.32.1 College Faculty Credentialing

Part 1. Authority. Policy 3.32 College Faculty Credentialing, delegates to the chancellor authority to develop and implement system procedures to credential college faculty and to assure compliance with Policy 3.32 and Procedure 3.32.1.

Part 2. Definitions.

Subpart A. College faculty or college faculty member. College faculty or college faculty member means individuals teaching credit-based courses and counselors and librarians at system community, technical, and combined community and technical colleges. This definition includes unlimited faculty and other college faculty as specified below.

Unlimited college faculty. Unlimited college faculty means individuals employed by a college in unlimited full-time or part-time positions as defined in the Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty.

Other college faculty. Other college faculty means individuals defined as temporary or adjunct faculty, or external instructors as follows:

a. Temporary faculty. Temporary faculty means 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 Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty.

b. Adjunct faculty. Adjunct faculty means individuals assigned to teach credit-based courses totaling fewer than five (5) credits in a term or to perform an equivalent amount of non-teaching work as defined in the Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty.

c. External instructors. For purposes of this procedure, external instructors means individuals not holding faculty positions as defined in the Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty who are assigned to teach college credit-based courses.

Subpart B. 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.

Subpart C. Fields. Fields refers to assigned fields, license fields, and credential fields.

Assigned field. Assigned 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 faculty qualifications exist. The assigned field is associated with faculty positions formerly governed by the Minnesota Community College Faculty Association bargaining agreement.

License field. License 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 faculty qualifications exist. The license field is associated with faculty positions formerly governed by the United Technical College Educators bargaining agreement.

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 faculty qualifications are created under Board Policy 3.32. and Procedure 3.32.1.

Subpart D. Minimum qualifications. Minimum qualifications mean system-established minimum requirements used to evaluate the credentials of an individual considered for college faculty work. Minimum qualifications shall include the educational requirement and the teaching and learning competency requirement; they may also include related occupational experience, state and/or national industry licensure/certification, and other requirements as appropriate for each assigned field, license field, or credential field.

Subpart E. Joint committee on credential fields. The Joint Committee on Credential Fields (or Joint Committee) is established under the Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty. The Joint Committee shall provide recommendations to the chancellor on assigned fields, license fields, and credential fields and their respective minimum qualifications; recommendations from the Joint Committee shall be considered as input to the credentialing policy and procedure development processes. Membership of the Joint Committee shall be established in accordance with the Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty.

Part 3. Applicability. This procedure applies to faculty at community, technical, and combined community and technical colleges and to other individuals assigned to perform faculty work. An individual offered employment as a college faculty member or any individual assigned to perform faculty work shall meet system-established faculty minimum qualifications for the appropriate field except as provided under Part 4. Subpart A. and Subpart B.; and Part 7. Subpart C. and Subpart D. of this procedure. An individual credentialed under Policy 3.32 and Procedure 3.32.1 shall be deemed to satisfy the licensure requirement pursuant to Minnesota Statutes section 136F.49, as applicable.

Subpart A. Unlimited college faculty. Unlimited college faculty must hold an assigned field, license field, and/or credential field.

Subpart B. Other college faculty. Other college faculty (temporary and adjunct faculty, and external instructors) are assigned to perform faculty work in a specific area and shall not be granted an assigned field, license field, and/or credential field.

Part 4. Provisions for Current Faculty.

Subpart A. Faculty in unlimited positions.

Current faculty who are employed in unlimited positions on June 30, 2006 shall continue to hold previously granted assigned fields/license fields until the conversion of the specified assigned field/license field to a credential field. Upon conversion, faculty shall hold the equivalent credential field(s). Current faculty shall not be required to meet current or future changes in the minimum qualifications unless the revised minimum qualifications state that current faculty must comply. If the minimum qualifications change in such a way that the faculty member must retrain, the employer will bear all costs for the retraining as stipulated in the Employment Contract between the Board and the Minnesota State College Faculty.

Current faculty members in unlimited positions may be assigned available work outside of their granted assigned field/license field/credential field(s) and shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications except as provided under the following conditions:

a. The college determines the faculty member possesses educational and/or occupational experience(s) appropriate to the assignment; and

b. The assignment is essential to meet unexpected and/or sudden staffing needs, to provide a full workload, or to meet other employment contract obligations; and

c. Written documentation providing the rationale for the assignment of the faculty member is on file at the college.

Current faculty members in unlimited positions completing the teacher education series (TES) under Policy 3.9 and Procedure 3.9.1 shall have the option to complete the TES series or to complete the teaching and learning competency requirement under Part 5. Subpart B. of this procedure.

Subpart B. Temporary part-time and adjunct faculty, and external instructors.

Temporary part-time and adjunct faculty, and external instructors who performed faculty work during academic years 2004-05 and/or 2005-06 and who currently do not meet the system-established minimum qualifications or do not meet one of the exception conditions under Part 7. Subpart C., may be offered available semester by semester faculty assignments during academic years 2006-07 and/or 2007-08.

After June 30, 2008, to be eligible for available faculty work, temporary part-time and adjunct faculty, and external instructors shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications or meet one of the exception conditions under part 7, Subpart C.

Part 5. Guidelines for Establishment of Credential Fields and Minimum Qualifications.

Subpart A. Credential fields and minimum qualifications. Credential fields shall be established to align with the system-approved college programs and college-approved disciplines. Each credential field shall be based on system-established minimum qualifications that include educational requirements and teaching and learning competency requirements and may also include related occupational experience, state and/or national industry licensure/certification, and other requirements as appropriate for each credential field.

Subpart B. Teaching and learning competency requirement. The teaching and learning competency requirement applies to faculty in unlimited positions including counselors and librarians.

Prior to being granted unlimited status, a faculty member shall successfully complete courses in the following content areas focused on the post-secondary student learning environment:

a. course construction (credit course),

b. teaching/instructional methods (credit course),

c. student outcomes assessment/evaluation (credit course), and

d. philosophy of community and technical college education (credit or non-credit course).
Required course content shall be specified in guidelines pursuant to this procedure.

The teaching and learning competency requirements in course construction, teaching/instructional methods, and student outcomes assessment/evaluation set forth at Part 5, Subpart B.1.a-c of this procedure shall be waived for individuals who at the time of hire have:

a. a degree in education, or have documented evidence of successful completion of equivalent coursework in the specified teaching and learning content areas, or

b. three years of successful, full-time (or equivalent) secondary, postsecondary, industry, or trade apprenticeship teaching experience in the field for which they are being hired.

The teaching and learning competency requirement in Part 5, Subpart B.1.d, philosophy of community and technical college education, shall be waived for individuals who, at the time of hire, have documented evidence of successful completion of equivalent coursework.

The teaching and learning competency requirement shall apply to credential fields established under Policy 3.32 and to assigned fields and license fields granted after the implementation date of Policy 3.32.

Subpart C. Liberal arts and sciences credential fields minimum qualifications. The following minimum qualifications for liberal arts and sciences credential fields must be met:

Educational requirement. A master’s degree in the credential field or a master’s degree in any field with a minimum of 16 graduate semester credits (24 graduate quarter credits) in the credential field.

Teaching and learning competency requirement. The requirement established at Part 5, Subpart B of this procedure.

Subpart D. Career, technical, and professional credential fields minimum qualifications. The following minimum qualifications for career, technical, and professional credential fields must be met:

Educational requirement. The minimum educational requirement for career, technical, and professional credential fields shall be based on established industry standards and accepted higher education standards. This educational requirement shall be established at a level that accommodates all academic awards offered throughout the system in a specific program area aligned with a specific credential field. The educational criteria for this requirement shall comply with the following except as provided for in item 1.a.

a. At the time the minimum qualifications are established or revised, exceptions to the educational criteria for designated credential fields under this subpart may be approved by the chancellor upon recommendation of the Joint Committee on Credential Fields.

b. For credential fields aligned with programs that offer an Associate in Science (AS) degree (transfer degree), the minimum educational requirement for faculty shall be a master’s degree.

c. For credential fields aligned with programs that offer an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree or a diploma as the predominant highest academic award in the system’s colleges, the minimum educational requirement for faculty who teach the technical content in the AAS or diploma program shall be an associate degree (e.g. AA, AS, or AAS), with the preferred standard being an appropriate baccalaureate degree and/or additional career or technical training in an appropriately related content area.

d. For credential fields aligned with programs that offer a certificate as the highest academic award at any college in the system, the minimum educational requirement shall be two years of related education and training culminating in a diploma or associate degree; the educational requirement shall be determined based on state and national industry standards and available educational and training opportunities.

e. For credential fields aligned with programs that have a certificate or diploma as part of a career-laddered program structure where each program articulates into the next higher level program and culminates in an associate degree or diploma, the minimum educational requirement for faculty shall be established at a level that accommodates all academic awards offered in the specific program area throughout the system.

Teaching and learning competency requirement. The requirement established at Part 5, Subpart B of this procedure.

Occupational experience requirement. In order to establish recency of experience, the minimum 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) postsecondary teaching experience in the credential field within the last five years. This requirement also shall apply to assigned fields and license fields granted after the implementation date of Policy 3.32.

State and/or national industry licensure/certification requirement. Industry licensure/certification or other credential required or considered essential for practice in the industry directly related to the credential field shall be incorporated into the minimum qualifications. (Examples: The state/industry licensure requirement for the existing assigned field of Registered Nurse is a Minnesota Registered Nurse license; the state/industry requirement for the existing license field of Law Enforcement is Minnesota POST certification.) The state and/or national industry licensure/certification requirement shall apply only to fields specified during the minimum qualifications establishment or revision process.

Program Accreditation Requirement. Standards for faculty credentials established by state or national program accreditation bodies may be incorporated into the minimum qualifications.

Subpart E. Counselor and librarian credential fields and minimum qualifications. The following minimum qualifications must be met for counselor and librarian credential fields.

Educational requirement. A master’s degree in the credential field.

Teaching and learning competency requirement. The requirement established at Part 5, Subpart B. of this procedure.

Part 6. Process for Establishment of Credential Fields and Minimum Qualifications, and Revision of Existing Assigned Fields, License Fields, and Credential Fields.

Subpart A. Establishment of a new credential field. When the office of the chancellor approves a certificate, diploma, or associate degree program that does not currently exist within the system’s colleges, the Joint Committee shall review the program and make a recommendation regarding an appropriate credential field.

Subpart B. Process for establishment of minimum qualifications for a new credential field. The process to establish the minimum qualifications for a new credential field requires that the office of the chancellor conduct an analysis of system-wide disciplines/programs, national standards, and other pertinent background information and shall consider input from the state colleges. The process shall include consultation with faculty, administrators, industry representatives, and others as appropriate and culminates in a recommendation regarding required minimum qualifications by the Joint Committee on Credential Fields to the office of the chancellor.

Subpart C. Conversion of existing assigned fields and license fields to credential fields. The process to convert an existing assigned field or license field to a credential field requires that the office of the chancellor conduct a review of the minimum qualifications of the existing assigned field or license field and conduct an analysis of system-wide disciplines/programs, national standards, and other pertinent background information and shall consider input from the system’s colleges. The process includes consultation with faculty, administrators, industry representatives, and others, as appropriate, and culminates in a recommendation regarding required minimum qualifications by the Joint Committee on Credential Fields to the office of the chancellor.

Subpart D. Revision of existing credential fields and associated minimum qualifications. The process for periodic review and revision of existing credential fields and their associated minimum qualifications requires that the office of the chancellor conduct a review of the minimum qualifications of the existing credential field and conduct an analysis of system-wide disciplines/programs, national standards, and other pertinent background information and shall consider input from the system’s colleges. The process includes consultation with faculty, administrators, industry representatives, and others as appropriate and culminates in a recommendation regarding required minimum qualifications by the Joint Committee on Credential Fields to the office of the chancellor.

Subpart E. List of credential fields and existing assigned fields and license fields. A list of credential fields with their minimum qualifications shall be maintained by the office of the chancellor. A list of existing assigned fields and license fields with their minimum qualifications shall be maintained until they are reviewed and converted to credential fields; new assigned fields and license fields shall not be established after the approval date of Policy 3.32.

Part 7. Credentialing Responsibilities.

Subpart A. Office of the chancellor responsibility for credentialing unlimited faculty. The office of the chancellor shall complete the credentialing process prior to an offer of employment for an unlimited faculty position and for current unlimited faculty applying for additional field(s) subsequent to initial hire in unlimited positions.

The office of the chancellor shall review the individual’s completed application, including official transcripts and verified related work experience, state and/or national industry licensure/certification, and other requirements, and determine if the applicant meets system-established minimum qualifications for the requested credential field.

An application for an initial or additional field shall include the signature of the authorized college administrator verifying that there is employment in the requested field.

Notification that the individual does or does not meet the minimum qualifications for the field shall be sent by the office of the chancellor to the applicant, the employing college, and the Minnesota State College Faculty.

If a processing error results in the approval of a field for an individual who does not meet the system-established minimum qualifications for that field, the granting of that field is not valid.

Subpart B. College responsibility for credentialing temporary full-time faculty. Each college shall establish policy to manage the credentialing process for temporary full-time faculty in accordance with system policy and procedure(s).

Temporary full-time faculty shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications for the assigned field/license field/credential field(s) aligned with the position assigned with the exception of the teaching and learning requirement established at Part 5. Subpart B. of this procedure.

The college shall review the individual’s completed application (including official transcripts, verified related occupational experience, state and/or national industry licensure/certification, and other requirements), and determine if the applicant meets the system-established minimum qualifications for the field applicable to the requested assignment.

The college shall maintain documentation regarding the determination that an individual employed in a temporary full-time position meets the system-established minimum qualifications.

Subpart C. College responsibility for credentialing temporary part-time and adjunct faculty, and external instructors as defined in Part 2. Subpart A. Each college shall establish policy to manage the credentialing process for temporary part-time and adjunct faculty, and external instructors in accordance with system policy, procedure(s), and guidelines.

Individuals assigned to perform faculty work under this subpart shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications except as allowed under the exception conditions that are specified in this subpart.

If the individual does not meet the system-established minimum qualifications, the college must determine if one of the exception conditions applies as specified below:

a. Emergency staffing situations:
1. illness, accident, or death of a faculty member during the term, resulting in a faculty member being unable to finish teaching the course;
2. a failed search for a faculty position, if the position has been advertised at least twice;
3. resignation of a faculty member immediately prior to start of a term;
4. addition of course sections immediately prior to start of a term; or
5. immediate deployment in the armed services.
An individual may be hired for no more than two consecutive semesters under this exception.

b. Pending credentials: Individuals who are close to meeting the minimum
qualifications may be hired for no more than two consecutive semesters under this exception.

c. Special expertise: An individual with special expertise may be hired to teach specialized courses. There is no time limit on this exception.

d. 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.

e. Emerging fields: An exception may be made in instances 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.

The college shall develop a process, mutually agreed to by faculty and administration, to implement the consistent application of the exception conditions under this subpart.

The college shall maintain appropriate credentialing documentation on temporary part-time and adjunct faculty, and external instructors who are assigned to teach credit-based college courses and for faculty who are assigned to perform work as counselors and librarians.

Subpart D. College responsibility regarding assignment of unlimited faculty. Faculty members in unlimited positions may be assigned available work outside of their granted assigned field/license field/credential field(s) and shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications except as provided under the following conditions:

The college determines the faculty member possesses educational and/or occupational experience(s) appropriate to the assignment; and

The assignment is essential to meet unexpected and/or sudden staffing needs, to provide a full workload, or to meet other employment contract obligations; and

Written documentation providing the rationale for the assignment of the faculty member is on file at the college.

Part 8. College Faculty Professional Development. Professional development includes continuing improvement in: teaching and learning skills and methods, discipline and program content, student interactions, service to the college and the greater community, and personal growth related to the faculty member’s employment responsibilities.

Subpart A. College policy. Each college shall establish a policy to implement the faculty development process which shall include the development of faculty professional development plans. College faculty and administration shall work together to establish the college policy on faculty professional development.

Subpart B. Individual professional development plan. Faculty in unlimited positions shall prepare an individual professional development plan according to the timelines and criteria specified in the college professional development policy. The purpose of the professional development plan is to identify activities and/or strategies to be used by the faculty member to maintain currency in the faculty member’s credential field(s) and in teaching and learning skills and may include activities that go beyond maintaining currency . The plan shall be developed by the faculty member in consultation with the faculty member’s supervisor and shall address specific objectives and expected outcomes with respect to the following components, as appropriate to the faculty member’s needs:

content knowledge and skill in the discipline/program;

teaching methods and instructional strategies;

related work experience;

study appropriate to the higher education environment;

service to the college and the greater community; and

other components, as appropriate.

Part 9. Termination of Employment of Unlimited Faculty.

Subpart A. A faculty member’s assigned field, license field, or credential field ceases upon termination of employment unless otherwise provided for in board policy and system procedure.

Subpart B. A former faculty member who subsequent to termination of employment receives an offer of employment that requires an assigned field, license field, or credential field(s), shall submit a new completed application for the requested field(s) to the college human resource office for submission to the office of the chancellor. To be eligible for the field, the individual shall meet the system-established minimum qualifications in effect at the time of hire. This provision does not apply to faculty on layoff with recall rights or to faculty with approved unpaid leaves of absence.

Part 10. Accountability. Each college shall submit an annual report addressing the college’s compliance with Policy 3.32, Procedure 3.32.1, and the college’s credentialing policy, in accordance with reporting requirements determined by the office of the chancellor.

Approval date: January 18, 2006,
Effective date: July 1, 2006,
Revisions: May 22, 2006 – amended Part 2, Subpart A, number2c and Part 7, Subpart C to delete references to high school teachers teaching postsecondary concurrent enrollment options course.