Procedures for Implementation of Faculty Qualification Standards

Owner	Academic Affairs
Contact	[email protected]
Document Type	Procedure
Issue Date	October 1, 2018
Last Review	October 4, 2018

Overview of Minimum Expectations for Faculty Qualifications

To be a member of the faculty or teach courses for university credit at Ferris State University, one must satisfy the following criteria:

1. Faculty teaching in undergraduate programs should hold a degree in a relevant discipline at least one level above that of the program/level in which they are teaching. If a faculty member holds a master’s degree or higher in a discipline other than that in which he or she is teaching, that faculty member should have completed a minimum of 18 graduate credit hours in the discipline in which he or she is teaching except where equivalent (“tested”) experience is deemed acceptable by the academic unit.
2. Undergraduate programs in subject areas that are academically terminal at or less than the bachelors level should be taught by faculty with a terminal degree in the discipline equal to or greater than the level of the class being taught as well as any tested experience specified by the program. In many cases, when a terminal degree is associate or baccalaureate level, the department/school may identify a closely related discipline as the proper one for a higher-level degree. 
3. Faculty teaching in graduate or professional programs should hold a terminal degree determined by the discipline/program and have a record of research, scholarship, or achievement appropriate to the graduate program. 
4. Faculty guiding doctoral or professional education should have a record of scholarship and preparation to teach at the doctoral or professional level. Research and scholarship should reflect expectations of the program or degree offered. 
5. Faculty whose roles do not regularly include teaching (such as Advisors, Librarians, or Counselors) will also have established minimum qualifications. 
6. Colleges/Academic Units will review and reconfirm their minimum qualifications not less than every six years, in tandem with the Academic Program Review Process. In faster-changing fields, it is expected that the programs/colleges would set more frequent review cycles.

This policy pertains to instructors of record and not field or clinical supervisors (e.g. student teaching supervisors or clinical practicum supervisors). An Instructor of Record is the individual designated in the information system by the academic unit as responsible for a credit-bearing course, including individuals responsible for independent studies and professional internships.

Establishing Minimum Faculty Qualifications

To assure that its current teaching cadre meets the qualifications as outlined above, Ferris has established the minimum qualifications for each of its courses through dialogue among faculty and academic leadership. There are two main components of the Qualification process. First is determination of the minimum requirements for each course. Second is evaluation of each faculty member assigned to each course to assure that the minimums are met. Faculty qualifications by individual (degrees, majors, work experience, licenses, etc.) are stored within 
the University’s designated repository system.

1. Procedures for Determination of Minimum Qualifications for Each Course

1. Department Chairs/Directors/Heads (or designees) are responsible for facilitating the determination of minimums for each course and for periodically reviewing their appropriateness, in collaboration with the faculty of the discipline or program.
2. College deans or their designees review the recommendations from the departments/programs/schools and either approve or recommend changes, in consultation with program/department faculty.
3. Deans forward their approved minimum qualifications to the Office of Academic Affairs where the Provost or designee will review and confirm the specified minimums or further discuss these with the deans if changes are recommended, in accordance with the expectation that ultimately the Provost is responsible for the overall integrity of academic programs and assurance of the university’s compliance with external requirements.
4. Minimum qualifications may change periodically when discipline or industry changes indicate that different minimums should exist. It is expected that these minimums should be reviewed not less frequently than every six years, depending upon the dynamics of the field.
5. Sample spreadsheets are available from the Office of Academic Affairs for use in completing the task of establishing course minimum qualifications. Once approved, the Office of Academic Affairs will place the approved qualifications in the designated repository for maintaining these documents centrally. The 
   qualifications will be made readily available for review and shall only be changed by completing the approval process of steps a-c above.

2. Approval Process for Individual Faculty Teaching Ferris Courses

1. Department Heads/Chairs/Directors are responsible for confirming the qualifications for each course that individuals are assigned to teach by identifying the qualifying credentials for each scheduled course. Courses taught are exported to the repository each semester and confirmations of qualifications in the designated repository system should be completed not later than the end of each semester. (Note that the determination that an individual is qualified would have been made prior to being assigned to the course.) Only new teaching assignments will need to be processed after the initial qualifying process because qualifications are linked to each course taught. For example, once an individual faculty member has their credentials linked to the CHEM 101 course taught regularly, this step will not need to be taken in the future. If an individual is teaching CHEM 102 for the first time, then the qualifications mapping for the 
   new course will need to be completed in the first semester the faculty member is teaching this course
2. Following Department Head/Director/Chair recommendations, the College Dean/Designee will approve these determinations or consult with the area regarding changes needed. Reports that can be run from the repository will enable Deans to conduct this review from a full report to make the college-level approvals more efficient, rather than requiring the Dean or designate to enter the system for each individual.
3. Following the Dean’s approval, a designate in the Office of Academic Affairs will review and approve/confirm/question the College’s approvals, in conformance with the expectations that the Office of Academic Affairs has responsibility for assurance with specified standards. This process can be streamlined with a complete report from the repository that includes the deans’ determinations to avoid the necessity of entering each record at the Office of Academic Affairs level.
4. Department-level personnel are responsible for assuring that each new faculty member (full-time and adjunct) has their credentials entered into the designated repository within 30 days of employment.
5. Faculty whose roles do not regularly include teaching (such as Advisors, Librarians, or Counselors) will be reviewed according to established minimum qualifications for their positions and must also be appropriately qualified.
6. Hiring practices for faculty hired to teach more than one course will necessarily assure that they have the qualifications to teach multiple courses because of the demands for varying teaching schedules and the expectation that full-time faculty can teach a full range of offerings to accommodate changing demands. 

Implementation Dates

Effective Fall 2017, all faculty teaching Ferris courses should meet specified minimum qualifications. Ferris has received an extension for meeting the qualifications for faculty teaching in dual-enrollment or early-college courses only; all of these K/12 partnership faculty should meet the specified qualifications by Fall 2020. Each K/12 partnership faculty member that is expected to teach after Fall 2020 must have an individual development plan that shows how they will be qualified by that semester. It is the responsibility of department heads/chairs/directors to assure that required documentation is available for each candidate prior to official hiring that will typically include official transcripts and resumes for information about experience, licensures, etc. Hiring follows established human resource procedures.

For complete HLC guidance regarding Faculty Qualifications, consult this site: 
https://www.hlcommission.org/Publications/determining-qualified-faculty.html

Note: At Ferris, policies are subject to appropriate reviews, according to the university’s Policy on Policies. However, procedures or processes may change frequently and are expected to be updated by the owner of the policy. The Office of Academic Affairs owns this policy that will be reviewed at least every three years.