Policy: Faculty Qualifications

Document Number: 1.007
Title: Faculty Qualifications
Effective Date: 08/08/2024
Revised Date: N/A

Policy Statement

River Parishes Community College (RPCC) makes every effort to employ competent and qualified faculty to assure that the needs of students and programs are met, and to support the mission and goals of the College. The faculty requirements and guidelines specified by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) are utilized as a guide in hiring practices. RPCC also documents other criteria, certifications, and experience that uniquely qualify a faculty member’s ability to teach in discipline areas in which no specific guidelines are available. This document provides information and clarification for individuals responsible for faculty credentialing.

Faculty Qualifications: 

The Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs maintains an Academic and Professional Preparation Credentialing Guide for use in evaluating faculty credentials. A copy of the guide is provided to all faculty members who assist in hiring full and part-time faculty members. 

Each full and part-time faculty member will furnish the following at the time of appointment: application, resume and official transcripts. Official documentation of professional work experience, technical and performance competency, records of publications, certifications, and other qualifications used in lieu of formal academic preparations must be maintained in the individual’s credentialing file. The criteria for academic and professional preparation currently established by RPCC are listed below. 

1. Each full and part-time faculty member teaching credit courses in humanities/fine arts, social/behavioral sciences, and biological or physical sciences/mathematics disciplines must have completed at least 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline and hold at least a master’s degree. or hold the minimum of a master’s degree in the teaching discipline. 
2. Each full and part-time faculty member teaching courses in professional, occupational, and technical areas that are components of associate degree programs designed for college transfer, or from which substantial numbers of students transfer to senior institutions, must have completed at least 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline and hold at least a master’s degree, or hold a minimum of the master’s degree in the teaching discipline. 
3. Each full and part-time faculty member teaching credit courses in professional, occupational, and technical areas that are components of associate degree programs not usually resulting in college transfer or in the continuation of students in senior institutions, or credit courses in non-degree programs (certificate or technical diploma) must possess appropriate academic preparation or academic preparation coupled with work experience. The minimum academic degree for faculty teaching in professional, occupational, and technical areas must be at the same level at which the faculty member is teaching. The typical combination is an associate’s or baccalaureate degree with appropriate work experience.  
4. In exceptional cases, outstanding professional experience and/or demonstrated contributions to the teaching discipline may be presented in lieu of formal academic preparation for faculty members teaching both transfer and non-transfer courses in these areas. Such cases must be justified on an individual basis. 
5. Faculty members who teach co-requisite courses supporting college-level English or mathematics courses must hold a baccalaureate degree or higher in a discipline related to their teaching assignment and teaching experience or certifications at the elementary, secondary, or college-level.