COLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS                                            Board of Trustees Policy No. 305

                                                                                               Administrative Regulation No. 305.02

                                                  FACULTY QUALIFICATIONS

For the purposes of this regulation, the term "faculty," unless otherwise indicated, includes both full-time faculty and associate faculty.  Minimum qualifications for faculty in the Redwoods Community College District are established in accordance with the regulations on minimum qualifications adopted by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.  

Every faculty member hired by the Redwoods Community College District after July 1, 1990, must meet the requirements for the discipline or disciplines in which he or she is assigned.  Upon meeting the requirements, that person is eligible to teach only those courses or perform those functions that fall within the disciplines for which he or she is qualified.  Faculty who do not meet the applicable minimum qualifications may be employed by the Redwoods Community College District if the Academic Senate has determined that the candidate possesses qualifications that are at least equivalent to the locally established minimum qualifications. 

For establishing the local-discipline minimum qualifications, the Redwoods Community College District will be guided by the following principles:

1. The minimum qualifications will equal or exceed the minimum qualifications established by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.
2. The minimum qualifications will be the same for all pretenured, tenured, and temporary (associate) faculty.
3. The establishment, review, and modification of faculty qualifications is the responsibility of the Academic Senate.
4. The establishment, review, and modification of the process by which equivalency is determined is the responsibility of the Academic Senate through the Faculty Qualifications Committee.
5. Every credit course taught in the district must fall under a locally recognized discipline.

EQUIVALENCY TO THE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

The equivalency procedure shall be applied to determine the qualification for appointment of faculty who state that they possess education, training, and/or experience that is at least equivalent to the district's minimum qualifications as established by the Academic Senate for each specific discipline.  The procedure is intended to insure a fair and objective process for determining when an applicant has the equivalent qualifications.  It is not intended to grant waivers for lack of the required qualifications.

In keeping with the California Education Code Sections 87356, 87357, 87358, and 87359, the goal of the Faculty Qualifications Committee is to rule on discipline-wide equivalency.

SUBJECT-MATTER EXPERTS

The role of the subject-matter expert is to make a recommendation to the Faculty Qualifications Committee on the qualifications of an individual to teach in a specific discipline.  Each discipline shall select a full-time, tenured faculty member from that discipline as a subject-matter expert.  If  a tenured faculty member is not available, a pretenured faculty member may be selected.  In disciplines that do not have full-time faculty members, subject-matter experts may be chosen from a closely related discipline.  In the situation where no full-time faculty are available in the discipline or in a closely related discipline, the division chair or lead faculty member shall act as the subject-matter expert.  The individual selected, in consultation with other faculty in the discipline, will review all applications for equivalency for that particular discipline.

The Faculty Qualifications Committee is responsible for providing an orientation and training for all subject-matter experts before the subject-matter expert may evaluate an application for equivalency.  Subject-matter-expert training and orientation should consist of information regarding the faculty-qualification process and the role of subject-matter experts in that process.

PROCESS FOR EVALUATING FACULTY QUALIFICATIONS

1. Process for Evaluating Full-Time Faculty Candidates' Qualifications:  The process for determining a full-time faculty candidate’s qualifications is described in AR 305.01, “Faculty Appointment Procedures.”
2. Process for Evaluating Existing Full-Time-Faculty Qualifications to Teach in an Additional Discipline:  This process begins when an individual is considered for a  faculty assignment in a discipline for which they have not been previously qualified.
   1. The Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, or designee determines whether or not the faculty member meets the district’s minimum qualifications for  the assignment.
   2. If the faculty member does NOT meet the district’s standard, the individual with the intent to assign submits an application for equivalency with supporting documentation to the Faculty Qualifications Committee.  Supporting documentation might include but is not limited to:
      1. A transcript showing that appropriate courses in general education and in the discipline were successfully completed at a regionally accredited college or through an appropriate foreign institution; or
      2. Other evidence of sufficient mastery and currency of the discipline, such as publications, portfolios, and appropriate professional experience; or
      3. Eminence in the field.
   3. The subject-matter expert reviews the application and forwards a recommendation to the Faculty Qualifications Committee.
   4. The Faculty  Qualifications Committee reviews the application and supporting evidence to determine the faculty member’s equivalency.  If more documentation is needed, the application packet is returned to the Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, or designee (step 1), at which point the process begins again. 
   5. The Faculty Qualifications Committee forwards its recommendation to grant or to deny equivalency to the Academic Senate for approval.
   6. Once the Academic Senate grants or denies an equivalency, the action is reported to the Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer; to the Dean of Faculty; and to all division chairs, directors, and campus vice presidents.  The Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, shall notify the originators of each application for equivalency and the respective candidates of the Senate’s action.
3. Process for Evaluating Associate-Faculty Qualifications:  This process begins when an individual is considered for an associate-faculty assignment.
   1. The Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, or designee determines whether or not the candidate meets the district’s minimum qualification for appointment.
   2. If the candidate does NOT meet the district’s standard, the individual with the intent to assign submits an application for equivalency with supporting documentation to the Faculty Qualifications Committee.  Supporting documentation might include but is not limited to:
      1. A transcript showing that appropriate courses in general education and in the discipline were successfully completed at a regionally accredited college or through an appropriate foreign institution; or
      2. Other evidence of sufficient mastery and currency of the discipline, such as publications, portfolios, and appropriate professional experience; or
      3. Eminence in the field.
   3. The subject-matter expert reviews the application and forwards a recommendation to the Faculty Qualifications Committee.
   4. The Faculty  Qualifications Committee reviews the application and supporting evidence to determine the candidate’s equivalency.  If more documentation is needed, the application packet is returned to the Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, or designee (step 1), at which point the process begins again. 
   5. The Faculty Qualifications Committee forwards its recommendation to grant or deny equivalency to the Academic Senate for approval.
   6. Once the Academic Senate grants or denies an equivalency, the action is reported to the Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer; to the Dean of Faculty; and to all division chairs, directors, and campus vice presidents.  The Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, shall notify the originators of each application for equivalency and the respective candidates of the Senate’s action.
4. Process for Granting an Emergency Equivalency to Associate Faculty:  For associate faculty, all departments, divisions, and campus administrators are expected to initiate the equivalency process in an expeditious manner prior to the end of each term. In those   emergency circumstances (for instance, during summer and winter break when members of the Faculty Qualifications Committee may not be available) the determination of  equivalency can be made on a temporary basis by the Senior Vice President, Chief Instructional Officer, in consultation with the respective discipline’s division chair or director.

            An emergency equivalency is valid for one appointment contract.  The Faculty Qualifications Committee’s first agenda item at each meeting is to review emergency equivalencies granted since the committee’s previous meeting.  Once the Academic Senate has approved or denied the Faculty Qualifications Committee’s recommendation on equivalency for a faculty member, an emergency equivalency for the same faculty member for the same discipline cannot be granted.

GRADUATE STUDENTS AS FACULTY INTERNS

Faculty interns may be employed as associate faculty under the terms and minimum qualifications describe in the California Administrative Code Title 5 Sections 53500, 53501, and 53502.  Note that this regulation covers only “faculty interns” and does not include “interns,” which are described in Section 53500 as “. . . any person, no matter how designated, who only assists in a class taught by a regularly qualified faculty member, and who has no independent responsibility for instruction or supervision of students.”

Approved: July 9, 1990

Revised: April 6, 1992; June 3, 1996; January 9, 2007