Provost’s Office

LSSU Faculty Qualifications Policy

LSSU – Faculty Qualifications

In compliance with the guidelines established by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), Lake Superior State University has adopted the following policies for ensuring faculty are well qualified to teach in their fields. HLC’s Assumed Practice B.2.A – Faculty Roles and Qualifications states:

B.2.A: The institution establishes and maintains reasonable policies and procedures to determine that faculty are qualified. The factors that an institution considers as part of these policies and procedures could include, but are not limited to: the achievement of academic credentials, progress toward academic credentials, equivalent experience or some combination thereof. The institution’s obligations in this regard extend to all instructors and all other entities to which it assigns the responsibility of instruction. HLC will maintain “Institutional Policies and Procedures for Determining Faculty Qualifications Guidelines” to further explain requirements for reasonable policies and procedures in accordance with this Assumed Practice.

Minimum Qualifications determined by Academic Credentials

1. Faculty will hold an academic degree in the discipline for which they are hired, with coursework credit at least one level above the courses for which they teach or develop curricula. (In some programs, academic credentials may instead be held in a subfield of the discipline with a focus that appropriately matches the courses to be taught, or equivalent experience may be accepted in place of academic credentials if deemed appropriate for the program).
2. To teach in a discipline or subfield other than that in which the faculty member holds a degree, the faculty member will have completed a minimum of 18 graduate credit hours in the discipline or subfield in which they are teaching.
3. Faculty hired to supervise lab sessions or to support lead faculty members will have at least the same level of degree as the program(s) to which the course belongs. In such cases, the instructor of record will be responsible for final assessment of student learning and for assigning grades.

Minimum Qualifications determined by Equivalent Experience

In programs where full-time equivalent tested experience has been established as preferred or accepted, LSSU’s minimum qualification policy requires that the faculty member will meet one or more of the combined requirements for professional experience, as specified for the specific program:

1. To teach certification or associate’s degree program courses:
   1. Minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree in the discipline or subfield, AND a minimum of three (3) years full-time equivalent of tested experience in a related discipline to the courses;
   2. Minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree in any discipline, AND a governmentally recognized credential for certifications or licenses (etc.), connected to that discipline or subfield, AND at least three years of full-time equivalent tested experience in a course-specific field or discipline.

1. To teach bachelor’s degree program courses:
   1. Minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree in the discipline or subfield, AND a minimum of three (3) years full-time equivalent of tested experience in a related discipline to the courses
   2. Minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree in any discipline, AND a governmentally recognized credential for certifications or licenses (etc.), connected to that discipline or subfield, AND at least three years of full-time equivalent tested experience in a course-specific field or discipline.

1. To teach master’s degree level courses, one should maintain continued scholarly activities in the field. Initial appointments have the following stipulations.
   1. Instructors teaching in graduate programs should hold the terminal degree determined by the discipline and have a record of research, scholarship or achievement appropriate for the graduate program.
   2. With approval of the Provost, Dean, and program faculty, exceptions to that policy may be allowed under the following conditions:
      1. Instructor holds a master’s degree in the discipline or subfield, AND a minimum of three (3) years full-time equivalent of tested experience in a related discipline to the courses; OR
      2. Instructor holds a master’s degree in any discipline, AND a nationally-recognized credential (certification, license, etc.) for the discipline or subfield, AND a minimum of three (3) years full-time equivalent of tested experience in a related discipline to the courses; OR,
      3. Instructor holds a bachelor’s degree and has distinguished themselves in their professional field and gained peer recognition or achieved expert-level expertise in a course-specific content area.

Hiring Process for Qualified Faculty

1.  Listed requirements for posted faculty positions will be consistent with the University’s policies for Minimum Faculty Qualifications.
2. Application requirements for posted faculty positions will include a current résumé or curriculum vita and official copies of the applicant’s academic transcripts and/or other documents to verify credentials. Once a candidate has been hired, the Human Resources Office will retain copies of these documents in the employee’s file.
3.  LSSU’s hiring protocols will be followed to identify a qualified pool of candidates for interviews. Prior to scheduling interviews, the department Dean and/or Chair, Search Committee, and Human Resources will review each candidate’s qualifications, in accordance with the Minimum Qualifications for a Faculty Member.
4. Before an offer of employment is made, the recommendations of the Search Committee must be approved by the Provost.
5.  Prior to hiring, part-time adjunct faculty candidates will be vetted by the program Dean, Chair, and program faculty to ensure they meet the Minimum Qualifications for Faculty.
6.  A Teaching Qualifications Form must be completed for every faculty hire. This form is also reviewed during the faculty evaluation process, which is outlined in Section 8 of the Faculty Contract.