COMPREHENSIVE STANDARD 3.7.1 (CS-P20):

The institution employs competent faculty members qualified to accomplish the mission and goals of the institution. When determining acceptable qualifications of its faculty, an institution gives primary consideration to the highest earned degree in the discipline in accordance with the guidelines listed below. The institution also considers competence, effectiveness, and capacity, including, as appropriate, undergraduate and graduate degrees, related work experiences in the field, professional licensure and certifications, honors and awards, continuous documented excellence in teaching, or other demonstrated competencies and achievements that contribute to effective teaching and student learning outcomes. For all cases, the institution is responsible for justifying and documenting the qualifications of its faculty.

Comments:

As indicated in the Compliance Certification the institution is in partial compliance based on a comprehensive review of faculty credentials. It was determined that the District’s standards for “exceptional experience” were being interpreted and applied inconsistently throughout the academic divisions (112). An action plan to correct such inconsistencies is scheduled for completion and submission to SACS in March 2005 (114).

The committee was unable to determine the qualifications of several faculty members and requests further justification. Please see the separate listing of individual faculty members in question.

Response:

As stated in the 2004 Compliance Certification, the Collin County Community College District's (CCCCD) policy and intent is to employ competent faculty qualified to accomplish the mission and goals of the District. At that time, the District reported partial compliance with this comprehensive standard based on the results of its comprehensive review of faculty credentials for the target semesters.

Upon receipt of the Off-Site Review Committee’s report, official transcripts and credentials of all faculty members identified by the Committee were again thoroughly reviewed by the Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Executive Vice President, and the Associate Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness and Human Resources. A spreadsheet (Reference 1) is attached that provides additional detail regarding the teaching assignments and credentials, including specific graduate hours in the required discipline(s), of the faculty members in question.

Four faculty members had initially been approved by the academic administrators as exceptions and were reported as exceptions in the 2004 Compliance Certification. As detailed below, these faculty members will not be re-employed by the District unless academic credential requirements are met.

• Lesli Bernanke: Ms. Bernanke, a part-time faculty member, last taught in the Spring 2003 semester. Ms. Bernanke submitted official transcripts which documented a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with six (6) undergraduate semester hours in mathematics, including Elementary Analysis. She was employed on an exceptional basis to teach a developmental math pre-algebra course. She had taught special education for six years in public and private schools. Ms. Bernanke no longer teaches with the District.
  
• Elke Matijevich: Dr. Matijevich was a full-time faculty member, who last taught in the Spring 2003 semester. Dr. Matijevich was employed to teach German and Humanities with the District. She held a Ph.D. in Humanities and a Master of Arts in Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas. In addition, she held an undergraduate degree in German Language and Literature from the University of Texas at Dallas, had experience teaching the German language, and is a native speaker of the German language. Dr. Matijevich no longer teaches with the District.
  
• Frank Mendes: Mr. Mendes, a part-time faculty member, last taught in the Spring 2004 semester. Mr. Mendes had completed 30 graduate semester hours in Spanish/Foreign Language. However, the master’s degree was not complete. Mr. Mendes will not teach with the District until the master’s degree has been conferred.
  
• Charles Sullivan: Mr. Sullivan, a part-time faculty member, last taught in the Spring 2004 semester. Mr. Sullivan holds a Master of Education degree with a major in Secondary Education. For the last 22 years, he has taught American Government and served as the Government department chair with Allen ISD, teaching all AP (advanced placement) Government courses. However, Mr. Sullivan will not teach further with the District without documentation of a master’s or higher degree in Government or the required 18 graduate semester hours in Government.

An additional faculty member has since been identified as an exception to District faculty credential requirements.

• Michelle Meyer: As is documented in the referenced report, the District has an official transcript from Southeastern Oklahoma State University for Ms. Meyer that indicates she has a M. Ed. in Speech. The District thereby concluded that she met the SACS requirements to teach speech. However, upon a more detailed review of the transcript, the District has determined that no graduate semester hours within the Speech rubric were earned. She holds 8 graduate semester hours from Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State University) that are speech-related, including two one-hour courses in Speech and Drama, one three-hour course in Speech and Dramatic Acting, and one three-hour course in Speech and Drama Research. In addition, she completed 22 graduate semester hours in Drama from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The District received clarification from the Registrar of Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Reference 2) and has concluded that Ms. Meyer is not qualified to continue teaching speech courses, despite holding a Master of Education degree in Speech. Ms. Meyers no longer teaches Speech Communication courses with the District.

Modified Action Plan for Comprehensive Standard 3.7.1

Taking steps beyond the District’s 2003-2004 Strategic Plan achievement indicator (Reference 3), which stated “Strengthen the process of attracting and maintaining district employees with appropriate credentials and experience,” on July 27, 2004, the Board of Trustees announced a moratorium on approving faculty to teach transfer courses through the SACS-approved process for documenting exceptions to the required academic credentials. Faculty must have the requisite credentials and appropriate graduate courses in order to teach at the College (Reference 4). Faculty applicants with exceptional experience and certifications/licenses in lieu of the required formal academic credentials may be considered for technical/occupational courses or physical education activities courses, but will require approval of the District President or the Board of Trustees, and only after the District has been unsuccessful in identifying individual(s) who hold the required academic degrees, following a good-faith effort to advertise the position(s) within the relevant labor market.

The Board’s moratorium thus necessitated that the District modify the Action Plan that had been established in the 2004 Compliance Certification (Reference 5).

The revised Action Plan requires that each division dean be responsible for submitting a newly-developed Web report (Reference 6) that has been created to record a summary of the credentials of each faculty member. These summaries must be completed prior to the beginning of each semester for new faculty members and for current faculty members teaching in new academic disciplines. Any reports submitted that document a requested exception will be forwarded for review by the appropriate Vice President and the President.

The academic deans and vice presidents will prepare and present to the Leadership Team a status report at the beginning of each academic term regarding the academic credentials of the entire teaching faculty. The regular oversight by the District’s Leadership Team will further ensure ongoing compliance.

In summary, the District is now in full compliance with this standard and has implemented an Action Plan to ensure that the District maintains employment of competent faculty members with documented academic credentials and requisite qualifications to teach assigned courses.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: