POLICY 06:01:01

FACULTY

Definition of Faculty

1. The term “faculty” is limited to regular, full-time personnel who hold academic rank asprofessor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor. It is limited to those persons whose appointments are for a complete academic or fiscal year. It is further limited to those whose regular assignments include instruction or academic support as their principal activity; i.e., the person’s regular assignment in the area of instruction or academic support must be at least 50 percent of the total assigned duties.
2. If not otherwise included within the above definition of “faculty,” this term includes librarians, the chief academic officer, and the president. It may also include assistants or associates for the above positions and persons previously designated as members of the faculty who are assigned to other positions in the College and who maintain significant student interaction. All of these personnel must hold faculty rank.
3. Academic rank is an element of faculty status and will be limited to faculty with the above definition. Academic rank may be assigned only to faculty who meet the minimum rank criteria under Tennessee Board of Regents Policy 5:02:02:30, Faculty Promotion at Community Colleges, and Pellissippi State Policy 06:03:00, Faculty Promotion. Those policies will control any promotion in rank.
4. The term “faculty” excludes those whose regular assignment is in any other area, e.g., student affairs, institutional support, operation and maintenance of the plant. It excludes adjunct faculty, who are defined as professional staff members of businesses, industries, and other agencies and organizations who are appointed on a part-time basis to carry out instruction.
5. Faculty members shall not have relatives, as defined by TBR’s Nepotism Policy (5:01:00:06) and state law (TCA 8-31-102), significant others; or the offsprings of significant others enrolled in their class(es).
6. Exceptions to this policy can be made upon recommendation by the president and approval by the Chancellor.

Role of Faculty

Pellissippi State Community College is committed to full participation of its faculty in academicaffairs. Pellissippi State Community College encourages and solicits faculty participation in the governance, development, and improvement of the College’s educational process through its committees and Faculty Senate. Faculty are included in the decision making and policy implementation processes of the College. Responsibility for implementation of the instructional program rests with the teaching faculty. Excellence in teaching stands foremost among the challenges and responsibilities of the College. Within this framework, the faculty have certain roles, as described below.

Teaching Faculty

1. Teaching
   1. Teach in the area of competence according to college policy.
   2. Apply theories and principles of learning to instruction.
   3. Adapt instruction to the entry level knowledge and skills of students.
   4. Recommend course and program changes to the academic department dean when appropriate.
   5. Develop syllabi which meet college requirements and student needs. Make syllabi available on the first day of classes.
   6. Use alternative instructional strategies where appropriate
   7. Inform students of special instructional resources located in the Libraries and/or the Academic Support Center
   8. Orient students to objectives and procedures before beginning instruction.
   9. Establish and communicate clearly defined grading procedures and standards
   10. Give examinations and other types of evaluations necessary to determine student level of performance and understanding.
   11. Consider the results of student perception surveys and student learning outcome assessments in revising and updating content, objectives, and instructional strategies.
   12. Keep students aware of their progress in the course.
   13. Perform record-keeping responsibilities related to teaching and advising.
   14. Respond in a timely fashion to all reasonable deadlines.
   15. Make reasonable classroom accommodations, course adjustments and academic program modifications as necessary to provide opportunity for qualified students with disabilities who present current accommodation plans to effectively participate in the educational process pursuant to Pellissippi State Policies 03:11:01 Academic Standards and 04:07:00 Disability Services.
2. Non-classroom Student Interactions
   1. Be knowledgeable of the college policies, procedures, and assistance available to students.
   2. Post and be available during office hours
   3. Hold conferences with students as needed.
   4. Interact with students in meaningful ways outside the classroom setting. Such interactions could be, but are not limited to, the following: sponsoring a student club or activity; holding extra review sessions for students; mentoring; academic advising; tutoring; serving as student orientation leaders
3. Faculty Service
   1. Serve on committees and task forces as appointed by the president or academic department dean.
   2. Use professional knowledge and skills to contribute to local and professional community activities whenever appropriate.
   3. Attend faculty meetings as scheduled.
   4. Contribute to the advancement of college goals through appropriate individual goals.
   5. Participate in program or discipline level assessment.
4. Professional Development (Teaching and Discipline)
   1. Participate in professional development related to pedagogy and to the facultymember’s discipline.
5. Other objectives to be agreed upon by faculty members and immediate supervisors in the development of personal, departmental, and divisional objectives
6. Minimum Faculty Qualifications
   1. All full-time and part-time faculty teaching credit-bearing courses at theassociate’s degree level in the areas of humanities, fine arts, natural sciences, social and behavioral sciences, mathematics, and business administration (not including courses that are part of career/technical programs) must have at the minimum a master’s degree in the their teaching field or have completed at least 18 graduate semester hours (or equivalent) in their teaching field and hold a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college/university.
   2. All full-time and part-time faculty teaching non-credit-bearing laboratory sections that are a portion of a credit-bearing course must have at the minimum abachelor’s degree in their teaching field or closely related field from a regionallyaccredited college/university.
   3. All full-time and part-time faculty teaching professional, career, and technical courses that are components of associate of applied science degree programs not usually resulting in college transfer must have at the minimum an associate’s degree in their teaching field or closely related field from a regionally accredited college/university and three years’ work experience in the field. If a career technical course has a direct transfer equivalency course at a SACS accredited institution, then a master’s degree is required.
   4. Faculty members may have other credentials qualify them in lieu of academic credentials. Such examples could be academic coursework in a closely related discipline, academic credentials from foreign institutions, significant work experience in the teaching discipline, honors and awards, professional licensure and certification related to the teaching discipline, peer-reviewed publications in the teaching discipline, and/or continuous documented excellence in teaching. Academic deans must submit documentation justifying alternative credentials for approval by the chief academic officer and the SACSCOC liaison.
   5. In the case of contract courses associated with apprenticeships, faculty credentials will be based on work experience and industry certification as appropriate to the field. A Memorandum of Understanding will be associated with these courses.
   6. Pellissippi State Community College recognizes that the ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill for all academic personnel to perform competently. To ensure that all faculty are proficient in oral and written English, the following requirements are to be used during the selection process to evaluate candidates:
      i. ability to speak and write English clearly;
      ii. ability to understand written and spoken English; and
      iii. ability to communicate effectively in an academic environment (for example, previous successful employment in an academic institution). No individual will be appointed to a teaching position or recommended for tenure in such a position on any campus or other instructional unit unless the chief academic officer certifies in writing to the president that such an individual can communicate effectivelywith students in the English language. The foregoing criteria are to be used strictly as a measure of the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively as an instructor and will not be used arbitrarily to disqualifyapplicants of certain nationalities.

Library Faculty

Librarian faculty work alongside the teaching faculty to implement research components within courses and programs. Librarian faculty are also responsible for teaching research and information literacy skills in individual and group settings, thereby empowering our students to become successful, lifelong learners and informed citizens of their community. Excellence in teaching stands foremost among the challenges and responsibilities of the College. Within this framework, librarian faculty have certain roles, as described below.

1. Library Services
   1. Provide an excellent collection of information resources consisting of books, periodicals, electronic, and other appropriate formats to meet the educational, research and enrichment needs of our students and faculty.
   2. Teach information literacy concepts in a variety of formats to students, faculty and staff at different levels of understanding.
   3. Provide reference services in a variety of formats to students, faculty, and staff.
   4. Develop instructional aids in a variety of formats.
   5. Act as a liaison with academic programs to identify appropriate library resources for procurement.
   6. Research and investigate technological innovations to expand access to resources for all college locations and remote users.
   7. If applicable to the position, acquire and catalog material, manage accesses and circulation of material, maintain the libraries’ website, coordinate student engagement, coordinate library marketing and communication, develop andmaintain the libraries’ integrated library system, online patron access system, and other electronic library services.
   1. Faculty Service
   2. Serve on committees and task forces as appointed by the president or Director of Library Services.
   3. Use professional knowledge and skills to contribute to local and professional community activities whenever appropriate.
   4. Attend faculty meetings as scheduled.
   5. Contribute to the advancement of college goals through appropriate individual goals.
2. Professional Development (Teaching and Discipline)
   1. Participate in professional development related to pedagogy and to the facultylibrarian’s liaison and library responsibilities.
3. Minimum Library Faculty Qualifications
   1. All library faculty must hold a master’s degree from an American Library Association accredited program or equivalent international accredited program that is named in the American Library’s Statement of Mutual Recognition.
      1. Pellissippi State Community College recognizes that the ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill for all academic personnel to perform competently. To ensure that all faculty are proficient in oral and written English, the following requirements are to be used during the selection process to evaluate candidates:
         i. ability to speak and write English clearly;
         ii. ability to understand written and spoken English; and
         iii. ability to communicate effectively in an academic environment (for example, previous successful employment in an academic institution).No individual will be appointed to a library faculty position or recommended for tenure in such a position on any campus or other instructional unit unless the chief academic officer certifies in writing to the president that such an individual can communicate effectively with students in the English language.

   The foregoing criteria are to be used strictly as a measure of the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively as an instructor and will not be used arbitrarily to disqualify applicants of certain nationalities.

   Nature of Appointments Teaching Faculty

   1. Faculty at Pellissippi State Community College will be employed pursuant to the types of appointments specified in Tennessee Board of Regents Policy 5:02:07:00 Faculty Appointments at Community Colleges and Pellissippi State Policy 6:02:02 Faculty Appointments.
   2. Teaching faculty on an academic year appointment will be on duty for not less than nine months, which will commence from the time designated by the president prior to the registration for the fall term of each year through the time designated by the president at the end of the spring term, and will be subject to call for duty during that period regardless of whether classes are in session.
   3. Teaching faculty will be required to devote a minimum of 37.5 hours per week to the College as provided below:
      1. Faculty will be required to carry a full teaching load which will be 15 equated load hours per semester. Academic department deans will receive released time to compensate for their administrative duties performed as determined by the chief academic officer and the president. Program coordinators will receive released time from teaching to compensate for administrative duties performed as determined by the chief academic officer and the president. Adjustments may be made to teaching loads to compensate for low production of student credit hours.
      2. Every effort should be made to ensure that each faculty member teaches 30 load hours per academic year. When this is not possible, an underload or an overload will be carried forward to future academic years until the accumulated hours allow the faculty member to teach an additional course or to have one course reduced in a particular semester. The maximum overload or underload to be carried forward will be three load hours except in cases where only four and five hour courses are available. Each department will forward a report of overloads or underloads to the office of the chief academic officer in May of each academic year.
      3. Full-time faculty will schedule a minimum of five office hours per week. There will be at least one office hour each day, five days a week, and office hours are not to be scheduled for the same hour each day. The combination of class and office hours should not exceed nine hours for any given day.
      4. In addition to the hours in (1) and (3), the full-time faculty member will be required to schedule campus hours sufficient to complete 30 hours. The additional7.5 hours required by the College may be used at the faculty member’s discretion.
      5. By the fourteenth day of each semester, the full-time faculty member will submit a schedule to the academic department dean. In addition, the faculty member will be required to post a preliminary schedule by the first day of class for the term on the office door. The schedule should include classes taught with times and room numbers.
      6. Faculty members will post a notice on their office door if away from the office during scheduled office hours. The department assistant will be notified if the faculty member is required to be away from campus during scheduled campus hours.
      7. Full-time faculty teaching during a summer term must schedule office hours for at least 30 minutes per teaching day.
      8. Teaching schedules are assigned based on department need and as determined by the department dean.
      9. Exceptions to the foregoing procedures on developing a schedule will require prior approval of the chief academic officer.

   Library Faculty

   1. Library faculty on an academic year appointment will be on duty for 12 months, regardless of whether classes are in session. Exceptions can be made to appointments so that duty time coincides with the duration particular campuses are open throughout the academic year.

   Off-Campus Faculty

   Faculty members whose teaching responsibilities are primarily off campus (web based teaching) are expected to follow the same general requirements established for on-campus faculty with the academic department dean, the program coordinator, and the faculty member determining campus hours, advising, committee assignments, and community involvement. The chief academic officer approves the academic plan for the off-campus faculty member before the beginning of each semester.

   1. Off-campus faculty will schedule a minimum of five office hours per week. There will be at least one office hour each day, five days a week, and office hours are not to be scheduled for the same hour each day.
   2. Every attempt should be made to provide off-campus faculty with online advisees.
   3. Every attempt should be made to include off-campus faculty in committee work pertinent to faculty issues.

   Compensation for Administrative Responsibilities

   Faculty members may be asked to assume temporary administrative responsibilities that will require the awarding of an administrative stipend in addition to the previously established salary. The stipend amount or any other understanding concerning compensation must be set out in a newly executed contract. The contract should (1) include a statement that the stipend is awarded as compensation until the additional administrative responsibilities end, or (2) otherwise address how compensation would be affected at the end of the administrative appointment.

   Source: Tennessee Board of Regents, Policy No. 5:02:01:00
   Tennessee Board of Regents, Policy No. 5:02:02:00 Tennessee Board of Regents, Policy No. 5:02:02:10

   Approved: Executive Council, March 4, 1991
   Executive Council, July 9, 1991
   Executive Council, January 22, 1992
   Executive Council, September 28, 1992
   Editorial Changes, April 21, 1993, July 8, 1994
   President’s Council, November 14, 1994
   Editorial Changes, May 22, 1995
   Reviewed/Recommended: President’s Council, November 20, 1995
   Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, November 20, 1995
   Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, December 1, 1997
   Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, August 4, 1999
   Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, August 5, 2002
   Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, November 11, 2002
   Reviewed/Recommended: President’s Staff, October 30, 2006
   Approved: President Allen G. Edwards, October 30, 2006
   Editorial Changes, July 2008, April 30, 2009, July 1, 2009, February 8, 2011
   Recommended by President’s Council, March 31, 2014
   Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr. March 31, 2014
   Recommended by President’s Council, September 28, 2015
   Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr., September 28, 2015
   Editorial Changes, November 2018
   Reviewed/Recommended: President’s Council, May 6, 2019
   Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr., June 24, 2019
   Reviewed/Recommended: College Council, May 12, 2025
   Approved: President L. Anthony Wise, Jr., May 12, 2025