Section 3.7 Faculty

3.7.1 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. 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. (See Commission guidelines “Faculty Credentials.”) (Faculty competence)

Faculty Credential Guidelines:

a. Faculty teaching general education courses at the undergraduate level: doctor's or master's degree in the teaching discipline or master's degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).

b. Faculty teaching associate degree courses designed for transfer to a baccalaureate degree: doctor's or master's degree in the teaching discipline or master's degree with a concentration in the teaching discipline (a minimum of 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline).

c. Faculty teaching associate degree courses not designed for transfer to the baccalaureate degree: bachelor's degree in the teaching discipline, or associate's degree and demonstrated competencies in the teaching discipline.

[   Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Educational Enhancement - 2008, Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, pp. 28-29   ]

Counselors and librarians who hold faculty positions at San Antonio College must have master's degrees in an areas related to their positions.

In order to become certified to teach an Internet course in SAC Online, the prospective instructor needs to satisfy a specific group of procedures which have been established by the SAC Online Advisory Committee. This includes the completion of specific courses required for those instructors seeking certification   [ see Internet Based Instruction Certification Program ] .   For additional information, consult Online / Blended Course Development.

The selection of faculty members is one of the most important tasks performed at the College. The faculty are the core of the institution because the very essence of San Antonio College is teaching and learning. The quality of the faculty is used frequently to gauge an institution.

To insure equity and fairness in its employment practices, the District has established a very structured hiring procedure. Faculty constitute the majority of persons serving on the screening committees which recommend to the chairperson the finalists for the faculty position. After consultation with the Dean and Vice President, the chair then recommends one candidate to the President for approval.

For additional information on the ACCD hiring process, see Procedures For Hiring All Employees - DC LOCAL   [ ACCD Procedures ].

At the time that a person is recommended for faculty selection, the Vice President also recommends a placement on the salary schedule. There are three determining factors. These are: the degree, credit hours earned beyond the qualifying degree, and teaching experience or work experience. Faculty are thus placed in a class (degree level), and a step (credit for years of experience). Faculty may be hired as an Instructor or Assistant Professor. Up to five years of credit may be granted for previous teaching experience or appropriate work experience, as determined by administrative procedures. Maximum entry would be at level F. Instructors advance up the salary schedule through experience and promotion. Only the Board of Trustees has the authority to change the schedule. ( Please refer to ACCD Policy DE (Local): Compensation and Benefits  [ ACCD Policy Online ] and to the Tenure Track Faculty Salary Schedule. )

Instructors may request a review of the original placement on the salary schedule, but the request must be made within one year of the issuing of the first contract. Any agreement to start a teacher at higher than an instructor's rank or to give credit for time toward tenure must be reached at the time that a person is recommended for employment. These exceptions are treated on an individual basis.

During the spring semester, usually in March, the names of faculty who are to be reelected are submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval. Contracts for the following year are not issued until the beginning of the fall semester. While the Board may reelect faculty in March, budgets are normally not finalized and approved until June or later. The speed with which the state legislature adopts state budgets for the biennium directly affects the budget process for the District. Approximately one-third of the monies to operate the District come from the State. The contracts issued in the fall reflect any salary raises approved by the Board and/or step increases.

Faculty contracts are for a nine-month period that start with Convocation and meetings held the week prior to the start of fall classes. The contract period ends with commencement in May. Chairpersons are generally issued a ten and one-half month contract. (Please refer to the Academic Calendar in the College Catalog for holidays and Christmas and Spring breaks.)

All faculty are issued ID cards which entitles them the use of facilities and/or services provided by the College and the District. Identification card request forms can be obtained and authenticated from your chairperson or director. The picture ID card is issued by the I D Center (Fletcher Administration Center - Room 200A) upon receipt of the signed request form. For more information, please click   Faculty and Staff ID Cards.

The District realizes that "In adopting rules concerning faculty academic workloads, the Board shall recognize that classroom teaching, basic and applied research, and professional development are important elements of faculty academic workloads by giving appropriate weight to each activity when determining the standards for faculty academic workload. The College may give the same or different weight to each activity and to other activities recognized by the institution as important elements of faculty academic workloads.…" See Work Load - Weighting Activities DJ (Legal)   [ ACCD Policy Online ]

San Antonio College includes in the 1995 Faculty Handbook the following: Faculty Workload Procedures and Guidelines.

For information on multiple overloads, please consult Guidelines for Faculty Multiple Overload Teaching Procedure DJ-SAC LOCAL  [ ACCD Procedures ]

Because faculty are invested with so much freedom and responsibility to change lives, they must maintain high professional ethical standards as expressed in this Faculty Code of Professional Ethics DH (Exhibit)  [ ACCD Policy Online ] composed by the Texas Community College Teachers Association in 1997.

Tenure is a contractual right that only full-time tenure-tracked faculty members may earn. While tenure tracked faculty are expected to progress toward obtaining tenure, tenure is not granted simply for sustained employment. Excellent teaching and service to the College and the community are the elements of criteria for earning tenure. Each department has approved activities with levels of quality which faculty members must achieve before one may be considered for tenure. You should be given a copy of your department's criteria for Tenure at the beginning of your tenure-tracked employment.

"Tenure is defined as the confirmation by the Board of Trustees, acting on the recommendation of the Chancellor, to elect a probationary faculty member to a faculty appointment for an indefinite period of time." Under this type of appointment a faculty member "may be removed only for adequate cause, for the discontinuance of a course of study, or financial exigency."

For further information, see the ACCD Procedures DGC (Local): Tenure Procedures  [ ACCD Procedures ].

Promotion in professional rank, like tenure, is earned. It is assumed that as a person progresses toward promotion that progress is also being made toward tenure. The process of earning promotion and tenure is one of professional growth, an evolutionary and developmental process. San Antonio College is committed to helping its faculty achieve promotion by creating an environment that fosters academic growth and development. The faculty should also encourage its peers to establish a positive academic community. Each department has identified specific types and quality of activities which may be completed toward promotion.

See ACCD Policy DLC (Local) Status of Employment: Promotion and Demotion - Promotion in Faculty Rank   [ ACCD Policy Online ] for the eligibility criteria for promotion.

The promotion process is set forth in Faculty Promotion Procedures DLC (Local)   [ ACCD Procedures ].

• To be eligible for promotion to Assistant Professor, a faculty member must have completed a minimum of three years' full-time employment as an Instructor with the Alamo Community College District, and the faculty member must meet the criteria for placement on the Salary Schedule at Class III. (A faculty member appointed prior to January, 1977 may apply for promotion to Assistant Professor if the criteria for Class I are met.)
• To be eligible for promotion to Associate Professor, a faculty member must have completed a minimum of four years' full-time employment as an Assistant Professor with the Alamo Community College District, and the faculty member must meet the criteria for placement on the Salary Schedule at Class IV.
• To be eligible for promotion to full professor, a faculty member must have completed a minimum of five years' full-time employment as an Associate Professor with the Alamo Community College District, and the faculty member must meet the criteria for placement on the Salary Schedule at Class and the faculty member must meet the criteria for placement on the Salary Schedule at Class V.

In addition, ACCD policy provides avenues for faculty to develop professionally by offering an employee tuition assistance program and employee incentive programs. See ACCD District Policy DK (LOCAL): Professional Development  [ ACCD Policy Online ] for additional information.

Accountability of a faculty member's job performance must exist to insure quality and progress towards excellence. Therefore, faculty members are periodically evaluated. Faculty members participate in five forms of evaluation: student surveys, classroom observation, annual report/self-evaluation, peer evaluations, and the chairpersons/directors annual performance evaluation. The ACCD approved evaluation forms are found in the Forms section.

Evaluation should be approached with a spirit of cooperation, trust, and growth. Evaluations are conducted according to the recommended District procedures which have established time-lines. For additional information, see "Performance Evaluation Guidelines"   [ ACCD Procedures ].

Chairpersons are evaluated using the same procedures as full-time faculty as noted in "Guidelines Relative to the Position of Faculty Chairperson"   [ ACCD Procedures ].

Students enrolled in SAC Online courses evaluate their instructors by using the online e-Survey.   < http://www.accd.edu/sac/iic/esurvey/default.htm >.
It is usually made available to the students during the last few weeks of the semester. Great care is taken to assure that the data collected in the surveys remains confidential. Completed surveys will be given only to the department chairperson. Once they are reviewed, the department chair will make the surveys available to the faculty member (after final grades have been submitted). Student surveys of faculty and courses will be used primarily to improve instruction.

Based on the tenure and promotions policies of the Alamo Community College District, the following schedule determines how frequently an individual instructor will be surveyed by his or her students:

• Adjunct-Every course
• Tenure-Track Instructors - Every course during years 1 and 2 and 50% of selected courses during years 3 through 6
• Tenured Instructors - 50% of selected courses

Policies and procedures for the non-renewal and/or dismissal of either probationary or tenured faculty are available in the ACCD procedural document entitled Termination of Employment: Faculty ( DMB LOCAL )   [ ACCD Procedures ] as well as in the ACCD policy documents linked below: