LSUA requires all faculty to meet the credentialing guidelines outlined
above. In order to assure that faculty are qualified for the positions
for which they are hired, the following steps are taken: 1) Faculty
transcripts are reviewed to assure the appropriate degree(s) have been
awarded and that these degrees include the minimum number of credits in
the teaching field(s) and at the appropriate level for the programs in
which they will teach. 2) The results of this transcript review are
summarized in a Faculty Credentials Documentation Review Form [1] 
that becomes part of the permanent personnel file. 3) Written and oral
communication skills in the language of instruction are verified
according to Policy Statement 232 [2] [3] .
Oral communications skills are verified through the interview process.
Writing skills are verified via a writing sample that must be submitted
and reviewed prior to employment. 4) The candidate’s resumé is reviewed
for relevant experience, and professional references are checked prior
to employment. A contract letter is not issued until the department
chair completes the LSUA Faculty/Professional Staff Hiring Checklist [4] verifying that the above steps have been taken.
LSUA has completed SACS Faculty Rosters for Spring 2005 [5] and Fall 2005 [6] .
In addition, Faculty Credentials Documentation Forms for all faculty
are on file in the Office of Academic Affairs and the Human Resource
Management office.
Both full- and part-time faculty who teach general education
courses, associate degree courses designed for transfer, or
baccalaureate degree courses, are all required to hold the minimum of a
master’s degree from a regionally-accredited institution with either a
major or 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline. These
requirements are detailed in Policy Statements 202 (Selection,
Retention, Promotion, Tenure, and Annual Review and Termination of
Full-time Faculty) [7] and 233 (Part-time Faculty) [8] .
The only exception to this general statement is for selected faculty
who teach kinesiology activity (PE) courses. Some faculty who teach
activity courses may not possess the above-noted academic credentials,
but do possess evidence of professional expertise in the form of
licenses or certificates of achievement recognized in their particular
sport.
While most of the LSUA faculty teaching in associate degree programs
not designed for transfer hold the master’s degree, a few faculty in
some programs hold the bachelor degree as their highest degree. In
these cases, the individual does hold a bachelor degree in the
discipline. These individuals are typically employed in the health
sciences programs (Nursing and Radiologic Technology) and evidence of
appropriate current professional licensure is also required.
There are a few cases where it may appear that a faculty member is
teaching out-of-field due to the university practice of cross-listing
selected courses. For example, general statistics is taught under three
separate course listings (MATH 2011, STAT 2011, PSYC 2011) and is
usually taught by a faculty member of the Math and Physical
Sciences Department with credentials in statistics. This cross-listing
was approved by the faculty through the normal curriculum development
process on campus and was approved as a service to students who need
the course content provided by the courses, but can more easily
transfer the credit if it is listed within their particular rubric.
There are a very few similar examples; i.e., HESC 1003/NURS 1001
(Introduction to the Health Care System), HIST 1007/NURS 1007 (History
and Ethics of Nursing), ECED 2076/PSYC 2076 (Child Psychology), and CJ
2132/PRLG 2132 (Judicial Process).
LSUA offers four bachelor degree programs - Biology, Elementary
Education, General Studies (with areas of concentration in Biology,
Business, English, History, Psychology, and Speech/Theatre) and Liberal
Studies (with majors in Business, Communication Studies, English,
History, Mathematics, Psychology and Theatre). LSUA has struggled
with how best to determine or demonstrate that at least 25% of the
discipline courses in each major are taught by a faculty member with a
terminal degree. All of LSUA's bachelor degree programs are
new; therefore, not all of the courses for the major have been
offered even once yet. Further, because LSUA is in such a massive
period of transition, new courses and new faculty are being added each
semester.
In 2004, as part of it's compliance documentation for reaffirmation,
LSUA used two different methods to calculate the percentage of
discipline courses taught by terminally-prepared faculty. In the
first approach, LSUA prepared tables of courses taught in each
discipline, major or area of concentration during the Fall 2003 [9] and Spring 2004 [10]
semesters. In constructing these tables, a "worst case scenario"
was used in calculating the percentages. That is, for any course
with multiple sections, if even one section was taught by a faculty
member without a terminal degree, the credit hours for that course were
counted in the "non-terminal" category. Under this worst case
scenario, the only situation where less than 25% of the courses taught
that semester were taught by terminally-prepared faculty was in
Elementary Education for Fall 2003 (23.3%). This only occurred
because of an unusual circumstance that semester.
In the second approach to calculation, LSUA prepared tables of all
courses required in each discipline, major, or concentration (including
courses that had not yet been offered) and the planned instructor for
each course. [11]
Percentages were then calculated for all discipline courses required,
assuming the planned faculty teaching assignments were made.
Again, a "worst case" calculation was employed. Using this
method, the percentage of courses taught by terminally-prepared faculty
exceeded 25% for each program, major, and area of concentration.
In preparation for it's on-site reaffirmation visit in Fall 2004,
LSUA updated the tables used in the second approach to include new
courses and new faculty [12] .
Again, instructors planned for each course in future years were
projected and a "worst case" calculation was employed. The
percentage of courses taught by terminally-prepared faculty remained in
excess of 25% for each program, major, and area of concentration in
this updated version.
For it's Fall 2005 substantive change visit, LSUA has presented a
"snapshot" of the courses being offered in each bachelor degree
discipline and the instructors currently teaching them. [13] [14] .
Instead of using a "worst case" calculation, LSUA simply calculated the
total credit hours offered in the discipline this semester and the
total credit hours in the discipline taught by terminally-prepared
faculty this semester. Again, the percentage exceeded 25% for
each major and area of concentration.
Even though the percentages calculated by the various methods
support LSUA's contention that it meets this guideline, LSUA
acknowledges that in the areas of business and education the percentage
of courses taught by terminally-qualified faculty is not as high as
would be desirable. Percentages should improve in the near future
however. Two education faculty have completed all course work toward
Ph.Ds and are currently working on their dissertations. A
doctorally-prepared faculty member in accounting was hired in the
Department of Business Administration for Fall 2005. LSUA also
recently raised private funding for its share of the match for a Board
of Regents endowed chair award [15]
This million dollar endowment will allow LSUA to hire a scholar in the
field of marketing and/or management, who will be terminally-qualified.
[16] Further, for any future
faculty positions in either the Department of Business Administration
or the Department of Education, LSUA will only consider
terminally-qualified faculty. LSUA anticipates hiring at least
one additional faculty member in education as the department moves to
include offerings in secondary education.
LSUA does not offer any graduate programs or post-baccalaureate
course work, nor does it employ any graduate teaching assistants.