260C.48 - STANDARDS FOR ACCREDITING COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROGRAMS.
260C.48 STANDARDS FOR ACCREDITING COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PROGRAMS.
1. The state board shall develop standards and rules for the
accreditation of community college programs. Except as provided in
this subsection and subsection 4, standards developed shall be
general in nature so as to apply to more than one specific program of
instruction. With regard to community college-employed instructors,
the standards adopted shall at a minimum require that community
college instructors who are under contract for at least half-time or
more, and by July 1, 2011, all instructors, meet the following
requirements:
a. Instructors in the subject area of career and technical
education shall be registered, certified, or licensed in the
occupational area in which the state requires registration,
certification, or licensure, and shall hold the appropriate
registration, certificate, or license for the occupational area in
which the instructor is teaching, and shall meet either of the
following qualifications:
(1) A baccalaureate or graduate degree in the area or a related
area of study or occupational area in which the instructor is
teaching classes.
(2) Special training and at least six thousand hours of recent
and relevant work experience in the occupational area or related
occupational area in which the instructor teaches classes if the
instructor possesses less than a baccalaureate degree.
b. Instructors in the subject area of arts and sciences shall
meet either of the following qualifications:
(1) Possess a master's degree from a regionally accredited
graduate school, and has successfully completed a minimum of twelve
credit hours of graduate level courses in each field of instruction
in which the instructor is teaching classes.
(2) Have two or more years of successful experience in a
professional field or area in which the instructor is teaching
classes and in which postbaccalaureate recognition or professional
licensure is necessary for practice, including but not limited to the
fields or areas of accounting, engineering, law, law enforcement, and
medicine.
2. Standards developed shall include a provision that the
standard academic workload for an instructor in arts and science
courses shall be fifteen credit hours per school term, and the
maximum academic workload for any instructor shall be sixteen credit
hours per school term, for classes taught during the normal school
day. In addition thereto, any faculty member may teach a course or
courses at times other than the regular school week, involving total
class instruction time equivalent to not more than a
three-credit-hour course. The total workload for such instructors
shall not exceed the equivalent of eighteen credit hours per school
term.
3. Standards developed shall include provisions requiring equal
access in recruitment, enrollment, and placement activities for
students with special education needs. The provisions shall include
a requirement that students with special education needs shall
receive instruction in the least restrictive environment with access
to the full range of program offerings at a college, through, but not
limited to, adaptation of curriculum, instruction, equipment,
facilities, career guidance, and counseling services.
4. Commencing July 1, 2006, standards relating to quality
assurance of faculty and ongoing quality professional development
shall be the accreditation standards of the north central association
of colleges and schools and the faculty standards required under
specific programs offered by the community college that are
accredited by other accrediting agencies. Section History: Recent Form
90 Acts, ch 1253, §50; 90 Acts, ch 1254, § 3
C91, § 280A.48
C93, § 260C.48
93 Acts, ch 82, § 7, 8; 2002 Acts, ch 1047, §8, 9, 20; 2007 Acts,
ch 214, §23; 2008 Acts, ch 1181, § 29, 30
Referred to in § 260C.47