Faculty Credentialing Manual

Accreditation Principles

Elizabethtown Community & Technical College is committed to providing excellence in teaching and learning that we deliver during the college experience and enhance through diversity, inclusiveness, integrity, and collegiality. The core of this teaching rests on the faculty of ECTC, which leads the college’s academic pursuits. As a member of the Kentucky Community & Technical College System, ECTC follows KCTCS policy and practice regarding faculty credentialing. It is especially important that ECTC hire faculty who meet teaching credentials recommended in the principles established by our accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

KCTCS Administrative Policies and Procedures offer the following faculty credentialing guidance:

ECTC Process for Credentialing Faculty

1. With an application for employment, potential faculty must submit an official academic transcript for the highest degree earned in the teaching discipline, ad/or results of evaluation of foreign credentials, and/or a portfolio for credentialing by exception.
   • An official transcript is only official if it is forwarded directly from the regionally accredited college/university that awarded the credits or degrees to the ECTC Provost/CAO in a sealed envelope or its electronic equivalent. For some institutions, if a student requests a transcript, it is automatically stamped “issued to  student.” Therefore, official transcripts that are marked “issued to student” may be accepted provided that the transcript is mailed directly to the ECTC Provost/CAO and the ECTC recipient certifies on the transcript that he/she opened it.
   • Foreign credentials must be evaluated by a foreign credentials evaluating service for terms of U.S. equivalency and the results of those evaluations must be sent to the ECTC Provost/CAO. See Foreign Credentials, below.
   • Under special circumstances, Division Chairs may request that an applicant submit a portfolio for credentialing by exception. In this case, the applicant should document experiences that will directly impact student learning outcomes and that could be considered instead of academic transcripts showing college credit or degrees. See Credentialing by Exception (Applicant Portfolio), below.
2. The appropriate Division Chair completes the Elizabethtown Community & Technical College Instructor Approval Form, which notes the applicant’s credentials and/or experience appropriate to the teaching position, through review of the transcript and/or
   teaching portfolio. The Instructor Approval Form is then signed by the Division Chair.
3. The applicant’s file and Instructor Approval Form are then reviewed by the Provost/CAO.
   • If the individual does not meet the credentialing criteria as determined by the Division Chair and the Provost/CAO, then the applicant is notified of their lack of sufficient credentials and the review ends with the Provost/CAO.
   • If the Division Chair approves of the applicant’s credentials, but the Provost/CAO does not, more information may be asked from the applicant before a final decision is made.

The ECTC Instructor Approval Form

The Instructor Approval Form will include the following information for faculty teaching transfer courses:

• Verification of a master’s degree awarded in the applicant’s assigned discipline OR verification of a master’s degree awarded, plus an additional 18 graduate credit hours earned in the applicant’s assigned discipline.
• Verification of 18 graduate credit hours earned in any additional discipline that the applicant is qualified to teach.
• Verification that any necessary supporting documentation has been evaluated and is attached to the forms. Examples of supporting documentation include the following:
  • Letters from officials of foreign institutions of higher education verifying the academic credentials of the candidate.
  • Official documentation from former employer(s) or former academic contacts (e.g. deans, chairpersons) in support of exceptional qualifications or experience.

Note: Effective summer 2018, ECTC will not accept graduate courses with a grade of “D” or lower to be counted toward the required number of graduate credit hours. Waivers of this requirement may only be granted by the ECTC Provost/CAO.

The Instructor Approval Form will include the following information for faculty teaching nontransfer, including developmental courses:

• For faculty teaching certificate, diploma, or Associate of Applied Science degree courses, verification of an Associate of Applied Science or higher or equivalent in the faculty member’s assigned discipline, unless the applicant is credentialed through exception.
• For faculty teaching developmental education classes, verification of a master’s degree or bachelor’s degree in the applicant’s teaching discipline or a related discipline.
• Verification that any necessary supporting documentation has been evaluated and is attached to the forms. Examples of supporting documentation include the following:
  • Letters from official foreign institutions of higher education verifying the academic credentials of the candidate.
  • Official documentation from former employer(s) or former academic contacts (e.g. deans, chairpersons) in support of exceptional qualifications or experience.
  • Letters of support from former employer(s) on business stationary verifying that the applicant has credit-relevant, directly related non-teaching experience in technical or vocational fields, in business, or in the armed services. Relevant, directly related non-teaching experience includes work experience as a journeyman, technician engineer, or trained employee level in the occupational field for which the applicant is hired.
  • Certificate or licenses.

Credentialing by Exception (Applicant Portfolio)

In special cases, applicants may have experience that clearly contributes to student learning outcomes and that may be considered instead of a formal academic degree. In these cases, the Division Chair may request that an applicant present a portfolio that documents the experience. The applicant’s portfolio may include some or all of the following documentation:

• If the applicant’s experience includes coursework that is related or equivalent to coursework in the applicant’s teaching discipline, the applicant must document that coursework by supplying an official transcript. The Division Chair will review the related/equivalent coursework and evaluate whether or not it is equivalent to coursework in the teaching discipline.
  • The applicant may need to supply course descriptions and/or syllabi of related/relevant coursework to demonstrate its equivalency.
• If the applicant’s experience concerns professional experience, documentation of that experience includes items such as licensures, certificates, awards, appearance on programs, and other evidence that an applicant has been recognized as a professional in
  his or her field.
• Professional letters of support on business letterhead.
• Other documentation may be provided by the applicant and additional documentation may be requested by the Division Chair, Provost/CAO, or President/CEO.

The portfolio will be reviewed the council of all ECTC Division Chairs. A majority vote of approval from the Chairs is required to make a recommendation of the applicant to the Provost/CAO. The Chairs may make the following recommendations:

• Upon recommendations for approval, the portfolio will be submitted to the Provost/CAO to be maintained as part of the faculty member’s file.
• If the individual does not meet the portfolio criteria as determined by the Division Chair and the Provost/CAO, then the applicant is notified of their lack of sufficient experience and the review ends with the Provost/CAO.
• If the Division Chairs approve of the applicant’s experience portfolio, but the Provost/CAO does not, more information may be asked from the applicant before a final decision is made.

Foreign Credential Evaluation Services and Helpful Websites

Elizabethtown Community & Technical College accepts foreign transcript evaluations only from the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.

Members:

The website cso.collegesource.com provides accreditation information on colleges. The website www.sacscoc.org has links to the other accrediting agencies, and it provides a .pdf document of the SACS-COC member institutions.