Section 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 in the area or related area of study or occupational area in which the instructor is teaching classes. If the instructor is a licensed practitioner who holds a career and technical endorsement under chapter 272, relevant work experience in the occupational area includes but is not limited to classroom instruction in a career and technical education subject area offered by a school district or accredited nonpublic school.

  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 full-time teaching load for an instructor in arts and sciences courses shall be fifteen credit hours per semester, or the equivalent, and the maximum academic workload shall be sixteen credit hours per semester, or the equivalent. An instructor may also have an additional teaching assignment if the instructor and the community college administration mutually consent to the additional assignment and the total teaching load does not exceed twenty-two hours of credit per semester, or the equivalent.

  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.  Standards relating to quality assurance of faculty and ongoing quality professional development shall be the accreditation standards of the higher learning commission and the faculty standards required under specific programs offered by the community college that are accredited by other accrediting agencies.

90 Acts, ch 1253, §50

; 90 Acts, ch 1254, §3

93 Acts, ch 82, §7, 8

; 2002 Acts, ch 1047, §8, 9, 20

; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §23

; 2008 Acts, ch 1181, §29, 30

; 2011 Acts, ch 20, §9

; 2014 Acts, ch 1013, §15

; 2015 Acts, ch 29, §39

; 2015 Acts, ch 48, §1

Subsection 1, paragraph a, subparagraph (2) amended

Subsection 4 amended