Scope

This policy applies to individuals serving as the instructor of record for coursework offered at Hampden-Sydney College, including full- and part-time faculty, regardless of tenure-eligibility status, and staff members.

Purpose

This policy helps to ensure that the College is in compliance with the faculty credential requirements of its institutional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. SACSCOC requirements ensure the College documents and justifies all teaching assignments. The requirements also help the College uphold its standards for excellence in teaching through the qualifications of its faculty.

Definitions

From the perspective of credentialing, faculty, regardless of tenure-eligibility status, are any individuals who are the instructor of record for a course at the College. As defined in the Faculty Handbook, these faculty include:

  • regular, full-time faculty appointments: Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor; and
  • non-tenure track faculty appointments: Senior Lecturer, Visiting Instructor, Visiting Assistant Professor, Visiting Associate Professor, Visiting Professor, and Lecturer.

This policy also applies to staff members who serve as instructors of record.

Credentials include official documents that identify the degrees earned (e.g., transcripts), international credential evaluations, appropriate translations of non-English language credentialing documents, and official licensure and certification documents. Academic credentials are degrees earned and courses completed. Alternative credentials account for work experience, publications, awards and honors, and other methods for demonstrating experience and knowledge gained in a field that indicates the alignment between academic and professional experiences and a course assignment.

Policy Statement

In alignment with SACSCOC expectations, faculty and staff at the College must be qualified to teach the courses in which they are assigned as the instructor of record. For faculty, credentials are evaluated during the interview process and when existing faculty members teach courses in new content areas. For staff, credentials are evaluated when a course is assigned or a new course is proposed.  

The College and SACSCOC recognize that both academic credentials and alternative credentials are methods for demonstrating a faculty member’s qualifications to teach a course.

Academic Credential Requirements

Academic credentials must be earned at an institution that is accredited by an accrediting organization recognized by the United States Department of Education. If credentials were earned at an international institution, the institution must have obtained the appropriate accreditation or review by that country’s Department of Education equivalency.

The College follows the SACSCOC faculty credential guidelines to justify faculty members’ academic credentials:

  • Faculty teaching general education/baccalaureate courses at the undergraduate level: doctorate 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).

Alternative Credential Requirements

The College acknowledges that academic credentials are not always the only justification for a faculty member’s course assignment. Alternative credentials include but are not limited to:

  • work-related experiences in the applicable/aligned field,
  • professional licensure and certifications related to the teaching assignment,
  • honors and awards,
  • continuing professional development (i.e., continuing education credits earned in fields such as accounting and law), and
  • publication of relevant peer-reviewed publications.

Alternative credentials do not include prior teaching experience, internal course evaluations, or undergraduate coursework. In some cases, alternative credentials can be used to justify teaching assignments when a faculty candidate or current faculty member’s academic credentials do not align clearly with anticipated teaching assignments. In such cases, Department and Program Chairs (Chairs) must provide evidence to justify employment and/or teaching assignments. Some programs may publish additional guidelines that define the expected faculty credentials for teaching assignments that are more prescriptive than the guidelines outlined in this policy. In these cases, program-level guidelines shall be followed.

Department and Program Chairs

Chairs are responsible for evaluating faculty credentials before the candidate interviews with the Dean of the Faculty. The Chair shall provide the Office of Institutional Effectiveness with a candidate’s transcript(s) (if available), curriculum vitae, and a Statement of Faculty Qualifications. This allows for a credential review before an offer is extended. When existing faculty members are assigned courses outside the department, the Chair of the receiving department shall submit a Statement of Faculty Qualifications. In circumstances in which a Chair relies on alternative credentials to justify course assignments, the Chair may be asked to demonstrate the relationship between faculty credentials and student learning outcomes and/or course learning outcomes.

The Associate Dean of the Faculty is responsible for submitting a Statement of Faculty Qualifications for new instructors of record for interdisciplinary studies courses. 

Dean of the Faculty Office

The Dean of the Faculty consults with Chairs and OIE during the hiring process and advises on alignment between faculty credentials and teaching assignments. All faculty members must submit their transcript(s) to the Dean of the Faculty Office. Faculty shall also provide annually updated CVs to the Dean of the Faculty Office to record new faculty achievements. As applicable, faculty will provide third-party transcript evaluations for international credentials, and third-party translations of non-English credentials. The Dean of the Faculty’s Office and OIE are responsible for archiving all credential documents for the College.

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

The Dean of the Faculty will consult with OIE during the hiring process and thereafter regarding alignment and archiving of credentialing justifications for the College.

Policy History

  1. Implemented: July 1, 2025
  2. Next review scheduled: September 1, 2028