2.8 Faculty

The number of full-time faculty members is adequate to support the mission of the institution and to ensure the quality and integrity of its academic programs.

Upon application for candidacy, an applicant institution demonstrates that it meets the comprehensive standard for faculty qualifications. 

  Compliance      ___Partial Compliance          ___ Non-Compliance

Narrative:   

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) in Academic Policy 1.044 (1) Rank and Promotion Eligibility Framework for Permanent Full-time LCTCS Faculty Members defines faculty as:

…members of the instructional staff, of each college, holding the rank of Instructor (or higher) engaged in instruction, library services, artistic, and/or investigative positions. The head of each college, and its academic officer, shall be considered members of the faculty (LCTCS Academic Policy 1.044, Definition of Terms, Faculty, p. 5).

The same policy defines full-time faculty as:

…faculty placed under contract (or under a letter of appointment) with a designation within the four specified ranks described by this framework absent a reference to Temporary or Adjunct status. This designation is also referred to by the term “permanent” full-time faculty…Full-time faculty may be reflected within nine-month or twelve-month contracts/ letters of appointment (LCTCS Academic Policy 1.044, Definition of Terms, Full-time Faculty p. 5).

The policy continues by defining adjunct faculty as:

…faculty members holding contracts (or letters of appointment) to teach less than a normal, full-time course load or to teach less than a full session on a semester-by-semester or summer term basis. Adjunct faculty members’ contracts contain no guarantee of continued employment (LCTCS Academic Policy 1.044, Definition of Terms, Adjunct Faculty, p. 5).

Additionally, South Louisiana Community College’s (SLCC) definition of a faculty may be found in the Faculty Senate Constitution (Sections 1.1.1.1, 1.1.1.2, and 1.1.1.3) (2) :

Faculty shall consist of:

Employees of the college holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor in full-time teaching positions.  Full-time faculty who hold department chair or similar positions within their divisions fall in this category (SLCC Faculty Senate Constitution, Section 1.1.1.1).

Adjunct faculty who teach at least one course for two consecutive semesters but are not hired as full-time faculty (This includes full-time College employees whose load is less than 50% teaching.) (SLCC Faculty Senate Constitution, Section 1.1.1.3)

In general, full-time faculty are hired on a year-by-year basis and teach 15 credit hours per semester during the fall and spring semesters.  Adjunct faculty are hired on a case-by-case basis each semester as needed and do not generally teach more than 9 credit hours per semester. 

SLCC is dedicated to providing adequate full-time faculty to assure effective teaching, advising, college service and continuous professional development.  These duties are stressed at the time of faculty employment and are prominently considered in the performance evaluation process. To assist faculty in their non-instructional roles, the College has seven full-time advisors who advise all non-degree seeking students, which for SLCC constitutes approximately 50% of its student population. Additionally, all full-time staff and faculty serve on college committees, assist with graduation, honors ceremony, Black History Month activities, etc. 

SLCC has shown a commitment to hiring more full-time faculty.  In fact, for the fall 2010 semester twelve full-time faculty members were added – a 24% increase in full-time faculty headcount despite statewide funding reductions.  The addition of these full-time faculty members further reduced SLCC’s dependency on adjunct faculty to meet instructional course load demand.  In the spring 2011 semester, five additional full-time faculty members were added to the full-time faculty ranks. 

The number of faculty at SLCC is adequate to meet the mission of the College.  The charts below present counts and ratios of full-time faculty and adjunct faculty each semester for the last three-year period.  Each semester the Dean of Instruction and Effectiveness reviews this information and makes recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs regarding faculty needs for the upcoming semester.  Recommendations are made if a discipline has less than 50% of the courses taught by adjunct and there has been a trend of at least 15 credit hours of courses being taught each semester.  Once approval to hire additional staff is obtained, ads are placed and search committees formed.

South Louisiana Community College Faculty Headcount

    Source: SLCC Institutional Research

South Louisiana Community College Faculty FTE by Instructional Area

     Source: SLCC Institutional Research

    SLCC Percentage of Student Credit Hours Taught by Full-Time v. Part-Time Faculty

     Source: SLCC Institutional Research

When compared to other Louisiana community colleges for the last three years, SLCC has among the lowest FTE student to FTE instructional staff ratios of full-time faculty to full-time equivalent student as indicated in the chart below:

Louisiana Community College FTE Student to Instructional Staff Ratios

source: Louisiana Community & Technical College System GRAD Act Performance Data

South Louisiana Community College Student to
Instructor Ratios by Instructional Area

Source: SLCC Institutional Research

The faculty is a diverse mix not only demographically, but also concerning their education and experiences. 

Documentation: