Policy Title: Faculty Employment
Impact: Employees
Responsibility: Office of Instruction
Effective Date: 03/26/14
Revised Date: 10/24/2024
Reviewed Date: 10/24/2024
Relates to Procedure: 3.02.08
Legal Citation(s):
I. Policy Narrative
A quality education at North Idaho College requires employment of well-qualified faculty. The college determines and publishes the minimum qualifications for all faculty positions. Qualifications will include specified educational credentials, such as a graduate degree in a relevant field, sufficient experience, relevant technical or professional preparation, and any other related knowledge, skills, and ability commensurate for fulfilling instructional responsibilities. Any faculty position at NIC will comply with minimum qualifications established in applicable state policy or statute or by applicable programmatic accreditation standards.
Provedure Title: Faculty Employment
Impact: Faculty
Responsibility: Office of Instruction
Effective Date: 03/26/14
Revised Date: 08/25/2022
Reviewed Date: 08/25/2022
Relates to Policy: 3.02.08
Legal Citation(s):
Procedure Narrative
I. Position Development
All faculty positions approved for hire at NIC will be collaboratively developed and documented in a position description with the program, associated instructional leadership (division chair, director, or other supervisor, through the dean and chief academic officer), and approved with Human Resources to establish minimum qualifications, inclusive of documented educational credentials, sufficient relevant experience as defined by the program and division, and any other training, background, or preparation appropriate for the program.
II. Position Types
Faculty positions include the following categories with the specified roles and responsibilities for each type defined in position descriptions, contracts, applicable policy and procedure (such as Tenure, Faculty Evaluation, Teaching Focus) and other relevant faculty employment documents.
- Professor, to include:
- professor (full-time and tenured)
- associate professor (full-time and tenured),
- assistant professor (full-time and tenure track or non-tenure track, including those with a special appointment employment status)
- adjunct professor (part-time)
- Librarian (not eligible for tenure)
- professor (full-time)
- associate professor (full-time)
- assistant professor (full-time)
- Instructor
- Dual credit
- Non-credit
- Lab Instructor (full-time, or part-time, not eligible for tenure, whether full or part-time, working in direct association with a lead faculty or supervisor)
Other faculty positions reporting through the chief academic officer that may be established with defined instructional responsibilities.
- Temporary Positions, (to address unforeseen situations, when normal faculty hiring processes cannot be completed timely, to prevent harm to program delivery and student learning):
- Exceptions to the established minimum qualifications for the faculty position types stated above must be approved by the chief academic officer on the recommendation of the reporting director or division chair and dean as a temporary position and may then be recruited accordingly.
- Any authorized temporary position will have a specified time frame for employment, normally not more than one academic year, or two consecutive semesters, inclusive of summer term, when applicable.
- Renewal of temporary positions may be considered on an exceptional basis when normal recruitment and hiring is untenable, based on written, documented hardship as presented to the chief academic officer by the unit seeking an exception.
III. Minimum qualifications
Any faculty position at NIC will comply with minimum qualifications as stated in applicable state policy or statute related to post-secondary positions in career and technical education. Whenever applicable to an NIC program, faculty positions will also meet program accreditation standards for employment
Qualifications will vary by faculty position type as outlined below.
Professor, in all categories, will require at least a graduate degree in the field or in a closely related discipline, or other equivalent credentials, preparation, and experience necessary to provide students with effective instruction in the knowledge, skills, and abilities for the program.
Librarian, a graduate degree in librarianship from an ALA accredited institution that directly serves the needs of the college in supporting and delivering its instructional programs.
Lab instructor, a bachelor’s degree, or an equivalent level of educational preparation, experience, or practice to provide instruction commensurate with the program’s needs.
Any other positions developed to meet instructional needs will follow established college processes for defining the roles and responsibilities and setting minimum qualifications, credentials, and experience necessary for recruitment of candidates who can effectively deliver the assigned curriculum.
Faculty assigned duties that require special licensure and/or certification must meet all minimum licensure/certification requirements and maintain such licensure/certification as a condition of employment pursuant to the requirements of the appropriate licensing/accrediting body and Idaho Career & Technical Education requirements.
IV. Position request and approval to search
Requests to fill new, open, or vacant positions will follow established guidelines for chain of review, usually starting with the division chair, or director, the respective dean, and to executive leadership before approval to recruit.
V. Search Process
Human resources, in collaboration with the position’s supervisor and if appropriate, the respective dean, will help ensure that the posting and hiring process complies with extant college, state, and federal requirements.
Part-time faculty positions will be searched and hired with the participation of the immediate academic supervisor for the program, typically the division chair or director.
Full-time faculty positions will be searched with a committee that has at least two current full-time faculty members participating who are selected in consultation with the immediate supervisor for the program, typically the division chair or director. In no case will a faculty position be hired without direct participation, consideration, and feedback by faculty or faculty leadership. The chief academic officer has the final approval of the decision for hire.