260C.48 - STANDARDS FOR ACCREDITING COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROGRAMS. - Iowa Statutes

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. 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 standard academic workload for an instructor in arts and science courses shall be fifteen credit hours per school term, and the maximum academic workload for any instructor shall be sixteen credit hours per school term, for classes taught during the normal school day. In addition thereto, any faculty member may teach a course or courses at times other than the regular school week, involving total class instruction time equivalent to not more than a three-credit-hour course. The total workload for such instructors shall not exceed the equivalent of eighteen credit hours per school term. 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. Commencing July 1, 2006, standards relating to quality assurance of faculty and ongoing quality professional development shall be the accreditation standards of the north central association of colleges and schools and the faculty standards required under specific programs offered by the community college that are accredited by other accrediting agencies.          Section History: Recent Form 90 Acts, ch 1253, §50; 90 Acts, ch 1254, § 3 C91, § 280A.48 C93, § 260C.48 93 Acts, ch 82, § 7, 8; 2002 Acts, ch 1047, §8, 9, 20; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §23; 2008 Acts, ch 1181, § 29, 30 Referred to in § 260C.47