Staff HR Policy D-762.00
Institutional Effectiveness Criterion: Culture

Faculty Teaching Credential Requirements Policy

This policy applies to all instructors who teach for Northwestern Michigan College. This includes faculty, adjunct faculty, and teaching staff.

Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) is an equal opportunity employer. All positions shall be filled without discrimination on the basis of age, religion, race, color, creed, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, height, weight, marital or familial status, handicap, disability, service in the military, veteran's status, or any other legally protected status protected under federal, state, or local law. No employee or candidate for employment shall be discriminated against in recruitment, hire, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment solely because of a handicap that is unrelated to the individual's ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position.

Northwestern Michigan College exercises sound judgment in hiring the best faculty to serve our students. Hiring decisions are based on the candidate’s academic experience and expertise, including competencies required for effective teaching, and the accreditation guidelines of the Higher Learning Commission.

When NMC hires faculty, the minimum qualifications for faculty teaching general education coursework to meet the College’s core degree requirements shall be a master's degree in the appropriate academic area or a master’s degree and at least eighteen graduate credits in the teaching field.

Minimum qualifications for faculty teaching in non-general education (occupational) areas shall be a bachelor's degree plus two years’ professional experience in the appropriate academic area. In cases where occupational program accreditation requires a master’s degree in the field and/or special industry and governmental credentials, those higher credentials are required by the College as well. In exceptional cases, faculty teaching in occupational programs may be hired without a bachelor's degree if they hold professional credentials determined by the College to be equivalent to a bachelor's degree. Additional qualifications may be established for specialty positions with approval of the Vice President for Educational Services and Executive Director of Human Resources.

NMC has a master course catalog list which details minimum qualifications required in order to teach each course. The master course list and associated faculty qualifications is available in the Office of Human Resources, the Educational Services Office, and online here.

To align with the Higher Learning Commission guidelines, current faculty, adjunct faculty, and teaching staff must be enrolled in a program at an accredited institution and actively completing the required courses to attain their credentials per the guidelines on or before August 31, 2019.

If any provision(s) of this policy or set of bylaws conflicts with laws applicable to Northwestern Michigan College, including the Community College Act of 1966, the Freedom of Information Act, or the Open Meetings Act, as each may be amended from time to time, such laws shall control and supersede such provision(s).