Standard 5: Qualified Faculty

Qualified Faculty

The teacher education unit at SCSU is an eclectic mix of academics who take pride in their role of preparing future educators and school professionals to teach, lead and serve (Exhibit 5.4.a.1). As is evidenced by our revised conceptual framework, we see our faculty as co-learners with our candidates, as they model and embrace the institutional maxim, “Education for Life”. 

At St. Cloud State, there are three levels of faculty: Tenure-track, Fixed-Term and Adjunct.

• Tenure-track faculty are ranked as Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor, depending on their qualifications and experiences.
• Fixed-Term faculty are appointed for a limited time, typically one year and not to exceed four years. They are often emergency hires and meet specific qualifications or expertise needed in a program/department.
• Adjunct faculty are appointed on for a designated period of time, not to exceed one year and 10 credits. They are often hired to cover reassignments or to meet special programmatic needs of departments where specific expertise cannot be otherwise provided by the faculty in the department.

A review of unit faculty vitae reveals that of the 98 faculty members in the unit:

• 84 (86%) have terminal degrees
• Two have sixth year certificates with specific expertise in the areas in which they are teaching. One is hired as an adjunct and the other as fixed-term.
• Twelve (12%) have Master’s degrees. Eleven of these (92%) have recent public school experience, bringing critical relevancy and expertise to our candidates. Of the 12 faculty with Master’s degrees, 2 are adjuncts, 5 are fixed-term, and 2 are permanent hires with exceptional expertise.

The Office of Clinical Experiences has clear criteria for school faculty working with our candidates (Exhibit 5.4.c.1). In order to host field experiences, cooperating teachers must have one or more years teaching experience, be licensed in the field they teach and have approval from their administrator. In order to host a teacher candidate, cooperating teachers must have a minimum of three years teaching experience, be licensed in the area in which they teach and have approval of their administrator (Exhibit 5.4.b.1).

Clinical faculty or university supervisors are a mix of faculty, including adjunct faculty, tied to a specific academic department. Faculty load for student teaching is the equivalent of 3 students per credit in programs that have candidates out in the field for two consecutive semesters (2 eight-week placements), and 1.5 students per credit in programs that have one 16-week experience.