From: "Gross, Louis J" Date: Friday, June 18, 2021 at 4:11 PM To: "Charsha, Ashley Brianne" Cc: "Gross, Louis J" Subject: Guidance on a couple of questions regarding credentialing of instructors Ms. Charsha, I am writing in my role as the incoming Faculty Senate President to enhance my understanding of how UTK certifies instructors of record for courses, and overall guidelines on who is allowed by accreditation standards to teach courses. From my own experience in providing evidence that graduate students have the background to teach a course, it was my understanding that SACS accreditation requires 18 hours of graduate credit in courses that align with the topics in the courses they are teaching before someone can be an instructor of record. Is this correct, and if so how is it checked? I ask because of a recent set of course offerings for which it appears this is not being followed, and I do not know if this affects accreditation or if the institution can waive such requirements. If the latter, what is the process to waive the requirements? There are now a large number of courses at the 100-level for which I suspect this rule is not being followed, but perhaps they all have been approved to waive the requirement. Since the Faculty Senate is responsible for approving all aspects of the curriculum, I want to be sure that I am aware of the rules. Thank you for any information you can provide. Stay well, Lou -- Louis J. Gross (he, him, his) Chancellor’s Professor and Alvin and Sally Beaman Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics Director Emeritus, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS.org) Director, The Institute for Environmental Modeling University of Tennessee - Knoxville President, 2006-2007, 2021-2022, UTK Faculty Senate Past-President, 2003-2005, Society for Mathematical Biology http://lgross.utk.edu/ From: "Hartman, Heather Gibbons" Date: Monday, June 21, 2021 at 10:47 AM To: "Gross, Louis J" Cc: "Gardner, Denise (Denise Gardner)" , "Charsha, Ashley Brianne" Subject: Re: Guidance on a couple of questions regarding credentialing of instructors Hi Lou, The 18-hour rule is still in effect for graduate assistants. SACSCOC has guidelines, which state “Graduate teaching assistants: master’s in the teaching discipline or 18 graduate semester hours in the teaching discipline, direct supervision by a faculty member experienced in the teaching discipline, regular in-service training, and planned and periodic evaluations.” Our institution has faculty resources on this webpage. They include UT Faculty Credentialing Guidelines and a transcript authorization form (for Faculty Affairs to request transcripts to verify coursework if not from UT). Ultimately, the departments are responsible for “making the case” for faculty members who may be short a particular credential (based on experience, certification, or other evidence), but the guidelines for graduate students should be strictly followed. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks much, Heather Heather G. Hartman, Ph.D. SACSCOC Liaison, Office of the Provost The University of Tennessee, Knoxville 613 Andy Holt Tower Knoxville, TN 37996 865-974-3635 From: "Charsha, Ashley Brianne" Date: Monday, June 21, 2021 at 10:11 AM To: "Gross, Louis J" Cc: "Gardner, Denise (Denise Gardner)" , "Hartman, Heather Gibbons" Subject: Re: Guidance on a couple of questions regarding credentialing of instructors Hi Lou, I unfortunately do not have the answer to your question, but I have CC'ed Denise Gardner (Director of Institutional Research and Assessment) and Heather Hartman (UTK's SACSCOC Liaison). They will certainly have more insight on this than I do! Heather and Ashley, Thanks so much for your quick response on this. It makes the situation much clearer. It is basically an expectation of units to ensure that instructors of record assigned to courses in their unit meet the credentialing guidelines. I found it interesting to see the list of courses which are excluded from credentialing – presumably this waiver of credentialing was approved when the courses were approved by the Undergraduate and Graduate Councils. This list includes several of the courses that had been brought to my attention concerning credentialing so it is good to know we are not out of compliance with SACSCOC through this exclusion mechanism. Stay well, Lou 6/21/2021