SACS Compliance Certification Report (PDF) - South Florida State ...

expectation of continuing employment beyond the ending date of the term or class. Letters of Intent(LOIs) are issued to all adjunct faculty members, specifying the class(es) to be taught, class meetingdates and times, location, basis for remuneration (per credit, per clock hour, or per student), payrate, total pay, and conditions of employment.”Mission and FacultyThe first sentence of the SFCC mission statement establishes the faculty as central to the educationalwork of the college. “South Florida Community College is an open-access, higher education institutiondedicated to providing a learning-centered environment through quality programs, training, andservices.” The entire institution works to provide educational experiences to help students achieve goals,such as: “[c]ompleting an associate degree . . . career or technical training . . . college preparatoryprograms . . . [or] basic skills in literacy, numeracy, and citizenship.”Full-time faculty provide continuity in programming, consistent availability to serve students andparticipate in college-wide initiatives and planning, and a high level of commitment to institutionaleffectiveness. SFCC evaluates staffing needs for full-time faculty annually and gives priority withinfunding limits to fill vacancies and create new positions.The Role of the FacultyBesides the mission statement, the job description for faculty ensures that the highest priority is givento teaching students. The great majority of the document is devoted to different aspects of instructingand relating to students. The emphasis helps to ensure that instructional hours are maximized andfocused on student learning.SFCC Administrative Procedure 5211 establishes priorities for full-time faculty as “teaching assignedclasses; assisting, evaluating, and advising students; supervising learning activities; planning forclasses; and keeping current with discipline content and methodology within the area of responsibilities."Instructional personnel are also expected to assist in the development and implementation of theinstructional goals of the college.The attention given to teaching fundamentally establishes that SFCC faculty spend a great portion of theirtime supporting the mission of the institution and ensuring the quality and integrity of its academicprograms.SFCC Administrative Procedure 5220 designates teaching, office hours, and professional activities asthe main responsibilities of faculty. Mainly, the procedure lists the number of hours spent teaching and inoffice hours, as a defining characteristic of the “full-time” designation. The list of professional activitiesincludes tutoring, committee work, mentoring, and other activities accomplished beyond the scheduledteaching and office hours. Once again, the accent on teaching ensures and requires that facultyaccomplish the main task—teaching students.Faculty serve on at least one standing committee and assess student learning outcomes on several levels.Administrative work does not come before teaching responsibilities and, in the case of assessment, isintegrated into the regular activities of teaching.Other administrative tasks are assigned to faculty department chairs and program managers, all of whommaintain a minimum 50% teaching load with proportional release time. Official release time fromteaching responsibilities ensures a structure for planning and scheduling, and provides faculty leadershipin college governance, assessment, institutional effectiveness, strategic planning, and curriculum designand development.SFCC Administrative Procedure 5226 ensures that adjunct faculty do not teach more than threecollege credit sections or 30 contact hours (certificate programs) per term, but should the need arise,exceptions can be made. Generally, adjunct faculty are employed when student demand for classesexceeds South Florida supply Community of College full-time faculty. In fact, as department chairs and program managers count Page up 28 the / 202number of adjuncts needed to fulfill demand, an argument can be made to create another full-timefaculty position. On occasion, an adjunct faculty fulfills the need for special expertise in an area of