Instructor Credentials

Each adjunct instructor should have on file with the Academic Vice President the following items:
  1. Official transcripts of all previous work.
  2. Proof of Citizenship.
  3. W-4 forms.
  4. Direct mail payment participation forms if applicable.
  5. Application to the University.
  6. Copy of any certification or licenses.
  7. Evaluation of faculty qualifications (submitted by Campus Dean or Division Chair).

Instructor Qualifications to Teach

Wayland policies pertaining to qualifications of faculty basically parallel those recommended by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and are as follows:
  1. Faculty qualifications for employment to teach at the undergraduate level must include:
    • A minimum of a Master’s Degree with at least 18 graduate hours in the field in which the proposed course is offered (minimum SACS requirement), and
    • At least one of the following:
      • 18 hours in the subdiscipline involved (i.e. accounting within business, criminal justice within human services, etc.)
      • Significant professional expertise in the field of the proposed course, plus at least one graduate course in the subdiscipline involved: i.e. banking experience for Money and Banking, family counseling experience for Marriage and Family Therapy, certified public accountant in accounting, etc.)
      • Having taken the course to be taught as a graduate course in the master’s or other graduate program.
      • In cases of introductory survey courses only, having completed at least an undergraduate major or specialization in the discipline involved, including the course to be taught.
  2. For teaching at the graduate level, the highest earned degree in the teaching field (usually a doctorate) is required. One is not qualified to teach at the graduate level in a field other than the one(s) in which the terminal degree has been earned.
  3. No difference in qualifications is required in the upper and lower divisions of the undergraduate level. However, forty percent (40%) of the credit hours in the upper division and twenty-five percent (25%) in the lower division must be taught be persons with terminal degrees.
  4. Terminal degrees generally include the Ph.D.; Ed.D.; D.B.A.; Th.D.; D.M.A.; and M.F.A. (for some areas); Psy.D; J.D. for law-based courses such as Business Law, Health Care Law, Criminal Law, etc., D.Min. for practical ministry courses. Degrees not regarded as terminal academic preparation are honorary degrees (e.g. D.D., L.D.D., D. Hum., etc.)